8 ways to get unstuck

Posted on December 24, 2023 by nomadoftheuniverse

In the last couple of years I found myself stuck a lot. My life appeared empty — other than the humdrum of the day to day living, nothing was happening. I guess I did what Buddhism specifically warns one not to do — I’ve got fascinated by emptiness. I made it into a thing, a part of my identity, I made it real.

Or — another perspective — I needed to slow down and hit the reset button big time. I needed to let go of ideas and concepts that were not mine. Perhaps, my soul went on a strike, not allowing me to go back to the old ways.

In any case, having been stuck a lot, I had to find ways to get unstuck. It all has to do with energy and that means your thoughts and feelings. I am sharing them below, and if you are currently stuck, take heart, everything is cyclical and this will be over. Ready to flip a perspective and get your life force flowing again? 😉

Here is how to get unstuck:

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5 best TikTok videos about healing love addiction

Posted on December 23, 2023 by nomadoftheuniverse

I have selected five best videos on TikTok, including from psychologists, on the topic of love addiction aka why we keep crushing on people who don’t like us back. Enjoy! ❤️

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How to stop amygdala hijack

Posted on December 17, 2023 by nomadoftheuniverse
V&A museum

Amygdala hijack happens in that split millisecond when one can choose mindfulness, presence, a neocortex-based alternative to primordial flight or fight response but, alas, most of us succumb to the amygdala’s default and engage/ react 😫

There are several techniques that I’ve learned recently that help IF I remember to use them. Jeffrey Allen‘s grounding technique, Loner Wolf’s 12 grounding techniques, a 60 second breathwork exercise and tonglen practice.

I learned a new approach recently that works for processing difficult emotions but I am yet to try for triggering situations. Face the emotion. Sit/ be with what you are feeling. Find where and how it manifests in your body. For me, it’s usually a knot in the pit of my stomach. Don’t try to get rid of it. Instead, let it wash over you and watch it—what it is, its origin, why and how it’s triggering you.

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A poem #winter

Posted on December 16, 2023 by nomadoftheuniverse

I have not written poems for a while (see below why). Then I started following an Australian poet, Darby Hudson, and a poem wrote itself. I guess I can call it Winter.

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From joy I came…

Posted on December 10, 2023 by nomadoftheuniverse

Guruji keeps finding me in different ways (e,g., see this previous post 🙂 ). I am finally reading his book and it is amazing. I guess this is a sign to do his Kriya Yoga course. Will it help me to let go more and go deeper into Spirit? Here is one of his quotes:

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How to stop “saving” people

Posted on December 9, 2023 by nomadoftheuniverse
Allegory of Charity, c.1655, Francisco de Zurbaran

You meet a person. You share trauma and/or interests in common. They seem lovely, you hang out, and you become friends, fast. You notice some inconsistencies, e.g., they are not on any social media or love to complain about everything (being a victim), and perhaps in your gut you have this uneasy feeling. But making a deep connection is exciting and you steamroll over any red flags.

And then one day (soon, if you are lucky), you stretch your boundaries so much that an inevitable dramatic event occurs naturally and, in shock, you have to face the reality. The person is laden with emotional and mental health baggage, what they really need is therapy, not your friendship, you are not equipped to help them, you missed all red flags and overstepped all boundaries.

Sound familiar? As you wonder, once again—what happened? How did I let this happen? You realise you tried to “save”/ “fix” someone, again. You’ve done this before. Your first attempt at “saving” was likely your loved one who you desperately wanted, needed to change. Why do you keep doing this?

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What if money was not an issue?

Posted on December 3, 2023 by nomadoftheuniverse
Buddha sitting on a pile of money, AI art

Money is such a huge thing in our lives. We take it very seriously and make it very real. I have dedicated a few posts to money on this blog. There is “What if money was no object” by Alan Watts, “Minimalist happiness: radical saving as a way to liberation“, and “Happiness at work – promotion is not the only way“.

What if money was not an issue? In the words of Alan Watts, “How would you really enjoy spending your life?” and “What do you desire?”

Imagine you won the lottery, and today, just now, you have got $100,000,000 deposited into your account. Admin and bureaucracy aside, what are you going to do? What are your priorities going to be today, this week, this month, next year? What life are you going to create starting from today?

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True self-care

Posted on December 2, 2023 by nomadoftheuniverse
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So you say you don’t have enough time?

Posted on November 26, 2023 by nomadoftheuniverse

It’s not that you don’t have enough time; you are unreasonable with the time you have. Invest more time in the things that light you up and make you forget about time altogether. From here, time will be a servant to you.

* not sure about the source but I believe it’s from a book titled Go Bravely

I think the myth of not having enough time has been well and truly busted during lockdowns when all of us suddenly had a lot more spare time. Yet, all those things we said we would do if only we had more time, remained undone for many of us. Why? Laura Vanderkam has an answer in her famous TED talk. Her boiler analogy really made me change my perspective on how I treat spare time.

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Are you wasting your energy fighting the universe? by Michael Singer

Posted on November 25, 2023 by nomadoftheuniverse

A very helpful reminder to be present and empty.

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Value-based living in a chart

Posted on November 19, 2023 by nomadoftheuniverse

Living goal-less in the modern world obsessed with productivity, targets and measurement is almost a revolutionary act. When I surrendered my goals and planning structure overall (aka coping mechanism) to the Great Uncertain, I felt lighter.

I realised setting goals is useless as I don’t know how my path will manifest. I live guided by the values instead—how I want to be and feel rather than what I want to do. Values come from the soul, from the heart, they feel right, they vibrate at the correct frequency. The “doings” come and I use values to decide which ones to “do”.

Type A personality is hard to transmute so I made a list and an emoji based chart. Every three of my values start with the same letter, by coincidence? by design? who knows! The only one missing is love (or in Ram Dass’s formula—Love, Serve, Remember) but this one is a default one.

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Breathwork practices to reset & recharge in less than 30 minutes

Posted on November 18, 2023 by nomadoftheuniverse

I use this blog as a record of the insights, quotes and techniques that I find useful. I often go back and  search through the posts for this or that practice. However, I could not find this post which made me wonder if there were any more posts that were missing hmm. Gladly, I was able to recover the back up version. Below are some of the breathing techniques that I was learning in 2020 in preparation for the Blue Morpho retreat. The first one I found is especially effective (and fast). 

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Uncertain and anxious? Stuck? Lacking a purpose? Flip your perspective

Posted on November 12, 2023 by nomadoftheuniverse

I have been in the same empty, in-between place, feeling lost and stuck for three years in total now (with occasional clearances). I know how it feels. But I also know, and can tell you from experience, that due to the cyclical nature of things, it shall definitely pass. You will be back on top of things again.

Instead of fretting and feeling anxious about this period of uncertainty, why not treat it as a rare, luxurious, well deserved break when you get to look at your life and yourself, reassess your priorities, values and what you want in life? Here are three videos to help you flip your perspective and embrace the unknown.

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‘Tis the self-care season

Posted on November 11, 2023 by nomadoftheuniverse

I learned this lesson a while ago. Winter is for slowing down, taking it easy, and it is for self-care. No ambitious goals or projects, no pressure, no busy schedules.

In my case, self-care means DIY (nesting!), cooking, getting on top of the TV shows and movies on my To Watch list, and reading. A local library is a trusted source, but when not, ebay used books comes to the rescue.

I was finally able to afford a rocking chair which is making reading even more relaxing. These are the books on my bedside at the moment. Physics, Buddhism, slowing down. How about you, what are you reading, fellow nomads?

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Money meditation by Amara Strand

Posted on November 4, 2023 by nomadoftheuniverse

Amara has done it again (I’ve re-blogged her Release into the Void meditation before). Her listeners report that after listening to this latest spell? meditation? abundance has manifested in their lives. I consider my life abundant as it is, so I use this meditation to relax. I play it in the background when working on deadlines or stressful tasks. I do need to follow Amara’s instructions however and experiment with playing it before bedtime. It will probably be very soothing…

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