“Everything is a happening, and all you do is watching it.” Guided meditation with Alan Watts.

Posted on November 9, 2014 by nomadoftheuniverse

I’ve discovered Alan Watts recently through LinkedIn out of all places. I follow Bruce Kasanoff’s mindfulness challenge, and one of his followers mentioned this meditation, which was so profound, it took me several weeks to find a moment of 100% focus to listen to it and absorb it fully. No regrets.

If you are new to meditation, if you are searching for inner peace or just have 15 min to spare, watch this beautiful guided meditation video. His take on thoughts as noise and a quote in the headline of this post is what I take out of it. Enjoy.

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Jason Silva brings awe to London and causes a ‘mindgasm’

Posted on November 2, 2014 by nomadoftheuniverse

For the last couple of weeks, Jason Silva has been exploding my brain, or as he would say, was the cause of multiple mindgasms 🙂  I had a chance to meet him in London where he did a talk at BAFTA recently (video below). He is as amazing in real life as he is on video.

The first video of Jason, the tech philosopher and futurist, that I’ve seen was the one above. I never before realised that this was indeed the driving force of many of my life decisions. Becoming aware of it helped me change my outlook on many things.

Continue reading →
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Random Acts of Kindness

Posted on October 18, 2014 by nomadoftheuniverse

Inspired by Timber Hawkeye’s Buddhist Boot Camp, I’ve been doing more RAKs (random acts of kindness) lately. Small things, like letting someone get on the train before you, helping ladies with prams, giving up a seat for an elderly passenger.

At work, I went above and beyond helping younger members of my team grow while dealing with the big changes in the company. At home, I am working on being kinder to my family —Timber gives fantastic advice on this — treat every person you meet as if they are Buddha. Or as if they are to die today. Thinking this way reframes your perspective. 

As I approach 40s, I deal with more death around me. Lovely elderly neighbour died a couple of weeks ago. Several friends or people I know have now either successfully overcome or succumbed to cancer. RAKs are even more important when dealing with someone in a serious life situation such as cancer. I’ve had to choose a gift for a friend who survived breast cancer recently. I gave her a pot of little lively purple violets which she loved. So glad she is much better now!

Pay it forward, nomads. Be kind.

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The biggest secret to happiness is to stay present, live in the now

Posted on October 12, 2014 by nomadoftheuniverse

Recently I have come to realise that the biggest source of happiness is how we treat the present and whether we live in the now. I’ve seen Matt Killingsworth’s talk and it made me revisit what I read in Eckhart Tolle’s New Earth about the present.

Continue reading →
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The School of Life is now on Youtube and they are tackling some serious issues

Posted on September 14, 2014 by nomadoftheuniverse

Yay, the School of Life and the amazing Alain de Botton are now on Youtube! Among the first uploaded videos my favourites are Why we go off sex and How to save love with pessimism. Philosophy gone mainstream? Enjoy!

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“Stumbling on Happiness” by Dan Gilbert

Posted on September 8, 2014 by nomadoftheuniverse

I am reading this new book on happiness and absolutely loving it. It’s written in a way that makes you giggle through it, from the first page, yet it makes a serious and big point. It talks about happiness, our perception of it, how our brains work etc.

A book on how to be happy in everyday life? I will share my impression and key take aways once I am done. You can also watch Dan Gilbert’s TED talk above.

Keep busy, stay happy!

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Art therapy — photographic art of Steve McCurry

Posted on August 31, 2014 by nomadoftheuniverse
Shaolin-monks-training-Zhengzhou-China-2004-1-c04933

I believe into the therapeutic power of art. Beautiful art can make one happy. I’ve recently discovered Steve McCurry at Beethles + Huxley gallery. You can view his works online here. My favourite is this one, called SHAOLIN MONKS TRAINING, ZHENGZHOU, CHINA, 2004.

 

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This video will change how you think about stress… and maybe even save your life

Posted on August 23, 2014 by nomadoftheuniverse

In studying the science of happiness, it’s interesting how sometimes you get a new perspective on the same thing or several different perspectives come into one and reveal something new. I’ve recently blogged on how thinking about stress symptoms as signs of courage, of readiness to tackle a challenge can help change one’s perspective on stress. I also blogged about ways to overcome stress in conflict situations, such as ‘pay forward’ by committing a random act of kindness. Then I’ve seen this video (above) today, which brought all of these perspectives together, and in addition, revealed a new outlook on oxytocin and its role in stress management. Change perspective. Pay forward. Connect. If you are stressed or ever were stressed, this is a must see.

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Inspiration for happy life — 30 things I’ve learned by Nick Crocker

Posted on July 27, 2014 by nomadoftheuniverse

Sometimes it’s useful to read posts like this one. Nothing in it is new, but it’s a list of principles of someone who lives a happy life (or strives to) and hence it’s helpful. Any checklist for happy life, any inspiration or new angle on old knowledge is always useful. See if you can find anything that resonates with you. My top 5 are below: Continue reading →

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Happiness in marriage — how we end up marrying the wrong people

Posted on July 13, 2014 by nomadoftheuniverse

Happiness in marriage and relationships is one of the big components of being happy overall. However, there is not much practical and smart literature on the subject. There are no high quality, verified schools or classes where one could learn the basics, and it’s pretty much expected that we figure it out by ourselves, often by repeating same costly mistakes as the people before us.

Enter Alain de Botton who I regard as one of the best living philosophers and his video above.

Continue reading →
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Surviving The Negativity Tornado

Posted on June 20, 2014 by nomadoftheuniverse

I had a really stressful week. I had to deal with some deeply unconscious, ego driven people who completely forgot they were mortal. There was no way around it, and I was not intending to let negativity take over me, so I got prepared. Here is a checklist I kept in front of me throughout the meeting. If you have a negative meeting or experience that you can not avoid, perhaps these will help you.

  • Stay aware
  • Do not resist, flow
  • Remember – this, too, shall pass
  • Give generously what you want to receive
  • Random act of kindness

Continue reading →

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Should I Or Shouldn’t I?

Posted on June 16, 2014 by nomadoftheuniverse

I found this one on Quora. I did not fact check it but it resonated. If you wonder, “Should I or should not I?” instead think “What will I regret more — doing it or not doing it?”

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Jim Carrey’s Commencement Address: Maharishi University

Posted on June 13, 2014 by nomadoftheuniverse

This speech has blown me away. The unexpected side to the speaker, its depth, the very Tolle’sque terminology he uses and the profoundness of advice given. The jokes too of course, eg ‘Monsanto seed’ or ‘I can not be contained because I am the container’.

I’ve been left so touched after watching it that I might need to watch it again. Two pieces of advice particularly stood out for me:

1) risk being seen in all of your glory

2) you will have 2 choices in life: love or fear. Don’t let your fear turn you against your playful heart.

What an amazing speech from an amazing man. Must see.

 

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Need More Than 24 Hours A Day? Think Again

Posted on June 7, 2014 by nomadoftheuniverse

In my recent post about stress I have discovered that apparently stress has same physical symptoms as courage (this is not scientific but seems plausible enough), so in some cases it may make sense to reframe feeling stressed as being brave. I’ve already used this trick a couple of times actually, during those fight or flight situations, and it works!

Interestingly, same week I ran into another post with a different albeit also interesting angle on stress. Continue reading →

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Kpop A Day Keeps A Therapist Away

Posted on May 4, 2014 by nomadoftheuniverse

My song of the week/ weekend/ spring! Kpop rules and G-Dragon is the best. This video energises and/or puts a smile on a face 🙂  I want his hair!!

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