Category Archives: Thoughts

Healing, Inspirational, Spirituality, Thoughts

4 Ways To Stop Over Overthinking Everything

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The mind is a tool with a determined purpose. Its function is to analyze, theorize, invent and project. There are times though, that the mind’s momentum or persistence gets to an unproductive level. It happens to everyone, this urge to shut that mental voice up. Direct influence rarely works with slowing the mind down. You can’t focus on quieting your mind with more thoughts. If you try and command your mind to do something, the brain will respond with an opposing thought.

Here are some ways to get your mind to relax and return to a productive state. Remember that thinking, analyzing and creating is the function of the brain. Forgive yourself for getting frustrated. Thank your brain for its amazing (though at times not helpful) persistence and performance. You wouldn’t get mad at your heart for beating or your cells for dividing, so don’t get upset because your mind is carrying out its duty. The more energy and emotion you use in a direct and opposing fashion, the stronger the formations you are dealing with will get. It takes a more subtle approach then telling your voice to simply shut up.

Connect With Nature

shutterstock_156727028Nature is a great focal point for healthy and productive formations. Nature uses every available resource and is dynamic in the face of adversity. It does the most amazing of actions with out complicated thought or speech. You don’t have to venture into the great unknown every time you want to connect with nature. A walk through a city street can suffice as well. I find this more useful actually.

While walking I try and notice all the trees, weeds, birds or squirrels and never neglect the sky. The parts of nature I can notice represent my true self. The man made structures represent my mind and its attempt to impose on me. See how the tree’s roots are deep and strong? See how it breaks the cement with its persistence? I use this metaphorical line of thought to bring perspective to my situation.

Repeat Mantras Or Peaceful Phrases

A mantra is a sound or phrase that is repeated to build focus and reinforce intention. This practice is used by every religion, normally under different names. The idea is the same in every example though. You can choose a phrase that is practiced or make your own. If you make your own try and keep it simple.

As you notice your mind running astray or overworking, stop what you are doing and breathe. Breathe with purpose, deliberately making your breaths deep and long. Examine the formation and your relation to it from a mental ‘arm’s length’. Look at how it makes you feel, and address it head on. If it’s an upcoming goal or an existing problem then remind yourself of what you are already or planning to do to handle it. Once you have done all you can do to solve it remind yourself that everything that can be done is being done. Smile inward and acknowledge the situation. Release your mental grip on it and release it. Repeat the solution as you breathe. If there was no readily available solution repeat your intention of productivity and love.

Meditate

Meditation is a powerful tool to regain control over any formation. If your mind is being very persistent in its activity then a seated, passive meditation may be necessary. If this isn’t an option then active meditation can be just as effective.

Bring intention and consciousness to your breath. Bring your attention and sensory focus to the air moving through your nostrils or the movement of your diaphragm. This is the beginning of both passive and active meditations. Here you are waiting for the mind to wander. As it wanders, smile and acknowledge the formation your mind slipped to. Smile and send love to the formation. Then release it.

As your mind tries to wander, it will show you what your fears and desires are. Remind yourself that you are more than the sum of your thoughts and emotions and return to your breath. Follow this pattern until the momentum of your mind slows.

Exercise

If my mind is racing or upset then I make time to ‘work it out’. The mental focus exercise takes, refreshes my mind. It cancels out the unnecessary formations with positivity and hard work. Instead of passively battling in my skull space, I re task the energy that would have been spent by my mind and me to productive means. When my mind is a mess, I focus on my body. If I’m not feeling hot physically, I focus on my mind or spirit. This displacement of focus is still productively aimed, so I am helping raise my overall being. The endorphin’s created also help enormously.

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There’s Something About Karma That Many People Don’t Realize

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I’m not condemning any spiritual methodology. I respect that everyone has their own experiences and from those experiences beautifully unique theories and mentalities surrounding the mystery of human life. In that vein of respect and acknowledgement, I would like to point out the misunderstandings surroundings Karma. Karma has been equated to a system, where you ‘get what you put in’ or ‘reap what you sow’. This is true to an extant, but the ‘pay off’ or ‘reaping’ happens in another life time. There is also a system of intertwining energies and intentions.

‘Karma in Buddhism is action. Action in the form of the thinking. Thinking is acting. Speaking is acting. And doing things is acting. And every act has a result. That is Karma. And nothing can be lost. It continues always. The shameful action continues and if you perform positive Karma, it will continue very well if you help other people.’ Thich Nhat Hahn on Tibetan styled Karma.

 The important distinction is that your actions be selfless. You cannot preform kindnesses and compassionate acts with the expectation of expecting anything in return. SELFLESS. You cannot trick the system. If you do something ‘good’ to get ‘good’ back, this is an inherently selfish action, and in the end unproductive. As we move forward in this discussion, I would like to take some of the emotional content out of this subject. Good and bad are highly charged words, this gives them too much ‘weight’ outside of their very subjective meanings. The more emotion and energy we poor into words and concepts, they change from their original context into personalized behemoths of our mind. Lets not fight any giants today.

Chopping the scales from ‘good’ and ‘bad’ I offer the terms ‘productive’ and ‘unproductive’. The wheel of Samsara (suffering) is always spinning. Nothing can or should ever even attempt to stop it. We encounter suffering and have two options. Turn it into a productive or unproductive experience. Learn from the mistakes we make, or continue to repeat them; lamenting our station in life. Forgive those who have hurt you or keep the cycle of unnecessary pain going.

As you go through your current life and form, you are blessed with a multitude of experiences that you can be productive or unproductive with. How you choose to live your life will dictate your next. A person who has spread pain and violence, has spent his or her energy and potential unproductively. They have limited their experiences and closed their mind. Their next life will not be a punishment, there is already enough suffering in the world. It will be another chance, from a different perspective that will encourage that entity to open their minds and hearts.

According to Karma, we should stop trying to control everything in life. Deal with what you are handed and help your neighbor when you can. The eventual sum of your actions are beyond what you can understand in your mortal form. Don’t limit your future by mixing in your fears and desires. As an infinite being in the ever expanding universe, you have so many more options and avenues of influence than I’d dare try to name. Be careful of you you respond to suffering and remember that the more you operate out of the idea of ‘you’ the better you will feel.

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What Is The True Purpose Of The Pineal Gland? Here Are The Straight Facts

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The pineal gland is relatively small hormone producing organ found in vertebrate brains. This endocrine gland can be found in every animal on the planet that has a spine. This organ produces melatonin, melatonin derivatives, seratonin and DMT (N-Dimethyltryptamine).

shutterstock_155349410 Melatonin is related to our natural sleep patterns (circadian rhythm). DMT is recognized as the the Spirit Molecule. It’s properties are widely discussed, though little is known.

It is found in every living creature on our planet. The fact that every animal (including humans) has this chemical present  adds a level of connectivity. There are quantum properties of DMT that are very interesting as well.

This pea sized hormonal organ effects us in a major but mostly unnoticed way. The gland is located at the the center of the sixth chakra, Ajna. This energy spiraling out of this organ is known as the ‘third eye’.

This chakra houses intuition and other ‘intangible thoughts’. The pineal gland powers our ability to seeing through false formations, and see the truth of a situation where none may be apparent.

If you are trying to nurture your pineal gland, you’ll want to stay away from fluoride. This common household ingredient calcifies this part of your brain!

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When Life Becomes Too Much To Bear, Consider These 7 Things

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Life can be hectic at times, one can be sure. Regardless of how dark things may seem, there is so much to be grateful for. Even with this ideal in mind, when I sat down to write a list of elements I was grateful for, the process was slow going. This baffled me as I am a young adult living in America, there are tons of things I take for granted and appreciate more than I’ve ever admitted. I wanted to call attention to some of the general elements most people have to be grateful for. Maybe after you read this, sit down and write your own ‘grateful list’. Try to get to twenty, though if you have more write more. It’s interesting seeing what our minds actually prioritize.

Your Life Is A Gift

Your existence is a multifaceted focal point of the universe. You are not ‘in’ the universe, you are the universe. As you breathe, you accumulate life and as you breathe out you give back life. Infinite potential and growth can not be personified in our current mortal forms with out hang ups. I mean to say that, we get cut so we can understand how we heal. We are blessed to have the ability to understand the wealth of experience the universe offers. Sometimes it is easy to lose track of this.

When I’m stuck in a rut or depressed, I relate my emotions and mindset to that of an unknown alien parsecs away. I think about how a culture may revel in the state I am currently not content with. I figure out how their culture evolved this way and draw parallels. Just a thought.

Don’t Let The Man Get You Down

Jobs can suck if you let them. But only if you let them! I personally never fully enjoyed much of my time spent waiting or in retail. But I did always try my best and set my own objectives. Since you’ve agreed to society’s money game you can lift up the spirits of those around you.

Health Is Always a Balancing Act

Our health is something we take for granted until some event takes it from us. Don’t wait till you can’t do something to appreciate it. Go! Run, jump and play games! More importantly don’t lock yourself in a dark room filling it with angst over what could be. Enjoy what you have while you have it, and do your best to keep it.

Technology Is Tool, Not A Burden

Technology has been hyped up to the point that it practically has a religious following. Rather than draw allusions to Asimov’s writings, I’ll point out that technology is the same as a hammer or scale or your mind.  It is useful to a point but when we push it past that point it starts to fail. We get upset because technological advances are only helping so much. People have been achieving nirvana for centuries before the internet. You have the tools you need for a better life all around you, you need only use the right tools.

The Future Is On It’s Way

The past isn’t the clearest marker of the future. Our expectations only set us up for failure. It too easy to get caught up in our ideas of the future. Realize though that our versions of the future are directly based off our fears. The future will be exactly what we fear or the polar opposite. Why would you ever limit yourself to projections based off fear? The possibilities are endless.

Friends And Family

These are the people that know you the best. They have stuck with you through thick and thin. If they haven’t I guarantee there is still love there. In this context, this asset is likely to devolve into a regret. Do you really want to regret never picking up the phone and at least trying? The people in your life are there for a reason and everyday should be a celebration of this bond.

Not Just An Escape

Media is an iffy subject. I agree that most of it is mindless, brain damaging opiates for the masses. But this article is a form of media, so I must assume there are real people sending sincere messages through art. Look some of it up! I’m grateful for the ability to diffuse my anxiety or build my happiness on the presentations of others. This affirmation of the modern world gives me hope for my present world.

Energy, Healing, Inspirational, News, Spirituality, Thoughts

How To Open And Sustain A Loving Heart Chakra

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The heart chakra is also known as Anahata, and is the chakra that focuses on our emotions and sense of spiritual self.  Anahata is translated in Sanskrit as ‘unhurt, unstruck and unbeaten’. This is meant to relate and bring attention to the difference between your higher emotions and lower emotions.

We get hurt and offended by many things in our day to day experiences but nothing can really ever challenge our higher emotions. Our self love, respect, happiness and respectful sorrow are housed in the category of higher emotions. The seed and twelve petaled flower are the symbols of Anahata. This association to encourage the attitude of growth and beauty when examining this focal point.

Of course you can attend to any of your chakras at any time but I strongly recommend that when you feel a disturbance in your chest you set time aside to focus on it. The heart is vital to being able to bring out the most awesome and productive versions of you. The practice below can help you get out of that rut you’ve been perceiving or help you get back on your feet after a bad experience. On the flip side balance is a must. Your heart chakra can be pushing out more energy than it needs and this causes you to lose control of your empathetic responses. Methodology of chakras was purposed as a way to maximize your energies by way of visualization.

Set Your Intention

Sitting in a quiet and safe place start bringing your attention to your breath. Start to come into awareness of how long and deep each draw is. Bring your attention to your sternum, feel the rise and fall. Smile to yourself and thank yourself for taking the time to love yourself. As you come into a meditative state set your intention. Your intention here will be a two part statement.

One aspect of it will be addressing your immediate crisis or need. For example, recognizing the end of an relationship or ending a cycle of self perception that is harming you. The second part will be a longer term intention, one meant to help enforce and keep your sense of love and appreciation. The last time I did this, my intention looked a lot like:

‘I am honoring the pain inside me, it is a result of intended love and I won’t let it stray to hurt me anymore. I will learn from this experience and not shy away from my potential in the future.’

Recognize What Is Affecting Your Heart

As you visualize your heart energy, pay attention as equally as you can to both the positive and negative elements effecting it. Seek out the sources of hurt, who caused them? How did you feel, specifically? As you find the factors that are causing you discomfort forgive the person or concept that trespassed on your sensibilities. Then forgive your self. You are human and have every right to feel the way you do. Besides now you are taking the time to better yourself and your reactions. What else could you want from yourself?

After you have acknowledged and forgiven the last step is to let go. Don’t push the formation away but stop paying it more attention than needed. Finishing the relationship on your terms only works if you stop feeding more energy into it.

Forgive Any Second Stage Emotions You Don’t Care For

This is reiterating the letting go aspect. It’s easy to remember an upsetting situation and getting twisted up over it all over again. Stop the cycle now! Make the last interaction between you and these formations a positive one. Then remind yourself that you are above this conflict now. Breathe and turn away from it. Don’t fill your time with running from or pushing it away. Let it hang out in the living room of your heart throwing it scraps of love. It will eventually dissipate.

Affirm Your Inherent Worth And Beauty

As part of your higher emotions your self worth is something nothing can ever affect. No matter what anyone says, how any one treats you, or mistakes that you’ve made, NOTHING changes how important and beautiful you are. At times, with enough negativity clogging your heart chakra it may seem like our self worth is in decline. This is just our perceptions.

Take the time to remember that no matter how bad things seem now you are an infinite being. This means you have infinite mess ups and infinite ways to grow as a result. That fact that you recognize your need for self love and are taking the time to address it productively should help bolster the concept of your potential.

Experiment With Your Vibration’s Frequency

So you’ve if identified, acknowledged, loved, forgiven, cried at, (hopefully) giggled a little at the independent elements that are affecting your heart space. The tinkering and tuning stage are over time to hook your chakra back up to chest. Turn your attention from the nitty gritty to the sum that is you. Think back over the different resonance levels you experienced. What do your vibrations look like now? Make connections to the ideas, people and mindsets that varied your vibrations.

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5 Tips to Encourage Lucid Dreaming

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Lucid dreaming is the artful act of keeping varying levels of consciousness while sleeping. It is incredibly fun and revealing experience. AS you consciously interact with elements in your dream realize that you are interacting with personified aspects of your subconscious. People have been lucid dreaming for time out of mind. Once you start it, the experience will open up new levels of communication with yourself in and out of sleep. When I started lucid dreaming I stopped having nightmares.

Check Your Reality First

The ability to stop amidst any sort of craziness and register where you are at is crucial. You need not only to be able to register your physical surroundings but your ‘location’ in each moment. By this I mean acknowledging you current emotional, mental, and spiritual relationship to your perceived surroundings.

Through out your waking hours examine the particulars of your surroundings. Where is that shadow being cast from. Where is the nearest heating source to you and how is it effecting you? The ability to qualify your surroundings is going to come in handy once you fall asleep. Get in the habit of questioning everything. Ask yourself often, ‘am I awake or dreaming’.

Recognize Dream Signs

These are discrepancies you should train yourself to distinguish. They range all over the board and are very particular to the person. The attention to detail (reality checks) will be vital. Can you see with out any light sources? Did you just travel a huge distance in moments? Electronic devices are fairly agreed upon to never work as intended in dreams (printing a fax directly from your phone or your toaster housing exotic birds). Shapes changing shape size or into another object altogether are other indicators you are dreaming. As soon as something is off do a ‘reality check’ and investigate.

Mnemonic Induced Lucid Dreaming (MILD)

This method uses repetitious intention and awareness to build the bridge into dream land. Right before you sleep send a couple of minutes building the intention to carry your conscious mind into the dream world. Affirm you are awake by telling yourself aloud that, ‘I am awake. I will carry my consciousness into my dreams. I will remember my dreams when I wake.’
When you wake up, IMMEDIATELY catalog your dream. If the specifics elude you right down any associations and feeling you had or have. As you fall asleep after your mantra try to focus on the previous dream to connect the different presences you have. Repeat this process tweaking it as you go to build awareness.

Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming (WILD)

WILD takes a different sort of discipline. Have a clock primed to wake you up five to six hours after you fall asleep. You fall into cycles of REM sleep (start dreaming) after the first ninety minutes. You continue to fall in and out of REM sleep. After five to six hours you’ve gone through all the possible cycles. When you wake examine what happened. Did you dream? Were you aware of the event? Repeat this nightly until you start to lucid dream. Once you can get get into that frame of mind there is no need to prematurely wake yourself.

Externally Induced Lucid Dreaming (EILD)

There is a dream mask offered by The Dream Mask LLC. It uses neural receptors to tell when you’ve entered REM sleep and uses external stimulus (LED lights and auditory tones) to gently alert the user they are dreaming. It takes a little getting used to but people around the world are finding it to be effective after the initial adjustment period.

I’m personally not comfortable with this idea for a number of reasons. So here are other solutions. You can drink coffee to keep your mind awake. This works only if you have that level of control to separate your mind form your body. You can also mess with you regular sleep schedule. Changing your sleep cycle can jolt you into a better ‘position’ to lucid dream.

All of these techniques are interchangeable. Experiment with what you are and aren’t comfortable with. The key to success, no matter your procedure, is persistence and consistent observation. You aren’t going to get this right off the bat so try and have some fun!