The Easy Way to Mindfulness

The more you struggle, the bigger the problem becomes.

Running away from a lion is an entirely reasonable response.

Running away from a full email inbox is not. Yet, the anxiety a full email box can cause is very real to those who suffer it.

by freeing the mind from fixed ideas of oneself and one’s own abilities, we can effect positive physiological changes. In other words, by unsticking the mind from assumptions of infirmity, weakness, inability, hopelessness, etc., and moving our focus towards good health, strength, dexterity, and hope, we begin to recover our health.

Reality is what you experience yourself, via your senses. Senses only work in the present. You cannot see, hear, feel, taste, or smell things in the past or future.

When we allow thoughts to dominate our perception of reality, we divide our time between anxiety and regret – feeling anxious about the future and regretful about the past. This is not a recipe for happiness. And it is not reality.

Death is an everyday fact of life for the rest of the animals on Earth and yet it’s man, for whom food and water are mostly in good supply and whose predators are generally kept at bay, that suffers the most with stress and anxiety, develops addictions and eating disorders, and, in some cases, loses the will to live.

your thoughts are not the definition of reality.

Easyway explains addiction as the combined effect of two monsters: the Little Monster in your body (the withdrawal) and the Big Monster in your head (the brainwashing). Taking smoking as an example, the Little Monster is the empty, insecure feeling you get when the nicotine leaves your system. It’s a very mild physical sensation, but it’s enough to nudge awake the Big Monster. The Big Monster is the brainwashing. It’s the voice in your head that interprets the cries of the Little Monster as “I need a cigarette”.

The belief that life is hard and we have to endure anxiety and stress is another piece of misinformation that keeps us from seeing our true potential for happiness.

We worry about things that are mere thoughts.