The Zen of Spacious Life – Mindfulness
Published October 27, 2011 | 
To consider it in the simplest way, mindfulness means to stop thinking and start to be aware, to live in the present (here and now) of your life experiences instead of the past and future of your experiences and thoughts. Awareness or mindfulness stretches time in exactly the same way that new experience does, and since we devote more focused attention to our experience, we take in more information from it.
In other words, each of us to some extent can actually control time, although many do it unknowingly. But, the fact remains that time doesn’t have to speed up as we get older. Some of us try to extend our lives in traditional ways like keeping fit and eating healthy food, which is completely sensible and highly recommendable. Yet, it’s also possible for each one of us to expand time from the inside. How? By changing the very way we experience moments, the moment to moment reality that is our lives. Just imagine we can live for much longer, not just in terms of chronological years, but also in terms of our perception… and our spacious life.
Understand that Mindfulness is simply, your focused awareness of the present moment. The focused awareness of mindfulness allows us to be entirely conscious of any simple sensation like the warmth of sunlight, the cold of snowflakes or with the right focused awareness, the complex relationship and interaction occurring between our inner thoughts and feelings.
By tuning into our mental processes with the same focused mindfulness, we are capable of recognizing that our thoughts are actually just thoughts, and they don’t necessarily have to represent reality. With that focused recognition, we can observe our very thoughts, rather than being subject to them.
An amazing trait of mindfulness is that the clear and focused awareness allows us to absorb the tapestry-like richness of the moment, rather than going through life with half of our attention on the past or future or consumed by our own mental thought-chatter. The self-actualized knowledge that directly results from mindfulness permits us to be more intentional in choosing priorities and actions that fit our life mission or our entrepreneurial endeavors with greater success.
Senses of Mindfulness
Body – Being mindful of your breathing, even to the level of individual breath and this is your perception of the breath. Try it with different breath durations, long breath, short breath, deep breaths and shallow.
Feeling – From pleasant to painful and feeling along the spectrum.
Thoughts – Thoughts and intentions.
Mental – This is as much about the mechanism of how the six senses function, and is the very source or origin of all thoughts, feelings and perceptions. Everything starts somewhere and this is it. It is known in many beliefs as “the all.”
Therefore mindfulness should be defined as a technique in which a person becomes intentionally and skillfully aware of his or her perceptions, feelings, and thoughts in the present moment.
Finally, studies have found the following benefits for people who have developed their personal focused awareness and mindfulness with regular practice:
- Self-trust, self-acceptance, and increased self-awareness
- Enhanced and insightful appreciation of life
- Face difficulties with genuine serenity
- Accepting of life and its challenges with greater attitude
- Effective coping strategies with fluid adaptation to change
- Lasting decrease in stress-related physical symptoms, including chronic pain
- Anxiety and depression decreased significantly
- Greater concentration and enhanced creativity
- Immune system functioning with highly-noticeable improvement
If you are doing mindfulness meditation, you are doing it with your ability to attend to the moment. – Daniel Goleman
Praying without ceasing is not ritualized, nor are there even words. It is a constant state of awareness of oneness ‘the All,’ with God. – Peace Pilgrim
The awareness of our own strength makes us modest. – Paul Cezanne
The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness. – Lao Tzu
To become different from what we are, we must have some awareness of what we are. – Eric Hoffer
To reach your highest level of awareness, you have to put an end to karma, nurture your awareness, and accept what life brings. – Anonymous
The Zen of Success – Successful Thoughts on Positive
Published August 12, 2010 | Yin and Yang, left and right, good and evil, positive and negative, represent one of the most powerful aspects of human nature and life, the forces that can have a direct impact on the quality of life and the choices people make that determine their actions causes 
and effects not in only their lives but sometimes in the lives of many others including the entire world, depending on who the people are and their positions in life.
One of the most important and effective ways to gain knowledge, enlightenment and understanding about being POSITIVE and the great importance of it to our lives, is to learn from Successful people in history that have gone before us and become a priceless part of our past and positive, and who were and are generous with their thoughts, experience and understanding.
If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes. – John Wooden
When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking. – Albert Einstein
The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge. – Albert Einstein
Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will. – Zig Ziglar
Choosing to be positive and having a grateful attitude is going to determine how you’re going to live your life. – Joel Osteen
Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation. – Michael Jordan
Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind. – Henry David Thoreau
Every positive value has its price in negative terms… the genius of Einstein leads to Hiroshima. – Pablo Picasso
We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defects. – Alexis de Tocqueville
Like success, failure is many things to many people. With Positive Mental Attitude, failure is a learning experience, a rung on the ladder, a plateau at which to get your thoughts in order and prepare to try again. – W. Clement Stone
There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative. – W. Clement Stone
Winners make a habit of manufacturing their own positive expectations in advance of the event. – Brian Tracy
It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts. – Robert H. Schuller
If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges. – Pat Riley
Suffering is the positive element in this world, indeed it is the only link between this world and the positive. – Franz Kafka
Your smile will give you a positive countenance that will make people feel comfortable around you. – Les Brown
There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. That little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative. – Robert Collier
I’ve always believed that you can think positive just as well as you can think negative. – James A. Baldwin
Success or failure depends more upon attitude than upon capacity successful men act as though they have accomplished or are enjoying something. Soon it becomes a reality. Act, look, feel successful, conduct yourself accordingly, and you will be amazed at the positive results. – William James
Say and do something positive that will help the situation; it doesn’t take any brains to complain. - Robert A. Cook
A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results. – Wade Boggs
Foods high in bad fats, sugar and chemicals are directly linked to many negative emotions, whereas whole, natural foods rich in nutrients – foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes – contribute to greater energy and positive emotions. – Marilu Henner
The way positive reinforcement is carried out is more important than the amount. – B. F. Skinner
I do believe we’re all connected. I do believe in positive energy. I do believe in the power of prayer. I do believe in putting good out into the world. And I believe in taking care of each other. - Harvey Fierstein
So there was a fire inside me. And that fire inside you, it can be turned into a negative form or a positive form. And I gradually realised that I had this fire and that it had to be used in a positive way. – John Newcombe
The Zen of Success – Successful Thoughts on Focus
Published August 1, 2010 | One of the most important and effective ways to gain knowledge and enlightenment about FOCUS and the importance of it to our lives, is to learn from Successful people in history that have gone before us and become a priceless part of our past and present, and who were and are generous with their thoughts, experience and understanding.
You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. – Mark Twain
One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular. – Tony Robbins
Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives. – Tony Robbins
The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear. – Brian Tracy
My idea of a good picture is one that’s in focus and of a famous person. – Andy Warhol
When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence. – Ansel Adams
We can always choose to perceive things differently. You can focus on what’s wrong in your life, or you can focus on what’s right. – Marianne Williamson
Focus on your problem zones, your strength, your energy, your flexibility and all the rest. Maybe your chest is flabby or your hips or waist need toning. Also, you should change your program every thirty days. That’s the key. – Jack Lalane
My focus is to forget the pain of life. Forget the pain, mock the pain, and reduce it. And laugh. – Jim Carrey
The ego is nothing other than the focus of conscious attention. – Alan Watts
Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer. – Denis Waitley
Goals provide the energy source that powers our lives. One of the best ways we can get the most from the energy we have is to focus it. That is what goals can do for us; concentrate our energy. – Denis Waitley
I adore the challenge of creating truly modern clothes, where a woman’s personality and sense of self are revealed. I want people to see the dress, but focus on the woman. – Vera Wang
Live life to the fullest, and focus on the positive. – Matt Cameron
It is wise to direct your anger towards problems – not people; to focus your energies on answers – not excuses. – William Arthur Ward
If you want to be truly successful invest in yourself to get the knowledge you need to find your unique factor. When you find it and focus on it and persevere your success will blossom. – Sydney Madwed
The Zen of Success – Focus on the Positive
Published July 16, 2010 | One of the key skills of the Successful that everyone should learn is how to be aware of negative thoughts, and once aware, replace them with positive thoughts. 
I learned this through running, climbing multiple floors of stairs and weight training, and there are many, many times when you absolutely feel like giving up as negative thoughts start popping up almost immediately, and trust me that if you don’t catch and overcome these negative thoughts in time, they’ll just fester and grow until you actually do give up.
Instead, you must learn and strive to focus on the positive, about how great you feel, how other people have accomplished what you’re attempting to do, and if they can, so can you, and about how good it will feel when you accomplish what you’ve challenged yourself with.
Also learn to always see the positive in just about any situation, visualize the challenges as opportunities, and you will find this results in happiness, as in my experience, because you don’t focus on the bad parts of your life, but on the good aspects, and be thankful for what you’ve been given. Here are a few more tips for developing a positive outlook and lifestyle.
- You have to first admit that there are problems, simple, but not always easy
- It’s important to make goals a valuable part of your life
- Appreciate your real friends because they are few and hard to find and keep
- Realize it is really all in your mind where you live and control everything about you
- Avoid any negative influences that can rub off on you, because life’s too short
- Find optimistic quotes each week, if not each day
- Focus your imagination and efforts on becoming that new positive person hiding within
- Create your life from within, and you will always know yourself
- Imagine that you’re already a positive person and you will see it and be it
- Smile at strangers and you smile affects you positively more than anyone
- Volunteer or help others and you are helping yourself
- Replace negative thoughts with something positive to maintain your positive vision
- Use the Law of Attraction – The law of attraction states that every single positive or negative event that happened with you was attracted by you.
Let’s say a good friend loaned you money when you didn’t have any. You attracted that, even without your awareness of using the law. Say that teacher, classmate, client, or co-worker gave you a hard time during the day. You attracted that, too. Again, we are using the law every second of every day.
The Zen of Success – Focus on the Task at Hand
Published July 15, 2010 | Let me ask a question, have you ever completely immersed or lost yourself in something you were working on, so that you become oblivious and the world around you disappears? If you have, then you know you lose track of time and are completely caught up in the task you’re doing. 
That’s known as the popular concept of Flow, and it’s an extremely important component to finding happiness.
Having either work or leisure that gets you in this state of flow will almost always undoubtedly lead to happiness, as people tend to find their greatest enjoyment not when they’re passively mindless, but when they’re really absorbed in a mindful challenge.
Now, if you are like most people, you are probably wondering just how you get into the concept of flow. Well, it does take a bit of practice, but the first step is to find work that you’re passionate about, and you might not even think of it as work, because your passion is so strong. Honestly — this is an extremely important step to find hobbies or interests that you’re truly passionate about.
Next, you need to clear away any distractions and direct your focus completely on the task at hand you set before yourself. This is the part that can take a lot of practice.
Why is Flow Important?
From my experience, I believe the ability to single-task (as opposed to multi-task) is one of the keys to true productivity. Not the kind of productivity where you knock off 20 items from your to-do list (although that can be satisfying), where you’re switching between tasks all day long and keep busy all the time.
The true productivity I’m talking about is the kind where you actually achieve your goals, where you accomplish important and long-lasting things. As a writer, that might mean I’m writing one or two important and memorable articles rather, than several unimportant ones that people will forget 5 minutes after reading them. It means getting those key projects completed rather than putting them off to answer a bunch of emails, make a lot of phone calls, attend a bunch of meetings, and shuffle piles of paperwork all day long. It really means closing those key deals, and quality production, instead of quantity.
Finally, once you’ve learned and trained yourself to focus on those kinds of important projects and tasks, Flow is how you get them done, by you losing yourself in those important and challenging tasks, and instead of letting yourself be constantly interrupted by minor things, you are able to actually focus on the tasks long enough to actually complete them, and by losing yourself in them, you really do enjoy yourself more, as you reduce stress while increasing quality output. You get “important stuff” accomplished instead of just getting “things” done, you achieve goals rather than just keeping busy, and Flow is one of the critical key components to all of that.