The Key to Happiness - Not what you might think

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. --Albert Schweitzer (1875 - 1965) 

We are busier than we have ever been, working long hours and feeling under more and more pressure. How do you spend your days? For many people work and pleasure are seen as separate, with work being a chore that has to be done to pay the bills. It doesn’t always have to be like that. Although we don’t have to love everything we do, we do need to gain some enjoyment from most of what we do. Take a moment to see if it is time to start afresh and do something you love, something that adds the pleasure factor back into your working life? 

Think about what matters to you and why you do the things you do. For each person that means something different. What aspects of a job are important to you? List them. Think about your dream job. Does it motivate and inspire you? If not, think again. It has to mean something to you; otherwise you will not be prepared to put in the effort to achieve what you want. Ask: ‘What am I prepared to give up to make this happen?’ ‘What would I love to try?’ ‘What options do I have?’ ‘What are my talents, skills and qualities?’ ‘How can I utilise them in my ideal job?’ How can you take an idea and turn it into reality? Get creative and think through how you could make money doing what you enjoy.

Starting anew requires courage, confidence and commitment. Hold on to your sense of purpose. Believe in yourself. Ignore the critics, for there are bound to be some, and face your fears (there will many of those too!). Ask for help from those people who can assist you and get supporters to keep you motivated. Research things that interest you and, if necessary, go back to basics and learn new skills. Develop a clear vision of where you’d like to be in 10 years’ time – and why. Write it down. Be specific. This will provide you with something to focus on. Think creatively. This may not happen all of a sudden, but if you work at it gradually, day by day, it can happen. 

And if starting something new is not for you, how can you love the job you already have? You can’t always control your situation, but you can always choose how you react to it. Your attitude colours how you face every day and has an influence on the people around you. Choose to be positive. Are there areas of your job that you can improve on? Who can you discuss this with? Is a change to a new role in the same company an option? Examine the possibilities. Your job does not define you, but how you do it does. 

And why bother? Doing what you love gives you a good reason to get up every morning. Your life will be challenging, certainly, exciting, definitely. Doing things you enjoy which give you personal fulfilment and satisfaction has been shown to contribute to good health and longevity. Don’t wait for perfect circumstances to start. Begin now!

Advanced Yoga Demonstration with Urban Yogi Bri

As it is generally admitted by yoga practitioners and yoga trainers, yoga sessions are very much about self equilibrium, peacefulness and meditation. By practicing meditation we can all reach the sublime state of learning the purpose of our existence and maximizing our will to reach it. 

Studies have proven that meditation highly contributes to both physical and psychological well-being, which is why yoga routines consider the practice of meditation as one of its main principles. 

Reducing physical pain, stress and blood pressure, meditation promotes a state of mind, by which we can achieve self-healing. Due to all these uncontestable benefits that this practice involves, there is a great variety of information available in different formats, regarding the most efficient meditation techniques, postures, courses, products and forums. 

Religion and psychology promote meditation as well, as a way of assessing our actions and seeking self improvements. As many theories and ancient believes demonstrate, our present life is determined by our previous actions, which is why it is vital to analyze and meditate on the things we do, in order to find ways of improving ourselves and thus, creating a brighter future.

Meditation is definitely one of the main principles of yoga, as it has been verified that it is a trustworthy tool to use for achieving mental clarity and health. A very important thing to know is the fact that there are various types of meditation exercises, designed for advanced or beginner yoga students. Thus, you have to carefully analyze all details and information provided on each and every one of these techniques and exercises, so that you obtain the maximum results, from your meditation routines. 

Despite the fact that many people believe that, just like breathing, meditation is something that comes naturally and cannot be taught, there are a few aspects of this process, which can increase your efficiency and your results, in no time. One of the aspects you have to bear in mind is the time of the day when you carry out your yoga meditation; hence, it would be perfect if you could do it either in the morning or late in the evening, as during those particular moments of the day, the atmosphere is charged with a high level of spiritual energy.

Here is some advice regarding meditation:

• Before starting the meditation session free your mind of all worries. 
• Try to locate a quiet place, where you are not likely to be disturbed. 
• It is recommended to choose the same moment of the day, as well as the same place, for your meditation routine. 
• Focus on meditation; do not let your mind get lost in other thoughts.
• Try to follow a pattern when breathing. 
• Your head, back and neck have to be placed in a perfect straight line.

Remember that it is crucial both to perform the meditation session and to observe the results, in order to get close to experiencing the supreme synchronization between the body and the spirit.

Your Focus Determines Your Reality

Imagine that you have just put on a pair of blue-tinted sunglasses. If you were to look around the room and describe what you see, everything would appear blue to you because it’s being filtered though a blue lens.

But is this reality? No, it’s your perception of reality. We only see, hear and experience life through the perceptual filters of our senses. This is why life (and reality) is always subjective. Our senses are always at work, filtering out what we believe to be false or what is beyond our ken. I once read a story about how the Indians responded when Cortez landed his ship in the new world. The author claimed that the Indians couldn’t “see” the ships in the harbor because their minds were incapable of conceptualizing such vessels. They had no frame of reference. (This point was recently demonstrated in the movie What the Bleep Do We Know?)

Are you one of those people who is afraid to stretch your perception of reality?

What if you believed that your brain had already, instantly, scanned this page several hundred times and that you already knew everything written here? You are simply reading this page again because you’ve refused to believe that it’s possible to recall these words in detail.

Did you know that every human being has a perfect photographic memory? It's true. Unfortunately, photographic memory lasts for about one-tenth of a second, then almost all of the information is consciously forgotten. Young children have photographic memories that last much longer. However, the ability disappears as children grow older. Why? Is it from lack of use? Do the neurons that generate photographic memory stop firing when the skill no longer serves a purpose? Anthropologists report that in cultures where people do not learn to read or write, photographic memory continues throughout adulthood. If this is true, then is our educational system actually creating limits and barriers to our genius potential? Perhaps our kindergarten curriculum should consist of memory development classes … and leave the ABC's for later when the child can learn them at a glance.

Please don't think that because you are able to read this page your memory skills have been lost. Remember, everyone has a perfect memory. This is true whether you are one year old or ninety-one. Your mind absorbs everything that happens to you and processes this information, consciously or unconsciously, through the five senses. It is the process of retention and recall that needs improvement, and here again, it is subject to the realm of your belief system. If you truly believe that you have a perfect memory and a faultless recall system, the brain, being a servo-mechanism (goal oriented), will continue to modify your skills until this becomes your truth. This is why using mental imagery and affirmations is so important. They can help your program your brain to accept its “truth” on the subconscious level.  Once that happens, your world is infinitely better because you have created a new paradigm of what’s possible for you. You have removed your limitations and accepted a new reality.

So, today, why not change your world from the inside out?  Knowing you can is simply a matter of believing you can.