It feels like every tradition has a prescription on how you should sit; where to hold your hands, what to do with your eyes, and how you should handle sleepiness and pain are all prescribed.

The difference between expectation and reality is often the source of significant discontent.

Life trains us to search for ideals: the perfect partner, job, life, outcome. Unfortunately this almost never arises and even if it did, it would be fleeting…

What greater gift can you give someone than the gift of presence? When you are fully present, mindful, and in the moment, you are able to give all those around you access to the best version of you, and thus the moment they are in with you.

In this episode, I share with you a guided meditation…

The more you know about yourself the better choices you will make and thus the better life you will lead.

In this episode I share some recent instances of deep personal insight where I discover things about myself that are both good, bad, and ugly.

I share the importance of such discoveries as well as the ways in which I (and you can) foster further insights into your own nature.

Yesterday, a friend asked me how to meditate, that talk inspired this episode. Here is my guidance for absolute beginners:

1: sit comfortably (no pain or sleepiness)
2: set a timer for 5 minutes
3: pick a meditation object (breath, vision, sound)
4: when you notice a wandering kind, bring it back to focus. A successful session is one that you complete, ideally every day!

The moment we label something, it is limited. The label isn’t the truth, it is a representation of, it’s a finger pointing to the moon, it is a suggestion of possibility that always falls short of reality.

Life will shoot us with the first arrow - these are real injuries, setbacks, losses and pain.

But the greater cause of our suffering comes form ‘the second arrow’ - the fear, anxieties, ruminations, and other internal mechanisations that we dwell upon.

In this episode I discuss the concept of the second arrow, as well as how we can use it to eliminate significant amounts of excess (and useless) suffering.

Last night I woke enraged. At the world. At my family. At my job. At myself. I was lying in bed in a state of utter tension; with a headache, racing heart, and complete emotional overwhelm.

Today I share the audio from my live talk on the Insight Timer app, titled "Stop Quitting On Yourself", inspired by my 10 day course - “Discover Your Divine Purpose”…

We have a tendency to believe that happiness will come ‘when we make it’ or ‘when we accomplish the goal’. In this way we delay our happiness to some future state.

The problem is that we live the majority of life in the pursuit, and when we finally do arrive, our happiness is short lived.

Thus we risk living a life where we are delaying our happiness, and never actually enjoying it, or the present moment.

But the good news is that once we recognise this process, we can start mindfully appreciating the present moment and enjoying the journey as well as the destination.

There is nothing in life that doesn’t change.

Consider your body, your goals, your life. It is always changing and will always change.

In this talk, I break down how mindfulness helps us to accept change and embrace it by living in the moment.

By seeing reality as it is, for what it is, we can find peace.

Positive daily habits are the key to personal development and growth.

Start slow and let life open up to accommodate the new habit. One minute a day is infinitely better than none - and the change will not come as a shock.

Your mind, body, and life will accommodate to your new habit and it will stick.

Live morning mindfulness sessions, 6:40am AEST on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/zacpphillips/

Program:
06:40 - Welcome + short talk
06:50 - 5 minutes of mindfulness meditation
06:55 - QnA + Closing gratitude

I would love to see you there!

Introducing my 10 meditation course on insight timer ‘Your Mindfulness Toolbox For Daily Living’.

In this course you will learn a collection of traditional and novel practices, techniques, concepts and strategies to attain mindfulness, and take the benefits of clarity, calm and control off the meditation mat and into every day life.

Mindfulness Meditation is the act of purposefully paying non-judgmental attention to the present moment.

To begin meditation, focus on the sensations of your breath. When you notice that you are distracted, gently return your focus back to the breath. Sounds simple enough, however, the beginning meditator quickly runs up against a plethora of questions, concerns and insights.

This talk aims to inform and empower all who wish to start a successful mindful meditation practice.

Active self-care is vital to maintain functionality. Last week was a struggle for me, so I decided to take some action.

Lucid dreaming involves becoming aware that you are dreaming and then taking control of the dream.

I use it as a form of wish fulfilment, exploration and inner therapy.

In this episode I discuss how to get and stay lucid and dive deep on why you should give it a try.

Worried about the Coronavirus? Meditation will help.

Unchecked fear can make us irrational, take away our functionality and impair our judgement. This impact is compounded when those around us are just as afraid as we are.

Fear has a way of spreading.

The panic buying of toilet paper, preserved goods and medications, as well as the absolute desolation of global share markets in response to the Coronavirus is telling.

We are afraid, and rightly so. But do we need to be this afraid to remain safe? I doubt it.

In this course you will learn five different meditations that will help you to reduce the severity and duration of intrusive thoughts. You will learn how to manage the (natural) fear that arises, as well as learn to put the information about the pandemic into an appropriate context for your life.

These skills will help you to maintain a sense of normality in a world that feels increasingly confusing and scary.

We are often our own worst critics. Mental illness or a traumatic past can make loving who we are feel seemingly impossible.

But there is a way to change that. To be kinder and more loving to ourselves.

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