zenwords - Tumblr blog

[zenwords]

Forgive Yourself For How You Chose To Survive Forgive yourself for how you chose to survive. Forgive yourself for the desires you judged harshly. Forgive yourself for indulging in things that took up your time but didn't fulfill you. Forgive yourself for declaring yourself as someone you’re not. Forgive yourself for your chosen avenues of negative expressions. Forgive yourself for all the times you didn’t add value to others. Forgive yourself for what you discovered about yourself that you didn’t like. Forgive yourself for whatever ugliness you saw in yourself. Forgive yourself for not correcting what you think you should have. Forgive yourself for the parts you couldn’t respect. Forgive yourself for all these judgments. Forgive yourself for not being able to forgive yourself before. — Emily Maroutian #forgivingYourself #emilyMaroutian #zenwords https://www.instagram.com/p/CqLL5a8uFj8/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[zenwords]

Once you have understood the basic principle of being present as the watcher of what happens inside you— and you "understand" it by experiencing it—you have at your disposal the most potent transformational tool. — Eckhart Tolle, from the book “The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment” #kindlequotes #presence #thePowerOfNow #eckhartTolle https://www.instagram.com/p/CqDpszCO-wQ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[zenwords]

Next time you feel agitated because you are falling back into past patterns, remember that simply being aware that you have fallen back into repeating the past is a sign of progress. Self-awareness comes before the Great Leap Forward in your personal transformation. — Yung Pueblo #pastPatterns #selfAwareness #greatLeapForward #progress #personalTransformation #yungPueblo @zen.words #zenwords https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci71HQtOc3_/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[zenwords]

Controlling Anger

To control anger you have to pay attention to anger. It is a hard emotion to control because when it arises it takes over your mind, cutting off your reasoning ability and pushing you into angry action.

Angry action is generally destructive action, so a big part of controlling anger is controlling what we do when we are angry. We have to try to limit the destruction and harm our anger does to us and to others. It is like anger makes us radioactive. We need to limit how we expose others to our radiation and how long we endure it ourselves.  Recognizing the toxicity of our anger helps us to break its spell.

When you are under anger’s spell and you want to let it go, you can channel the angry energy into helpful actions. You can write about whatever is making you angry,  go for a walk, do some physical labor, do something constructive to burn it off. Figuring out where to channel your anger is the immediate safety plan. Changing your anger habit is the long-term approach.

To change your approach, pay attention to how much time you spend angry each day. From one day to the next, you spend a consistent amount of time being angry. Once you get a sense of how much of your life you spend angry, you can work on lowering it. Lowering the amount of time you spend angry is like quitting smoking. Your body will crave anger like a smoker’s body craves nicotine. The world will provide just enough problems to get you however much anger you are used to.

Also, pay attention to the situations that get you angry. As you become more familiar with the kinds of things you use to get angry about, you will be able to see them coming and make an effort to respond differently.  Anger seems like an involuntary response to situations, but when you learn how you get angry and become curious about how it arises, you will find that there is a brief opening, between when something happens and when anger begins. That opening allows you  to come up with a more aware response. For example, if you get road rage, you can notice when another driver makes a bonehead move and, instead of becoming enraged, notice the fear you feel for your safety. Instead of screaming, take a breath and wish for everybody on the road to be safe from accidents. 

With a strong anger habit, anger becomes an overused emotional response that overrides more subtle emotions. Anger often arises from feelings of fear or helplessness. As you practice approaching your anger with awareness, you will get better at feeling the more subtle, less comfortable emotions. Feelings of vulnerability may be less comfortable than flying off in a fit of rage, but those feelings are necessary and are less destructive to you and the people around you. 

When you act angry at people, defenses arise and they try to protect themselves. When you become sad around people, compassion arises and they try to comfort you. It is a great life skill to be able to control anger because, without that skill, anger will control you.

[zenwords]

If you take on the goal of building peace within yourself, that means you will need to focus on building 3 essential qualities: self-awareness, non-reactiveness, and compassion. Self-awareness is needed to stay attuned to the way your emotions change and to not allow the narratives that are built around tension to take control. Non-reactiveness helps you slow down during difficult moments so you can ask yourself how you genuinely want to show up instead of just reacting defensively. Compassion is necessary so that you can be more gentle with yourself and others. Strengthening these internal qualities will help you more smoothly ride the ups and downs of life. — Yung Pueblo #yungPueblo #peace #selfAwareness #compassion #nonReactiveness https://www.instagram.com/p/CpsVVjqOni_/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[zenwords]

One of the major ways to open yourself to the present so that it is a fresh and vibrant experience is to be intentional about not reacting impulsively to life, but instead slowing things down so that you have more time to align yourself with the actions that feel most genuine to who you are now instead of who you were in the past. As you learn to feel your emotions and better manage your reactions, the next empowering step is bringing harmony to the situations you are a part of, not by controlling the situation but by simply maintaining your energy the way you want it to be even if people around you are inviting you to join their turbulence. You can certainly bring harmony by helping others, but you can also add harmony to a situation by living in your peace.-- — Yung Pueblo #thePresent #yungPueblo #selfTrust #harmony #peace #selfAwareness #selfConfidence #selfKnowing #selfReliance https://www.instagram.com/p/CpNmV3MOZ3k/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[zenwords]

Times of deep release, when the debris of the past is cleansed from the mind, can make us feel weighed down for hours or even days. While these moments often feel like they are going to last forever, remind yourself that they are temporary. Breaking our allegiance to our past by saying no to old patterns and intentionally giving our energy to new positive habits can sometimes make us feel fear or doubt as we enter into a new era of our life, but recognizing these temporary moments as a shedding of the past and trusting the process can help us more wisely ride the ups and downs of healing. — Yung Pueblo #yungPueblo #thePast #oldPatterns #fear #doubt https://www.instagram.com/p/CpF4HYbu4Ds/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[zenwords]

Anxiety Awareness

When you learn mindfulness, you learn to focus on your breathing and to observe your thoughts so that you can find peace in the present moment. Breathing is the great tool of mindfulness because it is always there and it has a physiological connection with relaxation. It is beautiful and peaceful. When you are not thinking about your breathing it is still there for you, just like your essential goodness.

Anxiety is another great tool of mindfulness. It is not always there, but it is always waiting in the wings. Your life is cruising along and you’re feeling peaceful, then, suddenly, anxiety springs itself on you and breaks you out of your pleasant mood.

 There is nothing pleasant or welcome about anxiety. If you liked it, it wouldn’t be anxiety. Feeling anxious can bring you into the present moment as effectively as breathing. When you notice yourself feeling anxious, you are present. You are whole. You are all that you can be, and you are anxious.

When you engage with your anxiety by meeting it with your breath and observing your thoughts, you gain a sense of control. Each time you encounter your anxiety with your breath, you can see what happens to it and to you rather than being carried away by it. You will learn to break its spell. When your anxiety can no longer bewitch you, it will go away.

If you consistently practice meeting your anxiety with mindfulness, over time, your anxiety will come less, leave sooner, and won’t be so painful. You won’t worry about its comings and goings because when it comes you know how to breathe into it, let it go, and return to your peace.

****From the third Zen Mister Series book, Hear Now. 

[zenwords]

Low Self-Esteem and Jealousy Low self-esteem is like constant jealousy. When you think you are unworthy, you become jealous of everybody who appears worthier in comparison. When you notice yourself comparing yourself to others or to a more perfect imaginary image of yourself remember that you are hurting yourself by making that comparison. Remember that because you are often anxious and depressed that your judgement about yourself is likely to be negative. You can’t trust that judgement. You have to remember that you are no better or worse than anybody else. — zenmister, from Low Self-Esteem and Jealousy #lowSelfEsteem #jealousy #unwortiness #comparingYourself #anxiety #depression #judgement https://www.instagram.com/p/Co8TkMNONri/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[zenwords]

When we are unable to look inwards because of our insecurity, we also pull away from our primary social drive to seek deep and meaningful connections. Insecurity puts us in direct conflict with our innate need for bonding. This creates a profound emptiness in our lives. We feel as if there is no meaning to anything that we are doing, even though we may have great careers, wealth and comfort. We feel lost because we have moved far away from the greatest source of meaning and happiness ‒ a deep connectedness with other human beings. We soon find ourselves in a state of emotional isolation.  — Finding Awareness, from The Journey of Self-discovery from Amit Pagedar #insecurity #emptiness #emotionalIsolation @findingAwareness #feelingLost https://www.instagram.com/p/Co5CR7QOIXe/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[zenwords]

Intuition Create what your intuition is asking you to create. Do this as an act of service. You have no idea who you may end up helping or even the lives that you may save by simply following the truth of your heart. Don't let fear stop you from listening to your inner calling. Don't let an unclear path discourage you from taking steps into the unknown. The greatest you arises when you gently start embracing the space beyond your comfort zone. You don't need to have all of the answers right now to eventually be successful. You just need to be willing to take one step at a time. Embrace the challenge. Remember how strong you are and how much you have already overcome. You don't need to move fast, even moving slowly can get you to where you want to go. Let yourself live in your power. You hold a unique vision and that is your gift to the world. — Yung Pueblo #intuition #fear #yungPueblo https://www.instagram.com/p/CohxCSgu2Ey/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[zenwords]

The kindest people are not born that way, they are made. They are the souls that have experienced so much at the hands of life, they are the ones who have dug themselves out of the dark, who have fought to turn every loss into a lesson. The kindest people do not just exist - they choose to soften where circumstance has tried to harden them, they choose to believe in goodness, because they have seen firsthand why compassion is so necessary. They have seen firsthand why tenderness is so important in this world. — Rainbow Salt #kindness #darkness #softness #tenderness #compassion #loss #lessons https://www.instagram.com/p/CoaDaMBuB4c/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[zenwords]

#fear #suffering #findingawareness #repost
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPVpIadH-vZ/?utm_medium=tumblr

[zenwords]

The more we prepare to face our fear, the more likely we are to suffer from it. We never truly fear outcomes. We fear what those outcomes would mean for us. Yet most of us go on with life as if it’s an outcome that matters the most. For instance, we don’t want to get sick, we don’t want to lose our job, we don’t want to be left by our partners. All these are outcomes, and we fear them deeply. But are we really scared of these outcomes, or deep down, the fear is how we would react to them? We know that we aren’t capable of going through these things, and therefore we fear those outcomes. When we fear something our mind becomes obsessed with it. It begins to live the fear even before it has happened. This build up and preparation is exhausting to the mind. If the event or the outcome actually happens, we have already exhausted all the mental resources we needed to respond to it in real time. Our intention was to prepare so as not to suffer, but this preparation is what ensures the exact opposite. Preparing not to suffer in the future, is the best way to invite suffering into our lives. So the more we fear something, the more likely it is that we will suffer from it, if the event were to happen in reality. What matters is NOT how prepared we are, but how we actually act when the time comes. If you look back at painful incidents in the past, you’ll realize that you were strong enough to survive them only because you had no idea that they were coming. Medical professionals know this very well. That’s why they distract the patients before administering a shot. A better way then is to relax in the moment knowing that preparation is not always the right answer. Surely we must plan for an emergency, but worry and fear arising from such planning should be an indication that we are over-preparing. The key is to consciously let go of psychological preparation for something we are afraid of. That is, taking practical steps which may be necessary - like eating healthy to not get sick- but not mentally preparing to not get sick. — finding awareness #fear #suffering #findingawareness https://www.instagram.com/p/CoPoTV0OwD3/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[zenwords]

Inner Peace Searching for inner peace begins with the recognition of suffering. Creating world peace begins with the recognition of suffering. Recognizing suffering is easy, but it hurts. Whenever you feel hurt or notice someone hurting, there is suffering. Recognizing that is the first step to peace. If you are not feeling or seeing hurt and suffering, then you have found peace. The minute you begin to worry that the peace won’t last, you are back to suffering. The minute you realize that the peace will last, you have fundamentally changed your way of suffering. When you recognize that you can handle your suffering, you have found peace. — Zenmister, from Peace & Suffering #peace #suffering #innerPeace #zenmister #zenwords https://www.instagram.com/p/CnwtPGYux4N/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[zenwords]

Stay in the Moment. The practice of staying present will heal you. Obsessing about how the future will turn out creates anxiety. Replaying broken scenarios from the past causes anger and sadness. Stay here, in this moment. — S. McNutt (via tinybuddhaofficial) #stayInTheMoment #sMcNutt #anxiety #sadness #zenwords https://www.instagram.com/p/CnuTEMtO4R3/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[zenwords]

When we are unable to look inwards because of our insecurity, we also pull away from our primary social drive to seek deep and meaningful connections. Insecurity puts us in direct conflict with our innate need for bonding. This creates a profound emptiness in our lives. We feel as if there is no meaning to anything that we are doing, even though we may have great careers, wealth and comfort. We feel lost because we have moved far away from the greatest source of meaning and happiness ‒ a deep connectedness with other human beings. We soon find ourselves in a state of emotional isolation.  — Finding Awareness, from The Journey of Self-discovery from Amit Pagedar #insecurity #emptiness #emotionalIsolation @findingAwareness #feelingLost https://www.instagram.com/p/CnmhoyQO-Cp/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=