Ilchi Lee's Blog, page 13

Your Heart Is Beating: It Is Enough

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In the quiet calm, our heartbeat can bring us back to our true, powerful selves.

When you open your eyes in the morning, put your hands on your chest. Listen quietly to the sound of your heart beating. You can hear it when you are calm and humbled, as you are now, in the innocence of waking.

We woke up for another day. Our heart is beating. Do we need more to make us grateful?

The life force of the universe is in our body. We can sense it in our heartbeat and our breathing. We can feel the eternal vitality that is greater than our individual body. It opens our eyes and stretches our consciousness.

Our internal life force remains part of the energy of all life even while it rests in our body. We can access its limitless creative power through our brains.

We become aware of it when we clear the preconceptions in our minds and make strong connections between our brains, body, and energy.

Move your body freely, randomly, and unconditionally and energy will circulate inside it. Your brain will also light up brilliantly. Your thoughts will become positive, and you’ll gain confidence.

When we deepen the relationship between body and brain through free movement and vibration, hope and a vision will come to us. A vision we bring to light with our brain’s creative power and our body’s energy will let us expand. Then our small selves can experience genuine connection to the energy and consciousness of all life, the One from which all things are expressed.

Then all worries become manageable and all people become our people. We can take care of one another, all of us, who are linked by our heartbeat.

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Playing It Safe: Attachment to Security

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We may never be able to have true security, but we can free ourselves from this desire if we keep choosing love over fear in every moment.

The world has many dangers in it. Every day, people get into terrible accidents, experience violent crimes, and contract horrible diseases. War is practically never ending on the planet, and natural disasters can strike at any time. Yet, compared to how many previous generations of humans lived, most of us lead relatively safe lives; we live in comfortable homes, have more than enough food, can call 911 in an emergency, and have seatbelts and airbags in our cars to keep us safe.

This relative safety, however, does not satisfy us. Worries about the future still haunt our minds: Will an earthquake strike? Will my children fall in with the wrong crowd? What if I go broke in old age? What will happen if the economy collapses? Can we humans survive nuclear war? For all the comforts of the modern world, we are bombarded with constant concerns about what harm might come our way.

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Total Security Is Not Achievable

It is fine to take precautions in life to ensure one’s safety and comfort, but there is one very important fact to remember: absolute security is never guaranteed. If you try and try to make your world safe, you can never be sure that something negative won’t happen. If you try, you will simply drive yourself crazy as you think of more and more things that can go wrong.

Accepting that danger and risk are part of life is a prerequisite to any kind of real growth you want to achieve as a person, because you cannot grow by playing it safe. For example, if you want to change jobs to find more career fulfillment, you must be willing to take the risk of quitting the old job. If you wait until all conditions are perfect, you will likely be waiting forever. The possibility that you will fail is real, but your life cannot change unless you are willing to face that possibility. People behave similarly with relationships; they want to have love and friendship and to hide their heart away at the same time.

Fear and Human Suffering

Attachment to security has ramifications far beyond just the progress of our personal lives, however. In fact, it is at the root of most human suffering. You could say that every choice we make as human beings comes down to the choice between two things—love and fear. Love leads to greater unity and positivity, while fear leads to strife and conflict.

As an example, let’s look at conflicts that arise between human races and cultures. If there has been some negative interaction between two groups, there might be some resentment that remains that turns into negative opinions and stereotypes directed at each other. This is a fear-based response that arises from a primitive desire to protect one’s tribe from the danger presented by another. When caught up in this thinking, one can only see reasons to fear the other group; positive traits are simply ignored. This kind of thinking leads to racism and injustice, and even to wars and terrorism.

Two conflicting groups of humans can never break free from this bind unless members of both groups begin to choose love over fear. This is a risk, of course, since others can choose to lash out with their hate, even if we choose love. If we drop our attachment to security though, we may be able to find the courage to choose love over fear, and peace and healing might be possible.

Focusing on the Present Moment

Dropping your attachment to security begins with attention to the present moment, the now. When you focus on the hurts of the past or the worries of the future, your mind will want to seek security, and to make choices based on fear rather than love. So, do your best to focus on now as much as you can. You can of course make plans as needed and buy your necessary insurance policies, but don’t obsess about what negative events might happen or what has already happened in the past. Chances are, everything is pretty good right here in this present moment—you are safe and well-fed. And if you think about it, there are many things to be grateful for, such as creature comforts, good friends, and many opportunities to grow and better your life right now.

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Ilchi Lee’s Meditation for Love and Blessings Every Day

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You are love and you are blessings. All you have to do is realize it and let it flow from you. Then you will have a rich life.

“I am Love and I am Blessings.”

Do you believe that statement?

Each one of us can claim this because we are human. Love and blessings are part of the nature of our higher selves. It’s who we are and what we can share.

If we can’t feel the love and blessings we naturally are, then the flow of our life energy—our qi, ki, chi, or prana—is sluggish or blocked in one or more places inside us. Love and blessings may even be encased behind thick walls of emotional and mental trauma in our hearts and minds. Luckily, those blockages and walls can be dissolved.

Though we may worry about the world, if we can feel the love and blessings inside us, if we feel them flowing through us, then we are loving and blessing the world in everything we do. The projects and goals we are working on will also be blessed and will resolve themselves for the highest good.

Do you want to feel the love and blessings that you are?

Here is one energy meditation you can practice regularly to keep your energy flowing and gain that sense.

Energy Meditation for Revealing YourselfSit with the bottom of your trunk firmly against the floor or a chair and reach the top of your head toward the sky.Take a few slow breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth while feeling the air pass in and out of your body.Bring your hands in front of your chest and rotate them rapidly–as fast as you can. Next, rub your palms together as fast as possible for about ten seconds, until they feel hot. Finally, clap your hands together firmly ten times.Now, face your palms toward each other a few inches apart, holding them at the level of your chest. Feel any heat, tingling, or other sensations on your hands.Keep your mind on these sensations as you inhale and separate your palms from each other. Exhale and bring them closer together.Repeat this motion for a couple of minutes and let your mind relax into the movement.Then bring your hands on either side of your temples. Inhale and move your hands away from your head. Exhale and move them closer. You are moving the energy blockages in your brain with the movement of your hands. Imagine a bright light growing from the center of your brain. It is also dissolving the blockages.Now bring your hands back down to chest level. Imagine that the earth can fit between your hands. It’s there, glowing and hovering, giving you love and energy.Repeat the hand motion and let your heart open. Send love and energy back to the earth with your hands. Your love knows no bounds. It can envelop the whole earth and more.Afterward, take the earth and put it inside your abdomen below your navel. In essence, you are the earth and the earth is you.Move your palms toward and away from your abdomen, fortifying and grounding your connection with the earth. Finally, rest your hands on your knees. Take three deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth.

How did you feel after the meditation? Did you feel more open or calmer?

If you are not used to doing this kind of meditation, it may be hard to feel much at first. However, whether or not you can feel it, your heart and mind will have started to open, and your energy will be flowing a little better. You may feel gradual changes throughout your day as time passes. The more you practice this meditation, the more you will open. You will reach a point at which your mind will be tuned into your body and its energy so that you can feel it. Your energy will also open more easily and quickly each time you practice, and you will be able to feel deeper places inside you opening.

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The Special Secret of Longevity

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Although thoughts and emotions seem ephemeral, they leave a mark on our brains. Traces of negative emotions in particular accumulate and can lead to depression, loss of memory, or even degenerative brain diseases.

On the other hand, when we ask older people living simply in rural areas what the secret to their long lives is, they’ll often say, “I didn’t do anything special,” and laugh.

The secret to longevity is that you don’t have to do anything big. Just be grateful and happy for the little things in life. Take everything positively, and look forward to each day.

The hearts and minds that do that are special.

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How to Make Friends with Loneliness

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When we let ourselves experience the great void through meditation, we build a connection with all life that leaves no room for loneliness.

Many people say their hearts are empty and lonely. Whether they are with other people or alone, they feel disconnected from others. To distract themselves from their loneliness, they often occupy themselves with anything stimulating—from food and drink to shopping to games to drugs. Yet those distractions actually make them feel lonelier because they leave little time for receiving attention from where people need it the most—from themselves.

But why, in a world where we’re more and more connected by technology, are so many of us feeling so lonely?

I think it’s because our inner connections have broken down or were never firmly built in the first place. These connections are a connection to ourselves as well as to heaven and earth. The earth is the solid foundation under our feet that nurtures us and provides us with everything we need to survive. Heaven is the universal energy and consciousness we are all part of. The energy of heaven, the earth, and our own human energy exist in each of us. Ideally, they connect to each other. In order to feel whole and happy, to be free to love, we need to make the connection between these aspects strong and bright. Then not only will we not feel lonely, but our relationships will become whole and happy as well.

What does it mean to have a “connection,” though? It means energy flows freely and our minds are aware of it.

What Blocks Our Connection?

Our attachments create walls that segment our inner energy and prevent our minds from interacting with all our energy. Emotions, self-perceptions, memories, and wounds, whether positive or negative, can become attachments if they hinder us from living in the present moment and responding authentically to our current circumstances.

When we are free from attachments, we may have thoughts, emotions, memories, and desires, but we also have the power to control our response to them. When we are bound by attachments, our sense of self diminishes, leaving us susceptible to sadness, loneliness, fear, and unhappiness.

We can cut our attachments with the power of our minds through meditation. When our brain waves slow down to a theta or delta frequency (0.1 – 8 Hz), as they do in deep meditation, we become free from all the drama and trauma inside us. Although it’s hard to maintain that state 24/7, with practice, we can return to it more easily. We can go there when we need to and manage our inner landscape.

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Night Sky Meditation for Letting Go of the Lonely Small Self

The darkness of night can soothe our senses, but it can also bring out our loneliness. I hope you can use this nature visualization of the night sky to forge a deeper connection with the part of you that’s beyond your attachments. It’s a bigger self that never feels lonely because it knows it is connected with heaven, earth, and all life. You can do this meditation outside or simply see the sky in your mind’s eye.

See the night sky. Seeming almost as if they are about to fall, the stars shine, sparkling like jewels strewn across a black, velvet carpet. As you watch the stars, you can feel the mystery of immense space and time. Feel the being that is you existing within that immense space and time. Awareness of your being is awakening as you feel the infinite universe. Now slowly lift your hands and touch the stars. Imagine the starlight scattering like gold dust, falling down in through your fingers to your hands, moving along your arms, and descending into your chest. Imagine the energy of the starlight filling your whole body.Lower your hands and place them on top of each other on your abdomen. Choose the star that shines most brightly, and imagine it coming down to you. The star enters your brain through your forehead. That star, shining in your brain, is your divine nature. Try to feel the divine nature twinkling like a star inside you.The light of your divinity gradually grows brighter. The “you” you know will have many inadequacies and be weak. The heaven within you, however, is perfect, for it is connected with the infinite life force of the cosmos. The infinite life energy of the universe is descending into your body. Receive that energy of life.See the night sky once again. Look at the black space between the stars. It is an empty void. The stars of heaven look as if they are separate from one another, but they are connected as one through the void. The great void wraps itself around the universe as a whole. Everything in creation is connected as one on the background of the void. Through your breathing, the void enters and leaves your body every moment. As you slowly inhale, the void is entering your body. Now, slowly exhale. The void in your body leaves through your exhalation. The emptiness in your body and the emptiness outside your body are connected as one. Keep feeling the void coming and going as you breathe. Inhale life energy, filling the void, as you continue to breathe. You will feel the life energy gradually filling your body. The void helps to maintain life as it enters and exits the bodies of saints and sinners alike. When our minds are small, everything we encounter becomes something to fight over. When our minds are great like the void, though, we come to know a great love that takes into its bosom all quarrels and conflicts. Instead of filling the little space of your ego with something, tear down its walls and welcome the infinite void. Then, finally, you will obtain great freedom and peace.Now, slowly inhale and then exhale. Take another deep breath and exhale slowly.

Our loneliness and emptiness can be overcome by restoring our connection with heaven, earth, and ourselves. By bravely opening our hearts, embracing the infinite, and nurturing our spiritual essence, we find solace and connection. Let’s embark on this journey together, recognizing that we are all interconnected in the vastness of the void, and let our bigger selves guide us toward a more fulfilling and inspired existence.

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The Need to Get Our Way: The Attachment to Control

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We can overcome our natural urge to control others according to our preconceived notions by simply embracing our primary responsibility: to love wholeheartedly and unconditionally.

Like our attachment to recognition, attachment to control begins early in life. When a young child throws a tantrum, he or she is demonstrating this natural impulse in its unadulterated form. The child wants something—maybe a new toy or to do something fun—but the adults are not cooperating. So, the child cries and screams, and maybe even kicks and punches. In the child’s mind, they think, “If I make enough noise and cause enough trouble, they have to give me what I want!” It’s almost like they are punishing others, in their own childish way, for not cooperating.

Of course, a good parent will not indulge the child for fear of spoiling them. The tantrum ultimately has the opposite effect because the adult must maintain authority in the situation, so the parent’s “no” becomes even more emphatic. In this way, the control impulse is brought into submission as we grow up and learn the rules of socialization, which teach us that good boys and girls must ask politely and behave well if they want to receive gifts and rewards.

Inside, We Are Still Two Years Old

Unfortunately, this impulse to get what we want never really goes away, however. All we do is learn to delay gratification of our desires, and our ways of acting out became more complicated. On the surface, we wish to maintain the illusions that we have the upper hand, so it is rare for an adult to have a “meltdown” of the sort that children display. Even though we now know we must “earn” what we want in life, many situations arise when we think we are owed something or that getting what we want should be automatic.

For example, imagine that a young woman has gotten a promotion. She excitedly calls a friend to tell her about it. The friend says, “That’s nice,” and then moves on quickly to another subject. If she was expecting a greater expression of congratulations was in order, then the young woman will feel some anger or disappointment. Depending on her level of maturity, she may let go of those negative emotions easily, or she may hold it against the friend, thinking a good friend would have responded better. In that way, their friendship becomes compromised, all because of one friend’s desire to control the behavior of the other.

Adults usually don’t throw fits like two-year-olds, but they do throw tantrums of their own kind. Instead of laying down on the floor, these tantrums manifest through insulting remarks, social ostracizing, and other methods of getting people to do what we want them to do.

Everyday Mind Control

Our need to control others usually begins with the word “should.” “She should have said thank you.” “He should behave more humbly toward me.” “She should dress better at this event.” All these are just thoughts in the mind, thoughts not rooted in the ultimate Truth of our being, and yet these are thoughts that negatively affect our relationships with others.

Many people are caught up in a similar impulse regarding religious and political beliefs, as well. In an unawakened state, people often think the whole world “should” have the same beliefs as them (since, after all, they believe they are true), so they look down on those who don’t have the same beliefs. In the most extreme examples, people justify violent or abusive behavior against those who have different beliefs and cultures than they do.

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Dropping the Need to Control

Creating happier, more peaceful relationships with others means giving up the need to control others. When you think about it, all conflicts can be traced back to this attachment, whether they are between nations, couples, strangers, or friends. But how do we really drop this habit since it is so natural to the human state? Well, it’s just a matter of watching ourselves well and curbing our responses to others in a mature way. When a “should” notion runs across our minds, instead of scolding ourselves, we can watch where we take that idea. Maybe our ideas about how others “should” be are relatively true given a particular circumstance. Maybe changing that person would make life better or safer for everyone. But where does that “should” statement lead us? Does it lead us to love someone more or less?

A common response when we don’t get what we want from others is to love less; we withdraw affection, try to force an improvement, or seek to punish them in some way. A better way is to love them anyway without forcing our “shoulds” upon them. This means acknowledging that other people’s choices are their own and that our business in relationship to them is only to love them, not to fix them or to make them see the errors of their ways. If their behaviors are destructive in any way, their lives will show them this in due time; that is not our job. Our mission here is only to love, and dropping our attachment to control is easy if we always keep that thought in mind.

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Big Love Brings Big Change

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Embracing love in every action holds the key to infusing meaning into our lives, illuminating our world, and fostering positive change for ourselves and the earth.

When we become interested in and love something or someone, we naturally think of them. They are on our minds when we see a beautiful sunset or eat something delicious. We consider them in our actions big and small.

Bringing love and consideration into all our actions brings meaning to our lives. Everything in everyday life becomes valuable. Our daily tasks or seemingly insignificant things become food for our soul when they are infused with love.

Our small loving actions add up. Little by little, they bring out our brightness, and we can see the world with different eyes. We spread that brightness all around us; our world becomes brighter as well.

Imagine if our love was as big as the earth . . . or even larger. Imagine if we loved the earth with all our hearts: if we considered the earth in our choices and if every action reflected that love. We are bound to change if we have such a big heart.

Loving the earth is loving ourselves and loving everything. It’s not hard to love the earth because that love is part of us. We’ll begin to feel it if we remember to think about the earth as we go through our days.

We don’t only need new technologies or systems to take care of the earth and each other. Any new technology or system can become harmful if we lose touch with the love that we are. But if we connect with that love, our true selves, then everything we do will be beneficial for the earth, for other beings, and ultimately, for ourselves.

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Discovering True Peace: TMJ Breathing for Relaxation

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Relax into your body and into your true self with this unique meditation.

Many of us live with stress and tension, and while we may experience temporary relief during a vacation or self-care, true relaxation, comfort, satisfaction, and peace may be elusive. It’s worth asking ourselves, “Have I ever experienced genuine peace?” and reflecting on whether our brains recognize this state.

True peace and satisfaction come from being fully ourselves, which means emptying and opening ourselves to become egoless. When we achieve this state, known as “muah” in Korean, we feel whole and complete. If we’ve experienced muah even once, our brains will recognize the feeling if we experience it again. It’s the ultimate goal of meditation.

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Open Your Mouth to Open Your Mind and Heart

Most people think of meditation as sitting still and clearing the mind, but this can be uncomfortable if we’re not experienced. Instead, we can relax by breathing with our temporomandibular joints (TMJ) while lying down in a stretched posture. To do this, we open our mouth wide as if yawning and repeat this at least 10 times.

Breathing deeply with our chest while our mouth is open, we exhale and discharge the stifling energy in our chest. We feel our shoulders and chest relaxing, and our spine straightening and lengthening. By opening the TMJ, we relax our entire body. This is a good way to release blockages and stimulate feelings of peace, as our minds are open when our mouths are open.

Discharging the stagnant energy in our chests can promote good energy circulation and relieve the blockages that reduce energy circulation between the brain and the rest of the body. When our heads are overheated, we tend to think too much, which makes it challenging to quiet our minds and attain the egoless state of muah.

A Peaceful Meditation Posture

For peaceful meditation, we can try Ilchi Posture, where we lie down on our backs with our legs straight and our feet shoulder-width apart. We raise our arms above our heads and extend only our pointer finger on each hand, which naturally stretches our body and improves blood circulation and oxygen supply to our brain. Although this posture may be uncomfortable or painful at first, any tense or painful areas will gradually relax with time.

Learn more about Ilchi Posture in the following video:

By opening up and letting go of everything that holds us back, we attain an egoless state of muah without realizing it. We see things more clearly, and we realize who we truly are. We need to open up to feel refreshed, and TMJ breathing in Ilchi Posture can help us achieve this state of peacefulness and relaxation.

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The New Humanity Pledge: A Gathering of Hearts and Minds

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While we each individually have many problems to solve, I believe we can’t ignore the larger global problems that affect us all. Our current social, political, and environmental issues have converged into an existential crisis. They require monumental and lasting change if we’re going to solve them, and such great change requires many individuals and groups working together.

However, if any real change is going to happen, the first change we need to make is in our own minds. We need a shift in consciousness from one that is centered on myself, my family, and my nation to one that is centered on the entire earth. It is a shift from being a young child of the earth to being a responsible adult who takes care of its parent.

To promote this shift and gather the hearts and minds of people who are ready to make it together, I have created the “New Humanity Pledge.” It describes the change in consciousness we need in detail as well as broad actions we can take once we make that change.

New Humanity PledgeWhy a New Humanity Must Rise

The unprecedented changes we are facing in our natural and social environments require a transformation of who we are and how we live. Therefore, we call for the birth of a new humanity.

A new humankind that recognizes the interconnectedness of all life and makes the planet’s well-being the foundation of all its values is urgently needed.

As Homo sapiens, our intelligence has helped us accomplish much, but it’s not enough to solve the challenges we face as a planet. To overcome them, we must expand our consciousness and transform into Homo coexistence, a species that lives in harmony with the earth, nature, and all life. If we don’t choose coexistence, we will bring about our own destruction,

The time for this shift is now.

Change Is Urgent and Inevitable
Humanity stands at a crossroads. Worsening climate change, ecological collapse, uncontrollable technological advancements, and the increasing threat of violent conflict make it clear that time is running out for our species. We must take immediate action to turn things around. We need to undergo a radical shift in our thinking and behavior to address these challenges.

There Is a Better Story
While humanity has a history of competing and struggling for dominance, causing suffering to individuals and devastation to the planet, we must recognize that this is not our only story. Our true story, one of greatness and beauty, has yet to be written. The choice and power to shape our destiny is in our own hands, now more than ever.

We Are Ready
The answers to our problems are already available to us. What we need is to make a choice and commitment. If we are concerned about the future of humanity and our planet, if we’re dedicated to leaving the earth in a better state than it is now, if each of us is willing to play our role in contributing to a future that is sustainable, just, and peaceful, then we are ready to transform ourselves into a new kind of humanity.

Declaration of Who We Are

We Choose Who We Are
We recognize that we are not bound by any dogma, religion, or limiting belief system. By breaking free from the constraints of the past, we take ownership of our bodies, minds, and consciousness, and create a new path toward a more peaceful and sustainable future.

We Are Earth Citizens
We recognize that we are not bound by any dogma, religion, or limiting belief system. By breaking free from the past, we take ownership of our bodies, minds, and consciousness, and create a new path towards a more peaceful and sustainable future.

We Are Nature
We recognize that we are not separate from nature but are an integral part of it. We understand that our actions have a profound impact on the natural world. By embracing our natural essence, we restore our connection with nature and work toward creating a healthier relationship with our planet.

We Are the Earth’s Future
We recognize that the earth’s future is not someone else’s problem but the responsibility of each of us to protect and preserve. By embracing this responsibility, we can create a sustainable and thriving future for our planet and all its residents.

Proposed Actions

As members of a New Humanity, we commit ourselves to the following actions:

Caring for our own physical, mental, and emotional wellness naturally and proactively whenever possible and helping others do the same.Living in harmony with nature by reducing our carbon footprint, conserving energy and water, and protecting natural habitats and biodiversity.Promoting peace and harmonious coexistence by fostering dialogue, respect, and understanding across cultures, religions, and nations.Supporting mindful use of technology and sustainable and equitable economic development through responsible consumption, production, and investment.Educating ourselves and others about the urgent need for change, the opportunities for action, and stories of success, and encouraging others to join us in the effort to save the planet.A Call for a New Humanity

We urge everyone, from individuals to organizations and governments, to prioritize the well-being of our planet and all its inhabitants above short-term profit, convenience, and power.

Let us unite and take the first step toward changing our past habits and ideas, and building a new humanity committed to harmonious coexistence with each other and our planet.

TAKE THE PLEDGE“I pledge to become part of a New Humanity, and to make creating coexistence on earth my personal responsibility and priority.”

How to Develop Better Focus and Mental Clarity

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Jumping from site to site on the Internet, never completing an entire article. Difficulty making progress on or completing projects you’ve started. Tossing and turning at night, your mind obsessed with the problems of the day. A mind constantly buzzing with nagging, trivial thoughts. Do any of these sound familiar to you? At least one of them probably does, since most people today complain of an inability to concentrate well. Kids are having a harder time focusing, too, which means they are missing out on important parts of their education.

Many people report that their ability to focus is getting worse and worse. I think this trend can be turned around by applying one of the fundamental principles of energy—Water Up, Fire Down. According to this principle, we are healthiest in body, mind, and spirit when our heads remain cool and our bellies stay warm.

In previous posts, you’ve seen how this principle can boost your immunity and reignite your sense of motivation in life. Now, you can also use it to create an energetic foundation for your mind, giving you a sense of mental and emotional grounding.

What Is Causing Our Inability to Focus?

Our modern, technological culture is the main reason we are finding it so hard to control our own minds. First of all, we are constantly bombarded by information. We have so many sources of information these days: digital streaming, social media, email, Internet news sources, radio and audiobooks, newspapers and magazines . . . the list goes on and on. In fact, psychologists are starting to realize that our brains are becoming addicted to all this stimulation.

Also, many of us are very sedentary. We sit too long at work, often spending a lot of our time with our eyes glued to the computer screen. Then, we may go home feeling mentally exhausted, and we binge our favorite streaming shows or watch the cable news channels, filling our heads with even more busyness and worry.

Most of us don’t get enough exercise even in our free time, and when we do go out for a jog or hop on the stationary bike, we keep our headphones on or the videos streaming. Maybe our body has gotten a little exercise, but our minds have not been given a chance to quiet down.

What Does Energy Have to Do with It?

While you are probably aware that your mind feels unstable because of our Information Age lifestyle, you may not be aware of how all of this affects your energy system. Basically, it turns everything upside down. As I have explained before, your energy should follow the Water Up, Fire Down pattern. Yet, because our minds are so busy and our bodies are so inactive, many of us are caught in the opposite pattern: fire energy pools in the head, and the lower abdomen becomes cold. Too much information causes this inverted condition because the information—all those TV shows, all the Internet surfing you do, and everything else you worry and obsess about—acts like kindling in your brain.

First, hot energy rises to your head because you are using it so much, and then the constant flow of information stokes that fire, leaving your brain overstimulated and unable to focus. And, because the lower dahnjon (the energy center located in your lower abdomen) is weak from lack of exercise, you have no anchor to stabilize your mind and to bring all that energy back down to the lower abdomen where it belongs.

Simple Energy Exercises to Increase Your Focus

You may have heard that meditation is excellent for building focus and equanimity of mind. I very much agree with that, but I recommend a slightly different form than most—a simple energy meditation. If you are not highly experienced with meditation, or you find your mind drifting easily during meditation, this will probably work better for you than more typical styles because it gives your mind something specific to focus on—the sensation of energy on your palms. Here’s how you do it:

Choose a meditation posture that feels comfortable, either sitting in a chair or in a traditional half-lotus posture. Whichever posture you choose, do your best to keep your back straight. You can turn on some calming instrumental music, too, if you like.Place your hands on your thighs with the palms facing upward. Close your eyes and focus on relaxing your body completely—shoulders, arms, abdomen, your whole body—but keep your back straight. Breathe naturally into the abdomen.Now, relax your mind, and center your attention on your palms. You can think, “Palm, palm, palm,” to yourself, focusing your mind on any sensation you feel on your palms. After a while, you will probably feel something—maybe a little heat or a tingling sensation.When you begin to feel the energy, slowly bring your palms toward each other, like in the prayer position, but without touching. Focus on the feeling of energy between your hands.Spend a few minutes feeling the energy between your hands, pulling them slowly apart to grow the energy, and bringing them together again to shrink it back down.After a few minutes. Bring your hands back down to your thighs, and slowly open your eyes.

If you practice this regularly, you’ll find that your mind is naturally calmer and that you can keep your focus more easily. Plus, you will be able to grow your ability to feel energy, which will eventually allow you to sense energy throughout your entire body.

Focus Is the Energy of Creation

If you are having a hard time focusing, I hope you will start using the Water Up, Fire Down principle to reestablish a proper energetic foundation for yourself. Focus is very important because it is a necessary part of making your goals and visions come into reality. Our world needs you to become your best self, and a focused, centered mind is an important part of that.

You can learn more about this fundamental energy principle in my book, Water Up Fire Down: An Energy Principle for Creating Calmness, Clarity, and a Lifetime of Health.

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