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Willpower Archives • Peace on Tap

Tag: Willpower

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The Experience of the Mind

I sat on my patio watching the sunset when I had an epiphany!



We experience EVERYTHING through our minds.

I found this thought very comforting. If we experience everything through the lens of our own minds and we REALIZE that we can use our will to exert control of what we think or stop thinking, then we are ULTIMATELY in control of how we experience the world.  Putting your perception on check for your own greatest good, feels,… well…, so damn empowering!

I often see how- we get bogged down with circumstances, people, thoughts, etc…  But meditation has taught me a very useful skill and that is to exert my will over that wily brain of ours! By doing this, I am also choosing the type of interactions I have with others and thereby my experiences. 

“You should not let anyone, or anything dominate your mind.”- This was taught to me by a very wise person.  This is a quick way to become prisoners of your own making. There is no worse prison than a prison that you are unable to escape- your mind.

Our imagination is very powerful, our minds are very powerful and if left unchecked, they can cause us real issues in our lives. It can cause us to experience life at the mercy of our own preoccupations.

I’m currently reading The Wisdom of the Shaman by Don Jose Ruiz and he explains that in the Toltec tradition, when someone begins to regularly practice awareness, they say he or she is now called a Toltec Hunter, because they begin stalking their mind and watching for thoughts or beliefs that no longer serve them. The Toltec Hunter defeats his thoughts instead of allowing them to drag him back into suffering. 

If we kill thoughts that are burdensome then we can have a pause to truly experience our surroundings, our relationships, our reality with an open and receptive way without the baggage.  When we are open and receptive, we experience peace and wonder.

And so, to my fellow Toltec hunters, I wish you all happy hunting and may we all come to know the power that resides in each of us.

 

                                                                   -K 

 

 

 

 

 

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Meditation: Reducing The Chaos

It is so easy to forget that we are in charge. That we have tools. You have something that no circumstance can take away and that is your will.

I know, sometimes it feels that we can think our way into finding whatever answer we are seeking if we just spend more time thinking about it. But in fact, your mind needs to step back in order to get some clarity.

So how can you use your will to get your mind to work for you, not the other way around? Meditate.

You sit down, close your eyes and use your will to focus on breathing through your nose. Meditation trains your mind to concentrate on a single point. In this case, it’s the feeling of oxygen coming into and out your nose. This is the anchor. Your mind will want to start thinking about everything else. Stop! Focus on feeling that nice oxygen going in and out your body. This is your anchor.

This is why mediation is like strength training for your will.

Sit down.

Breathe through your nose.

When you catch yourself looping something over in your mind. Breathe through your nose. Focus on your breathing as if your life depended on it. Before you know it, you will feel better because you officially willed yourself into having peace of mind.

Success!

Gentle Reminder:

Take it in strides. No one ever went to the gym and started bench pressing hundreds of pounds on their first day, or second day or well, you get the point.

Your will is the boss of your mind. Your breathing is the motion that keeps you anchored. Keep at it, it WILL get easier.

-K