Posts Tagged ‘Health’

By Seamus Anthony

Should you strive to change your habits, your circumstances, your whole life?

Or should you enjoy increased inner-peace by accepting who you are right now, unconditionally so you can relax and enjoy the moment?

I find life to be a constant tension between these two approaches, and I can’t help but notice that in what we loosely call the “personal development” field there are many pushers of both ways towards inner satisfaction.

I have for a while now leaned heavily in favor of the “Zen” path of warts-and-all self-acceptance of yourself and have been scornful of the Tony Robbins “go-get-em-tiger” school of hyped up motivation and the “follow-these-sacred-rules-and-kiss-my-Guru-ass” schools of overtly serious and holy spirituality.

That’s the attitude we founded Rebel Zen on: a different, down-to-Earth, street-savvy approach to Enlightenment and Worldly Success – and God help us if we ever lose sight of this mission because in my opinion it’s what is sorely needed.

BUT…

The other night I was awake at about 4 in the morning and a thought struck me like a punch in the face.

As I sat there next to the cot, trying to coax my little 1 year old daughter to go back to sleep, my mind was racing through things in a semi-conscious way and I suddenly realised that if I kept going down the path I am on, of comfortable self-acceptance, then I am quickly going to turn into on of those mouldy middle-age dudes who is stuck in a nice comfortable rut and has lost his edge.

What I mean by this is – unless I decide to change some things then, while the good things in my life will probably stay good (and there is plenty of that for which I am infinitely grateful), the BAD stuff will GET WORSE.

Example: I don’t exercise enough and my pot belly is inching its way forward day-by-day and my muscles are fading bit-by-bit. And that shit don’t get better – it gets WORSE.

Example: I STILL haven’t learned to speak French very well even though my partner and her family speak it around me all the time and we want our children to speak it also. And that shit don’t get easier – it gets HARDER.

And there are more examples, but that will suffice for now!

Why Do You Read Personal Development Stuff?

Is it because you want drastic change in your life or because you want to learn how to be happy now as you are?

In my case, more than ten years ago, I got into meditation and personal development because I desperately needed to change my ways and figure out “what it’s all about”. Once I had tempered my self-destruction a fair bit and developed a model of the Meaning of Life (links to my old model which needs a revamp as according to this post here) I then stepped into a different mode, the above mentioned mode of just chillin’ and accepting myself as being perfect even though I am human and regularly fuck things up and then some. (I have, as you can see, learned a little French at least!)

It’s a Yin Yang Thing

It probably won’t blow your mind to hear me say that I reckon we need a bit of both in life, we need to strive to achieve and meanwhile we need to accept our lot as is, be grateful for the gifts we enjoy and be happy now. But the Yin Yang model isn’t about just hovering in a static place in perfect balance, it is about moving through different ratios. A good example of what I mean is day and night: at one point of the 24 hour cycle it is brightest, at another it is darkest, and during the rest of the cycle we are bathed in degrees of light and dark mixed together.

So what I am getting at is sometimes we need to swing to extremes and there is nothing wrong with this. My friend and Rebel Zen business partner Steve, calls it ‘Dynamic Balance’. He is a classic for it, sometimes he won’t write a post here for months because he is immersed in another project. Then when it’s done he moves back into a more generalist space.

The reason for this long-winded post is that I have come to the realization that I need to move into an “extreme” phase now. A period of Striving for Big Changes. It’s just what I need to do and to be honest I am a little scared because it means I am going to set myself up for possible failure.

To add an extra element of craziness to the mix, I am going to document this process here at Rebel Zen. I have no details yet, but hopefully it will be of benefit to you and your progression through this kooky old life. Meanwhile let’s just finish off with a quick look at the two polar dynamics of personal development:

Striving and Self-Acceptance

There are certainly advantages and disadvantages to both extremes…

Striving – the Pros

• Can result in lasting change for the better
• You CAN be healthier, richer, happier, more productive, a greater contributor to the problems facing society than you are now
• and such success CAN bring you increased enjoyment of life
• Tomorrow DOES come and the seeds you sow today … you know the rest

Striving – the Cons

• Can set you up for failure and disappointment
• Can lead to unhealthy obsession and alienate you from your family and friends
• Can distract you from enjoying the moment and being happy now (’now’ being the only reality you will ever actually experience)
• Can bring negative effects of stress into your life, eg. reduced immune system functionality

Self-Acceptance – the Pros

• Can be a huge weight off your shoulders
• That allows you to Just Be Happy Now (no mean feat)
• Gives you a lightness of heart and a self-confidence that is a pleasure for yourself and others to behold
• Attracts luck your way because your positive vibes make people want to work with you and help you
• Helps others because you stop focusing on your own perceived problems and start reaching out with compassion

Self-Acceptance – the Cons

• you run the ‘danger’ of becoming stuck in your own self-satisfied rut, i.e. you can become very mouldy
• you may actually only be so full of self-acceptance because you live in a very sweet situation day-to-day. Therefore if the shit hits the fan, will your enlightened state persevere or will you succumb to stress, self-pity and fear?
• You may be underestimating yourself and settling for a lesser contribution to society than you could be making
• You may be deluding yourself – you may in fact have actually given up on your dreams and are masking your own deep, sad sense of disappointment in yourself and life with a veneer of false self-satisfaction.

Well that’s all for me for now but this is certainly the beginning of a series of posts exploring these themes and setting myself up for some kind of public challenge.

What are your thoughts on these ideas?

Imagine … you are sitting in your room, enjoying the kind of brilliant, cosmic high that other people pay good money for – but it costs you nothing, you can turn it off at any time, and not only is it harmless – it actually strengthens and improves your health!

Sound like bullshit?

Well it’s not; it’s truth, and you can make it a part of your reality today.

Confession: I Am a Complete Tripper

I get ridiculously high on a regular basis – like, I am talking “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” here – except with two major differences:

1. No paranoia or other negative side-effects
2. I don’t actually take any kind of drug or substance to induce my highs

So how can you get right-out-there high without taking drugs?

Introducing … Psychedelic Meditation

Like some weird kind of hippy scientist, I have spent the last ten years refining a system of meditation designed – amongst other benefits – to induce a wonderful, clear, clean and blissful Cosmic High. Here’s how it happened …

I used to be big into drugs and alcohol – I was a musician with all the usual crazy ideas about what constituted a good idea and a fun time. My values have changed a bit now, but more so my physical ability to punish myself like that anymore. (At 35 – and after really going for party-gold for many years – the old system just doesn’t dig that crazy shit anymore.)

I used to pride myself on my ability to party on without much in the way of negative side-effects, I would go straight from a late night club to work in the morning and think nothing of it. But by the time my mid-late twenties rolled around I found myself getting more and more depressed. I turned to meditation to alleviate these feelings and pretty soon I was back on track and feeling better, but something else kept happening…

Something unexpected…

Although it was not why I had taken up meditation, sometimes I would notice a very pleasant side effect that came over me when I was meditating…

Meditating Was Getting Me As High As A kite – And I Loved it!

Honestly it was amazing. I remember once a friend of mine knocked on my apartment door when I was in the middle of a particularly wonderful meditation induced high and when I answered the door he said something like “Man! You are totally glowing with some kind of supernatural light!” (I kid you not!)

I hugged him and then started enthusiastically describing how I was feeling: how I felt like my body was swimming in warm, sticky honey and how I was just so incredibly happy and how everything looked so trippy and how everything in the world just made so much sense … and he said “Dude! You’re on acid, right?”

But I wasn’t – not at all – and anyway it felt better than acid (I would know).

I was hooked – well, not literally because it’s not a destructive addictive substance – but I definitely wanted to feel this incredible Bliss as often as possible.

BUT…

It didn’t happen every time. Sometimes I would sit and it just wouldn’t happen.

But I kept at it and after ten years practice I can honestly say that I have got it down to a pretty fine art.

I’d like to share this with you so I have written an e-book about it. It’s pretty detailed and has taken me a lot of time to research and write, so I feel it’s only fair that I charge for it BUT I am offering a special discount to current Rebel Zen readers: It’s full price will be $39.75 and we are offering a general introductory price of $32 – BUT Rebel Zen readers can grab it for $25 for the next week only.

REBEL ZEN MEMBER PRICE: $25.00

You will need to enter this code RZLIST3160 into the box when you get to the special Rebel Zen offer page by following the link below:

Click Here for “Psychedelic Meditation: How to Get an Awesome High Without Drugs”

Clicking the link above will not commit you to purchasing the book; it will take you to a page that has some more information about it and from there you can make up your mind.

I do hope you decide to give it a go. I reckon you’ll get heaps out of it and anyway there’s a 100% money back guarantee – so if you hate it you can stick it back in my face and I won’t argue

Just in case you need a little more convincing here’s a list of what’s in the book:

	A Foundation Course To Prepare Your For Your Cosmic Trip – Meditation Basics For Those New To the Art
	The One and Only Breathing Skill You Will Ever Need To Meditate Effectively
	A Detailed Explanation of the Two Body Skills of Psychedelic Meditation
	A Detailed Explanation of the Four Mind Skills of Psychedelic Meditation
	A Dynamic Investigation That Smashes Some of The Biggest Myths Surrounding Meditation
	Hints and Tips To Help You Get Through Common Roadblocks to Effective Meditation
	Rebel Zen’s Patented “Tri-Focal Meditation Technique™” – a way to meditate that makes it so easy that even those with the busiest minds find they can finally break through and meditate properly
	The One Negative Side Effect of Meditation that the Gurus Don’t Want You to Know … And What To Do About It.
	The Single Greatest Secret to Happiness in this Life – you’ll see how this relates to getting high without drugs when you read it.
	Several Colourful Descriptions of Trippy Psychedelic Meditation Sessions of My Own (to encourage you to “break on through to the other side”)
	A Guided Meditation For Those Who Need a Bit of Extra Help

REBEL ZEN MEMBER PRICE: $25.00 (full price will be $39.75)

You will need to enter this code RZLIST3160 into the box when you get to the special Rebel Zen offer page by following the link below:

Click Here to Purchase “Psychedelic Meditation: How to Get an Awesome High Without Drugs”

Happy tripping!

Seamus Anthony

By Seamus Anthony

I am a big fan of spot meditations, which are quick meditations done “on the spot” that can take anywhere from an instant to a couple of minutes. Here’s a longer one that I sometimes do in the morning when I get up.

First thing I do is put the kettle on, then while I wait for it to boil I do a quick, relaxing meditation.

I have an old stainless steel kettle that we heat up on the gas stove-top which takes a minimum of five minutes depending on how full it is. You could do an electric kettle meditation but that would be a true ’spot meditation’ as they boil pretty quickly.

My kettle meditation technique isn’t complicated – just sitting up straight, focussing on the breath and enjoying the morning peace and quiet. Obviously I live somewhere that is peaceful and quiet in the mornings, I guess if you don’t then you’ll have to meditate on the noise – which can be ok also (but more challenging in my opinion).

Our kettle sings this lovely, warm two-note harmony when it boils which is great when I am doing the kettle meditation and nobody is home, but truth is I usually flick the whistle up so that it doesn’t sound, in order to get a precious hour’s writing in before the little ‘un wakes up.

I find this meditation useful on mornings where I want to get straight into writing first thing while my mind is fresh, but have that nagging voice telling me that it is also a perfect time to meditate. This way I get just a nice taste of that lovely, lush, pleasant feeling that washes over me when I meditate, and then I get to work with a nice hot cuppa tea at hand.

Ah, it’s a wonderful life!

Speaking of the blissful feelings that meditation can bring on, we have just released a 60 page e-book this week about just that. Please visit our Psychedelic Meditation website to find out how you can enjoy a blissful Cosmic High by meditating.

By Seamus Anthony

Did you know you can practice meditation in pretty much any situation?

If you lead a busy life and find it hard to make time to meditate, then you might like to try meditating while you get some “mindless” chores done. I do it when I am washing the dishes. Here’s how …

Turning Mindless Chores into Mindful Chores

We usually think of housework as being pretty mindless work. That’s why some people like it, they find it relaxing, and why others (like me) hate it. I dislike it because I would much rather be somehow engaging the grey matter a bit more (by doing something creative).

Why do I feel the desire to be doing something more creative? Because I have an idea in my head that this is more worthwhile – but the truth is no action is more or less worthwhile in life – they are just what they are no more no less.

I know this in theory – but nevertheless I have always tended to get frustrated and irritable when doing household chores. That’s why (as my wonderful, long-suffering partner will attest) I avoid them like the plague.

And that was how I intended to live my life out; I never really thought I’d come to a place in life like I am now where the amount of household work I am required to do has massively increased.

Newsflash: Children Create Havoc, Mess and LOTS of Housework!

Seriously, as we were wistfully looking at the growing bump and contemplating names for the impending bundle of joy, I never for a moment twigged that with the joy of becoming a father would come a gigantic increase in the amount of crap that needs doing around the home.

It creeps up on you too, at first having a little bubs seemed like a walk in the park, all she did was sleep, eat and poop. But now, as she enthusiastically carves a path of destruction towards her first birthday, I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time wiping, washing and tidying up. And that’s just me, save your sympathy for my darling partner. As I type away in some kind of warped attempt at breadwinning, I can see her out my window hanging yet another load of washing out to dry. It just never stops – and we’ve only got one kid!

Yeah, So Like, Whatever Gramps – What About the Meditation Lesson Already?

Oh right, sorry. Got carried away.

Mindfulness is a term used to describe the process of focussing only on what it is that you are doing now in the present moment. This skill is pretty much the basic skill of meditation (although there will be various opinions on this statement no doubt).

So whether you’re processing customers at the fast-food counter, perfecting a new skateboard move, coding the next Facebook, or in my (sad) case, doing endless piles of dishes, you can quite realistically meditate while you work.

Here’s the ‘Housework Meditation’ technique:

1. Focus only on the task at hand
2. And your breathing
3. Breathe normally, just pay attention to it
4. And the task at hand
5. Try and catch yourself when you start thinking about something else, something irrelevant to the task at hand
6. Then – without berating yourself for losing concentration – move your focus back to the task at hand
7. repeat until the task is done.

Boring – But Beneficial

Remembering that the idea is to remain focussed on your task as much as possible, this process will be easy if you are enjoying what you are doing, or if it requires a lot of concentration.

It may prove more challenging if the job you are doing is dull, repetitive and, in itself, not challenging, but the benefits for practising this “moving meditation” are plentiful.

• You will do the job better (and potentially faster).
• You will be exercising your “focus muscle”, i.e. your ability to concentrate.
• And, with any luck, you will hopefully notice an increased level of relaxation and inner peace.

This last benefit is why I try to practice meditation while I do the dishes. Otherwise my irritation at this never-ending, boring chore starts to wind me up and before I know it my mind takes this bad attitude and runs with it. Next thing you know I am seething about “what she said” and “what he did”, and this kind of thinking my friends, is bad news. Very bad news indeed.

On the other hand if (on a good night) I manage to relax and clear my mind of bullshit while I clean those (wonderful, lovely) pots and pans, I find myself infused with a Universal perspective and a sense of gratitude. Then when I turn around to see that the little horror bundle-of-joy has created some gigantic mess and the darling wife is losing the plot over it, I am more likely to be able to help diffuse the situation with my, like, totally Zen energy (maaan).

Any interesting ways and places that you like to meditate? Tell us all about them in the comments section below, and don’t forget to go here to get your free e-book (by me, it’s quite good).

It happens to all of us doesn’t it?

You finally get the time to sit down to read a good book, write a new blog post or meditate when Mr Jones next door decides it’s time to mow the lawn, then go around the edges with his edge-trimmer, then use the leaf-blower to blow the clippings into the gutter – even though he did it all just last week.

Great.

Ju-u-ust perfect.

In this scenario you have two options.

No wait, three, but physical violence is against the law so we’ll focus on the other two:

1) Get Mad and Burn Up Inside.

2) Get Mad, Then Find A Way To Quickly Diffuse That Anger

We’ll get into these in a moment but first…

What Are The Lawnmowers In Your Life?

Lawnmowers are just my pet hate – but the things that get you all riled up inside might be different. Maybe the way your partner talks to you when they’re in a bad mood, or the way your boss treats you or just the irritating habits of the guy who sits across the desk from you at work.

So passing the “Lawnmower Test” means effectively dealing with the anger or irritation you feel when your ‘lawnmower’ pushes your buttons.

Whatever your pet hates are, the question is – how comfortable are you with the way you respond when your buttons are pushed? Are you OK with getting pissed off and silently raging away when the lawnmowers start up? Or is this something you want to transcend?

I am not writing this article as an ‘expert’, but as a seeker. I’d love to be able to transcend my grumpiness. I have become waaaay more “zen” than I used to be, and a lot of things don’t irritate me anywhere near as much as they used to, but gee, it would be nice to be able to go all smiling-Buddha every time my crazy neighbour decides to give his gigantic field another crew cut.

Let’s have another look at our options…

Option 1- Get Mad and Burn Up Inside

This is the easiest response and it’s probably our default option. I know it is for me.

(By the way as I type this some numbskull is trimming the weeds in the large field behind me. Two doors away some other monkey is using a drill or something. The noise is insane.)

I am sure it isn’t good for us, but I find it very difficult not to get, well – not mad as such – but grumpy and irritated.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that but I would love it if I could somehow “not-care” when the lawnmowers start.

Option 2 – Get Mad, Then Find A Way To Quickly Diffuse That Anger

This is more challenging, but better for our long term health and happiness.

By the way, I think it is unrealistic to try and not get irritated by your Pet Hate at all – let’s stay real here – but how do you quickly diffuse the rage? Here are some options:

Deep breathing

I find this really helps.

I will be explaining a fantastic technique for effective deep breathing in our upcoming e-book, so be sure to sign up for free email or RSS updates in the box at the bottom of this article, that way we can tell you when the e-book is ready.

Move Away from the Problem

Easy solution – but what happens when you can’t? When you have work to do? Or when you have responsibilities to face up to?

For example I could just pack up shop right now and put a couple of miles between me and Edge Trimmer Man, but I have so much work to do and I love my work and I have a family to feed, so it’s not going to happen.

The same applies when you find yourself wanting to strangle your husband or wife – in the nicest possible way of course! You can’t just up and leave like that – there are kids to take care of, finances to get in order and friends coming over for dinner or whatever.

So while moving away from your Lawnmower makes sense if you can, it’s not always an option.

Dwell In the Angst

This has really helped me from time to time. What I do is sit down and just totally focus on how massively pissed off I am. I let the issue totally consume me, and my anger too (but I am not allowed to get off my chair).

Eventually, somehow, it seems to work that the issue just doesn’t get to me after a while. Maybe there’s only so far you can go with this kind of response to external irritants before the anger just naturally runs its course.

Let it Flow then Let it Go

If nobody is around I yell and swear for all I’m worth. Then I drop it.

I read about this in “The Way of the Peaceful Warrior” years ago and I remember it made me laugh because growing up in a big Irish family this “technique” is just the norm. Except people didn’t care who was around; that wasn’t a limiting factor.

It sounds like I am joking but seriously, we’d yell and rant and rave and storm off to our rooms and slam the door behind us.

Then ten minutes later we’d walk out as if nothing had happened. Everyone was cool again and never a grudge was held in all these years.

Talk About It

I used to hate namby-pamby advice like this, but I have recently come to realise that I had a typical (and unhelpful) male habit of keeping my worries to myself until I boiled over. I have come to realise that while we may feel a bit awkward at first, if we blokes just bite the bullet and discuss issues like adult Human Beings it really helps to alleviate internal rage.

Just don’t confuse a monologue for communication.

And while you’re at it, don’t confuse “talking about it” for complaning and moaning.

As an older boy told me once during a wet and miserable school camp: “Nobody likes a whinger mate”.

(Do people use the term ‘whinger’ in the United States? If not, it means a person who whines and moans all the time.)

I would love to hear your strategies for diffusing anger and irritation in the comments section – for example, what about diet? Can changes made in that area improve our ability to become “unflappable?”