I’m committed to learning about happiness and well-being. Since experience is inevitably the best teacher, I’m going to participate in a variety of exercises. I happened upon this offering when gathering information about the work of Sonja Lyubomirsky. For $25 I couldn’t pass it up. I’ll report on my lessons in the comments section as long as I keep it up.
Deepak 1. Body Awareness. I tend to live in my head, not that aware of my bod. Overall I feel great. No aches, no pains. I am damned lucky, given the mistreatment I’ve given my body over the years. And I don’t exercise enough to this day.
I’m easily out of breath, something I attribute to my A-fib. At least I do belly-breathing to keep the oxygen flowing. Deeeeep breath.
Also, I don’t feel as achy now that I do all my work at a standing desk. Sitting is really bad for you.
Oh, no. Though it’s totally on auto-pilot, this course is programmed to dole out one lesson a week. No running ahead. Jesus. I guess that way the administrators or copywriters can say it’s a fourteen week course. Denying me the opportunity to learn at my own pace is a deal breaker. I don’t want thirteen interruptions in my workflow.
This was supposed to make me happy?
You can do a 21 mediation for free from Dr. Chopra starting on November 5 – Here is the link http://www.chopracentermeditation.com/bestsellers/LandingPage.aspx?bookid=172&af=852 and much like the course you are trying right now – this is one session a day, no running ahead. As an academic I have completed two of his other free challenges and find they really ground me and allow me to be more focused in my work.
Good luck!
Lesson 2 is a two-minute vide, a page of excerpts from Deepak’s books, and instructions to reflect on the day and blog about it.
Self-esteem, what you think of yourself. Image is not reality. Love yourself.
I don’t see how a bit of reading and a video is going to change behavior.
Lesson 3 offers practice advice on detoxifying your life.
In order to feel inner peace, we must first get rid of our toxic conditioning. There are 7 steps to get rid of your inner toxins at the spiritual level:
Step 1. Take responsibility for your present response.
Step 2. Witness what you are feeling.
Step 3. Label your feeling.
Step 4. Express what you feel.
Step 5. Share what you feel.
Step 6. Release the toxic feeling through ritual.
Step 7. Celebrate the release and move on.
To activate the Third Key in everyday life, I promise myself to do the following:
1. I will pay attention to the seven-step process whenever a toxic emotion comes up.
2. Before I put anything in my body, I will ask if it is nourishing me or not.
3. I will take a step to simplify my life.
Lesson 4 focuses on Giving Up Being Right.
This is timely. It feels like a lesson I need to hear. All too often, I want to fix things that really aren’t my concern.
Stop being right and you’ll get what you want. Giving up being right is a creative process. Witness yourself without judging yourself.
being ruled by the ego means your life is always ruled by a sense of instability and fragility. If your sole identity is about being right, then you are always under the threat of being proven wrong or having your authority taken away from you. Your ego may believe that being right is being happy, but the opposite is true: being constantly right means you are constantly driving happiness away from you.
The Ego thrives under the following conditions:
You get what you want.
Others agree to follow your agenda.
There is a sense of self-control.
Right and wrong are clearly demcarcated.
Nobody crosses the line between right and wrong.
You name the condition of loving someone else and being loved in return.
Anyone who agrees with you is showing that he/she loves you.
Someone who obeys you feels safe. Someone you must obey feels unsafe.
Once you surrender your desire to be always right, you are no longer isolated from the rest of the world. You are not threatened by people who seem to know more than you, nor do you look down on people who do not agree with your view points.
Ultimately, we are all the same as these are the deeper truths about yourself and everyone living in this world:
You want love without limitations.
You want to feel safe.
You want to express yourself creatively.
You want to expand in joy.
You want to be free.
Your highest wish is for unity in a state of perfect peace.
To activate the Fourth Key in everyday life, I promise myself to do the following:
1. I will catch myself wanting to be right.
2. I will refrain from qualifying things as right and wrong, good and bad.
3. When I am tempted to see myself as a victim, I will remember that I am the creator of the circumstances I see.