Todd Perelmuter's Blog, page 41

Here’s Why Big Companies Are Investing in Corporate Meditation

What do Google, Nike, Apple, Amazon, General Mills, Procter & Gamble, Deutsche Bank, and Bridgewater all have in common? That’s right, they’re all extremely successful. 

But also, as you may have guessed, they have all discovered that there’s a better productivity boost. They give it to their employees that works better than a coffee break ever has. That is corporate meditation.

A small investment in Corporate Meditation leads to huge profits and gains for these companies for several reasons. This article gets into what it is, why it helps and how you can start benefiting from Corporate Meditation at your company.

 

What is Corporate Meditation?

Corporate Meditation is any type of meditation instruction that occurs during the workday that teaches employees and executives the stress-reducing and productivity-boosting practice of meditation.

Some companies choose to bring in an experienced teacher, once a year for a whole week to teach the employees how to meditate. After that, the company may set aside a room or an area at a certain time for daily meditation, either with instruction or without.

Other companies like to bring in an expert once a week or daily to lead a team or the whole office in a meditation class.

All of these methods help set up workers for success in establishing a daily practice of meditation designed specifically for the needs of busy workers.

 

5 Benefits of Corporate Meditation 

#1: Happier Employees

Literally, thousands of peer-reviewed studies have now come out showing that meditation makes people happier.

Meditation lowers our stress, diminishes anxiety, makes us feel more grateful and content, more fulfilled and joyful.

When we’re less stressed and less fearful, we think better and we make better decisions. 

What they say is absolutely true: a happy worker is a good worker. When we’re happier, we work harder, we work smarter, and we even get sick less often. This brings me to point number 2.

 

#2: Healthier Employees

Did you know that 75 to 90% of all doctor visits are stress-related? It’s true! People with less stress, for countless reasons, are healthier. They drink more responsibly, their diets are better, their sleep habits are better, and they live more active and healthy lifestyles.

Meditation has also been proven to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. Moreover, it also helps decrease chronic pain, boost immunity, and help people break free from addictions.

By activating the body’s parasympathetic nervous system, the body exits the stress-based fight or flight mode and enters a state of healing restfulness allowing the body to heal from whatever may ail it.

Companies that have gone for investment in Corporate Meditation programs report workers needing fewer sick days and better health overall.

 

#3: More Creative Employees

When workers need to crack a problem and they just can’t seem to do it, science tells us that the problem is in linear thinking—that constant stream of thought we have running through our brains. What we need is a shift in our perspective and a clean break from linear thought so that a new idea can come into our minds.

The best way to make space for creative insights to pop into our brain is… you guessed it again – Corporate Meditation. 

Albert Einstein had the right idea. When he got stuck, he would go for a bike ride or play the violin. Both of these activities took his mind off the problem and allowed room in his noggin for the big idea to emerge. 

Studies show that by turning our attention from a problem in our mind to either a meaningless sound (our mantra) or to our breath, we can quiet the thinking mind and allow for the perfect conditions in which insight and creativity arise.

If only Einstein knew what we know now about meditation, one can only wonder what else he may have discovered.

 #4: More Productive Employees

In 1902 the first workplace coffee break took place in Buffalo, NY. The owner of the company realized something that would change business forever. He wasn’t giving his workers a coffee break, he was getting a drastic increase in productivity and output.

From then on, the coffee break exploded in every industry and office space in America and much of the globe. But, coffee comes with a crash, and in some cases heart palpitations and stress.

Smart companies today are realizing that meditation is like coffee on steroids, but without the negative side effects.

The restfulness that comes from meditation leads to renewed, lasting, natural energy. It leads to clearer thinking, fewer costly mistakes, and more focused employees.

By focusing on a mantra or your breath in meditation, you’re literally training your mind to be more focused. When you combine the benefits of focus and creativity, you have a workforce with a superpower. The superpower of creative problem-solving that drives innovation from every single worker in the company.

Investment in Corporate Meditation is not a cost any company will endure. It is an investment that pays dividends.

 

#5: Less Employee Turnover

Currently, high turnover rates are costing the U.S. economy billions of dollars every year. Obviously, happy employees stick around longer. However, that’s not the only reason companies that gone for investment in Corporate Meditation see lower turnover rates than ones that don’t.

Corporate Meditation gives employees a chance to bond over this healthy experience that they can share together. Oxytocins, the love chemical in our brain, are released during meditation. When this molecule is produced in our brain, we associate positive feelings with where we work and the people we work with.

Corporate Meditation leads to better office relationships. Moreover, it leads to less of a need for conflict resolution, fewer incidents reported to HR, and a more cooperative atmosphere emerges. All this leads to greater workplace satisfaction and long-lasting employees.

 

Get Corporate Meditation Started at Your Company

Implementing a Corporate Meditation program at your company shows your workers that you really care. You care about their overall health, well-being, and their lives as a whole. When they know this, they will be happier and you will have an amazing work environment.

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When Uncertainty About the Future Feels Scary

None of us are promised tomorrow, we are only promised this moment. That can be scary, but it also makes this moment more beautiful, more precious, and more special. And while tomorrow’s uncertainty can be scary, the fact that this infinitely wondrous world is still spinning in all its complexity, can give us some peace of mind.

Living in this mysterious universe isn’t always easy, but it is always perfectly in balance. Politics sways from side to side, but it always moves towards progress. Death makes way for birth, war turns into peace, and tragedy becomes our strength.

It’s okay not to know everything. No one knows what tomorrow will bring, but we do know that we have made it this far. And if we have made it this far, we can trust in the universe to keep on working its magic, to keep on rewarding hard work, keep on showing us lessons we need to learn, keep bringing people into our lives at the exact moment we need them, keep showing us signs that guide us towards who we are meant to become, and keep on matching the energy we put out into the world.

Trust can be a scary thing when we have been hurt, disappointed or disillusioned. But trust is the only thing worth doing. This universe is too big for us to understand the reasons for every little thing, and yet it keeps on going, in perfect harmony, without any concern for whether we understand it or not. So we can either trust this mystical, mysterious, magnificent universe. Or we can think we know better, that it is not so grand, and we can live a small, fearful, stressed life instead. The choice is up to us. I was faced with just such a choice when I went through the experience of losing everything I owned. Thanks to my spiritual toolkit, I turned a frightening future into a peaceful present. 

 

Always Remember:
It’s easy to think we’re happy when we have our phones out, eating or drinking, doing our favorite things, listening to a podcast or watching TV. But how long can you sit with just yourself? 5 minutes? 20 minutes? Can you be happy and content after an hour?

This is the true measure of our inner happiness. This is where we see, underneath the surface, our true inner nature. This will expose whether we are genuinely at peace, or if we need to work on it.

How we feel under the surface, when we’re without distractions, subtly impacts every aspect of our lives. If there is a lack of peace underneath, we may unconsciously do everything we can to avoid that stillness. We may addictively chase pleasures and external stimuli to our detriment. We may bottle up our emotions, letting them eat away at us, or until we explode in rage.

This is why developing a daily practice of meditation can fundamentally transform our lives. Or, even just setting some time aside each day to sit quietly alone looking out the window. The more we practice stillness, the more still our minds can become, and the happier and more at peace we will be. If the thought of meditation makes you anxious, here’s an article I wrote specially for you. And if doing meditation makes you even more anxious, here’s what you might be doing wrong.

With a new beautiful week about to begin, let’s all take a moment today to visualize your week ahead. Visualize all the hard work you’re going to do, and see all your hard work paying off. Pull up in your mind’s eye absolutely everything going right. Feel the gratitude rush through your body. And no matter what happens next week, remember that with trust, you can feel gratitude and peace whether it all comes true, or even if the universe had other, better, bigger plans in store for you.

Love,
Todd

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Can Christians Meditate or Is It a Sin?

Along with the rapidly growing popularity of meditation, there has also been an explosion of confusion centered around this ancient practice. As a result, I thought of clearing one of the confusion around it. The question of can Christians meditate or is it a sin?

These days, people online will claim that just about anything is meditation, whether it’s listening to someone whisper instructions to you in your headphones or even just reading a quote from ancient philosophers.

From playing certain sound frequencies to YouTubers making scratching sounds, from visualizing your material desires to hypnosis, meditation can mean many things to many different people. 

While I don’t dispute the benefits of any of these practices, I merely wish to arrive at a definition we can all agree on.

 

First, What is Meditation?

Since the meaning of meditation has become so muddied these days, let’s get back to the basics so we can start with a definition we all agree on: meditation is either turning your attention to your breath, to your body, or to a meaningless sound that you repeat in your mind called a mantra.

By focusing our attention on the present moment, we become fully present and alert. We train our minds to be more focused. Our attention and awareness become sharpened and expanded. We become less impulsive and lost in thought, and more mindful of our intentions, thoughts, words, and deeds.

Studies have shown that these benefits lead to a greater sense of peace and joy, love and gratitude, kindness and compassion, wisdom and understanding. We experience less stress and anxiety, depression and addiction, illness and pain.

 

What Meditation is Not

Meditation is not emptying your mind and becoming mindless. It is about becoming mindful. 

Meditation is not passive, doing nothing, nor is it emptying the mind. Quite the opposite. It is about fully experiencing, observing, and appreciating the present moment – God’s creation.

Meditation is not about focusing on ourselves or our bodies. It is about becoming aware of our own awareness. It is about turning our attention inward toward our eternal, infinite, formless, light of consciousness – or soul – within us.

This is what Jesus called eternal life. In this way, we can connect more deeply with the presence of God. It’s exactly as Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within you.”

Meditation is not a means to attaining fleshly desires like success or wealth, finding fame or love. Meditation is about letting go of ego and pride (a deadly sin). It’s about becoming the best version of ourselves so we can become the best people, neighbors, and Christians we can be.

Meditation is not about desires, but rather letting go of desire and simply experiencing God’s miraculous creation with our full attention, awareness, and presence without external or mental distraction.

Now that we can all agree on the definition of what meditation is and does, let’s dive into whether or not meditation is a sin.

 

Does the Bible Mention Meditation?

In many places in the Bible, the word “meditate” is used to mean “ponder on” or “contemplate.” It says ponder on the word of the Lord, ponder on the majesty of God, and so on. 

Pondering and contemplation are essential aspects of our lives. They help us process what we’ve learned and experienced. Of course, as we established, when we say meditate in this article, we mean turning our attention and focus towards the present moment. Both types of meditation are equally important and play a vital role in our lives.

However, nowhere in the Bible does it speak to or forbid the actual practice of Eastern meditation that we are referring to. Consider this when asking “can Christians meditate.” If Christianity was against Eastern meditation, one would expect it to be mentioned in the Bible since Jesus was visited by three wise men from the East when he was born.

 

Bible Quotes About Why Christians Can Meditate

Throughout the Bible, passages speak to being fully present and alert, turning our attention inward, becoming humble and egoless, and observing and learning from nature. Here are just a few quotes that prove that in fact, Eastern meditation is very Christian.

“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but does not notice the log that is in your own eye?” Jesus was encouraging us to turn our attention inward and become mindful of ourselves and our nature, to focus less on the external physical world and more on the formless within.

The Bible says, “Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” But who do you think the devil preys on? The mindless wanderer lost in thought, or those who are fully present, aware, alert, and clear-eyed.

“I am the way and the truth and the life.” Many Christian scholars have considered this phrase by Jesus to refer to the Christ within – our true nature – which can only be experienced when we turn our attention inward. It says Christians can meditate and turn inward to find the way.

When Jesus said, “Deny thyself… and follow me,” he meant to deny the mind-made sense of identity and to realize your true inner light and essence within, beyond the mind, beyond thoughts and preconceived notions.

 

From Lilies and Beyond…

“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they toil not, they spin not.” Jesus was literally telling us to sit in stillness and meditate on nature, to see how everything just exists and works without effort or struggle, like our breath or our heartbeat. The lilies just are. When they are in their being, the doing flows naturally. The lilies are always meditating.

“When you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place… For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” To sit on the floor and let go of your ego and pride in meditation is the very humbling experience that Jesus was referring to.

“It is not I but the Father within me who does the works. And I can of my own self do nothing.” Jesus is referring to how only the mind can get in our way and block us from receiving God’s will through us. 

 

Prayer and Whether Christians Can Meditate…

“Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Although visualization is a different kind of meditation than we are discussing, Jesus did encourage it in prayer.

“God blesses those who are humble (egoless), for they will inherit the whole earth.” To become humble and egoless is to let go of all pride and sense of self, to just be present as an instrument of the Lord.

In the Bible, God said: “I am that I am.” God is everywhere and God is eternal. To experience the timeless, infinite, true nature of our being in meditation is not self-conscious, it is God-conscious.

“Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Jesus wanted us to contemplate and live like the birds – free from worry, fully present without being lost in thought.

 

The Calling…

“Be in readiness, upright and faithful to your calling, be prepared to receive the coming Messiah.” This passage of the Bible means to be present and alert for whenever God or Jesus may call, as only a state of meditation can do.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eyesight is good, your whole body will be well lighted” Here, Jesus is referring to seeing clearly, unobstructed by thoughts and judgments, so that your light of consciousness will shine through you. Only meditation helps train our minds to see this way.

“Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift a stone, and you will find me there.” Jesus was literally saying one must be fully present to find him. Meditation is not just a short practice we do in the morning or evening. It is to help our minds become more fully present throughout the day and our lives.

 

Would Jesus Think Christians can Meditate?

Based on what we know about Jesus, he most likely spent many hours a day sitting in meditation without even knowing it. Meditation is our natural state of being. It is how every baby and animal lives 24/7. I can see it now: Jesus sitting on a rock with his eyes closed, just being, appreciating, and observing all that life is.

Before humans learned to farm, back when we still lived in the wilderness, being fully present and aware of our surroundings was essential to survival. We had to be constantly aware of our bodies, make sure we weren’t breathing too loud or giving off any fear.

If a dangerous animal was nearby, we knew that we needed to make our bodies calm and remain fully alert. If we were distracted, if we acted unmindfully, if we were lost in our thoughts, we were dead.

We humans lost our way of being once we developed cities filled with constant distractions. But Jesus understood this. This is why he went into the desert for 40 days.

Surely much of that time, without realizing it, he was meditating. And when he returned from this journey as Christ, he was a totally different person. He was now ready to take on the Romans and lead the world into salvation. So, if Jesus meditated, can Christians meditate?

 

Salvation vs. Enlightenment

The word salvation, as Jesus called it, goes by another name in the East: enlightenment. While they go by different names, they point in the same direction. 

In Christianity, salvation means saving someone from sin and separation from God. 

Similar to salvation, enlightenment means liberation from unethical action (sin) and the fog of ignorance (separation from God).

 

So, Is Meditation a Sin and Can Christians Meditate?

Is it a sin to observe a flower? Is it a sin to notice a puppy sleeping and breathing in our arms? If not, how could it be a sin to simply observe our own breath? How could it be a sin to notice what is happening right under our very nose? 

Is it not a greater sin to spend most of our lives lost in thought, thinking about the past, worrying about the future, and missing God’s miraculous creation that is happening right in front of our eyes in the present moment?

The fact is, meditation is like watching football or going on a hike. It’s just another thing to turn our attention to. Anyone can do it of any faith or no faith. It’s as simple and natural as paying attention to the food you’re eating or any other activity you do.

In fact, Eating Meditation is another form of meditation where you simply observe with full focus and attention each bite of your food and the sensations of eating. This type of simple meditation adds a great richness to your life that Jesus would most definitely approve of.

 

Be Aware and Be Present…

Paying attention to what is happening in the present moment is certainly not a sin. It’s non-religious and is not excluded from the Bible. We do it all the time without realizing it, when we watch our favorite movie, see a beautiful sunset, or notice a shooting star.

For those brief moments, we put our full attention into the present moment. There are no thoughts or opinions, just total awareness. Meditation simply helps us live in this state of awe and wonder more often.

No one is suggesting you practice Eastern meditation and stop praying. Neither am I saying stop meditating on Jesus or the Bible. You can do both! Jesus would no doubt want us to. So, in the words of Bobby McFerrin, “Don’t worry, be happy.” Christians can meditate.

If you’d like to learn more about non-sinful meditation, please check out my YouTube page as well as my podcast, Path to Peace with Todd Perelmuter, on Apple, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

Other Useful Resources:

Can Meditation Replace Sleep?

Difference Between the Thinking Mind and the Meditative Mind?

Why Jack Dorsey Started Meditating

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Path to Peace How to Not Get Attached to My Accomplishments

Someone recently asked me, “I achieved so much in my life. How not to get attached to that? I am nothing without my accomplishments.”

Achievements are one of the most common ways our ego gets inflated. I call it: falling for the success trap. How could the most advanced biological life form in the universe ever feel like “nothing,” with or without accomplishments? How could someone living on a planet with such spectacular sunsets and flowers, puppies and babies, ever feel like some job title or amount of money are what life is all about?

Only when we forget who we are can we feel like nothing. In today's podcast episode, I discuss the nature of the sneaky  success trap, how to get out of it, and how to rediscover who we truly are and why we're here on this beautiful blue planet we call home.

Please enjoy other episodes where I share meditation techniques, tips and spiritual lessons from around the world for peaceful and stress-free living. Remember to subscribe to stay up-to-date.

One small positive message can uplift our day. Get your dose of positivity at https://www.youtube.com/toddperelmuter

Like what I’m doing? Support the show at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/toddperel.

I answer spiritual questions from people on my weekly Path to Peace newsletter. Join the community of like-minded beautiful souls right at https://www.eastwesticism.org

You can find my books on Amazon, Audible, BarnesandNoble.com, and anywhere else you get your books.

The post Path to Peace How to Not Get Attached to My Accomplishments appeared first on EastWesticism.

When the Present Moment Becomes Boring

Boredom may feel like a natural emotion or viewpoint, but nothing could be further from the truth. Boredom is born out of a resistance to the present moment. It is not a natural state to be bored. Boredom does not naturally arise out of a beautifully still, silent moment. Has any wild animal ever been bored?

Boredom arises out of a comparative mindset conditioned by living in time. When we are not fully present, we compare all of human history and all of human future to this present moment. When we live in presence, we realize that there is no difference between sitting on a meditation cushion for one minute or one hour. Only by the chatter of our minds do we perceive time to pass at all. When we are still, time feels like it stops. (For help learning to quiet the mind, here are some of the don’ts of meditation in my recent article.)

It can be tempting to repeat songs and conversations in our mind, to imagine entertaining stories, or to endlessly solve math problems, or think of food constantly. After all, they aren’t negative thoughts. And to some extent, this is better than thinking stressful thoughts. In some ways, conscious and intentional mental chatter can become a sort of mantra — a way to guide your thinking. But there are some drawbacks to this way of thinking.

Firstly, when we are lost in our head, we are not fully focused on what we are doing.
Even if it may seem like a mundane chore, we cannot do anything to the best of our ability if we do not give it our undivided attention. And, it is often these mundane chores that provide us a doorway towards discovering the deep peace and joy that comes from fully embracing every little moment of life. And making it as meaningful as we can even if life might seem meaningless sometimes. (This video shows how we can all find meaning and purpose.)Secondly, whatever we do becomes a habit.
If we make a practice of always being inside of our own head, then we move further and further away from our true self and the true source of lasting happiness within. Lasting happiness can only come from that which does not change, because if it changes, it can’t last. And the only thing that never changes is our conscious awareness.

Instead of trying to solve boredom with a solution, we must watch our boredom with presence. By trying to solve boredom, we give up on the present moment and retreat into our head. We acknowledge that there is suffering, but we try to mask the symptoms instead of actually curing the disease.

Whatever we are feeling — boredom, anger, jealousy — we can try to stuff it down a myriad of ways: with drugs, entertainment, or even mental entertainment. But if instead we go towards it, if we look at it and love it, and if we accept it and make peace with it, our attention span increases, our patience increases, and we become better able to fully show up for our friends, our family and ourselves. (Some may wonder why we should change and become better people if we don’t have anyone in our life, and here is my answer.)

Boredom is the opposite of peace. It is resistance to peace. So much chaos and conflict are because people can’t stand a moment of peace. Our bodies cannot fully rest, relax and recover if our mind is constantly running.

If we are feeling bored, it is simply because we are not fully present. Instead of resisting, instead of pulling out our phone or weaving a mental story, we can use each moment of boredom as an opportunity to sit with the discomfort, and to develop the vital skill of transforming discomfort into peace. 

All it takes to become present is turning our full attention to the here and now — focusing on our breath, our body, our thoughts or our surroundings, taking it all in, noticing the mind’s tendency to label everything, and just witnessing every single thing that crosses our perceptual field. When we raise our awareness to what’s around us, we find out it is filled with so much beauty and wonder that it is impossible to truly get bored whenever you are truly present.

 

Always Remember:

Have you ever noticed how you have almost no memory big moments in your life? Like how you can give a big speech, but it’s like you missed the whole thing. Maybe you’ve given a speech or been to a wedding, but you forgot to be present for it.

This doesn’t just happen for big moments either. Most of our lives we spend lost in thought, thinking about some other place or some other time.

I had a good friend who, whenever we would go for a walk through the park with nowhere in particular to go, would walk a million miles an hour. She would miss the flowers and the birds, trees and streams. She was so used to getting to the end of a task that she was never present during the task.

If we live our lives this way, we’ll get to the end having realized we were present for so little of this precious life. This is why it’s so important to bring presence into our lives whenever we can.

This can be meditating, yoga, time with our friends and family, making art or music, or even just a walk in nature. Life is too beautiful to miss.  And in case life is not looking like a bed of roses at the moment, listen to this podcast where I explore why it is that we feel like failures and how we can reframe failure so we can embrace it, learn from it, and move forward toward success.

As we stroll into the weekend and a new week begins, may we all find delight in the little things, the things we usually miss, the things most often overlooked, the things that are conventionally considered ugly or insignificant. May we give the unnoticed our love and affection. May we stop to take in all that we usually take for granted. From the weed growing out of the sidewalk to the child (or inner child) who had a rough day, let’s remember to give our attention — the greatest gift we have to offer — both to others and ourselves.

Peace and love,

Todd

PS – In my latest YouTube video, I share a few steps we can all take to heal from abuse, develop trusting and loving relationships again, and learn to shut off our body’s survival mode so we can relax our central nervous system and become our most confident, strong, brave selves again.

How to Live in the Present Moment Get Peace & Calm Delivered

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Other Useful Spiritual Resources:

Why Successful Leaders Start Their Day with Mindfulness

5 Ways to Use Mindfulness for Managing Emotions at Work

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Path to Peace Why It’s Ok Not to Know Everything

There is more information today than any human could ever learn in a hundred lifetimes. And yet, we are surprised that life continues to surprise us. We can't know everything, and that's actually a great thing. We can become highly skilled in a particular passion, work together to achieve big things, and advance our skills by  recognizing gaps in our knowledge.

In today's podcast episode, I talk about how we can know what we don't know. I talk about how to trust our gut when we don't know something, and I explore how to ask others for help. I discuss the difference between wisdom and knowledge, why the world needs wisdom, and how we can nurture and develop our capacity for wisdom. 

Please enjoy other episodes where I share meditation techniques, tips and spiritual lessons from around the world for peaceful and stress-free living. Remember to subscribe to stay up-to-date.

One small positive message can uplift our day. Get your dose of positivity at https://www.youtube.com/toddperelmuter

Like what I’m doing? Support the show at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/toddperel.

I answer spiritual questions from people on my weekly Path to Peace newsletter. Join the community of like-minded beautiful souls right at https://www.eastwesticism.org

You can find my books on Amazon, Audible, BarnesandNoble.com, and anywhere else you get your books.

The post Path to Peace Why It’s Ok Not to Know Everything appeared first on EastWesticism.

Path to Peace How Can I Ask for Help When it Makes Me Feel Like a Failure?

We live on a planet that is trying to juggle the wants and needs of 8 billion people. It's not easy, and that means that things can not always go our way. Sometimes there will be setbacks, obstacles and stumbling blocks on the path of life. We can either see these temporary setbacks as the opportunities for growth that they are, or we can let them define us failures. 

In today's podcast episode, I talk about this false notion of failure, I explore why it is that we feel like failures, and I share how we can reframe failure so we can embrace it, learn from it, and so we can ask for help when needed with confidence and a winning mindset.

Please enjoy other episodes where I share meditation techniques, tips and spiritual lessons from around the world for peaceful and stress-free living. Remember to subscribe to stay up-to-date.

One small positive message can uplift our day. Get your dose of positivity at https://www.youtube.com/toddperelmuter

Like what I’m doing? Support the show at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/toddperel.

I answer spiritual questions from people on my weekly Path to Peace newsletter. Join the community of like-minded beautiful souls right at https://www.eastwesticism.org

You can find my books on Amazon, Audible, BarnesandNoble.com, and anywhere else you get your books.

The post Path to Peace How Can I Ask for Help When it Makes Me Feel Like a Failure? appeared first on EastWesticism.

How to Handle Unfulfilled Expectation From Life

If we were to see reality as it really is, all of our expectations would be met. But because we have limited perspectives with limited information, we expect things to happen that end up not panning out. When we expect things, we place our opinion of how things should be above everyone else’s and above what the universe had set in motion long before we were even born.

But what if we could look at life another way? Could we put aside expectations entirely? Could we open ourselves to the wants and needs of others, as well as our own? And what would happen if we traded in our expectations for hope? 

When we expect life to be a certain way and it doesn’t end up happening, we begin to resist reality and we create an inner war between us and the universe. Whether we expect a great career, a big house, a fast car, awards and recognition, a big social circle or lavish vacations (usually because we see all of these things in the movies and media), by expecting them to come by a certain date almost guarantees pain and suffering when the universe has a different plan or a different schedule in mind. But if we hope for them instead, we stay open to new opportunities, we stay energized and optimistic during minor setbacks, and we are more likely to achieve all that the universe has in store for us. 

Hope is trusting that the universe has your back. Expectations are you saying you know better than the infinite magical wonder of the universe. How we choose to view the world not only changes our perception, it literally changes how the world responds to us. In my YouTube video, I talk about how we can go from seeing the world as a scary, chaotic, isolated place, to a place of peace, connection, freedom, love and joy.

When we expect people to be a certain way, we are also telling them that we know better than they do. No matter how well-intentioned, placing expectations on others negates their own sovereignty to determine the course of their own lives, to make their own mistakes, and to learn from them. Furthermore, expectations imply disappointment if the other person doesn’t comply with your wishes, and so expectations are inherently wrapped up in emotional blackmail and manipulation. 

Conversely, we can hope people change, we can hope people be kind and honest, and we can hope people do the things we wish. If they do change, great. If they don’t, we’re still hopeful. But to expect others to not live out their own karma (the cards they were dealt in life), to not play their role in this universe, would be to live in delusion.

People can only meet us where they are. We are all at a different place on the same journey. Some people will go far, while others may falter and stumble. That is OK. All we can do is be there to help the people who are willing to be helped so they can get back up and on the right track. While we can’t force others to change, we can change ourselves, and that can inspire others. If you are interested to know how we can make the greatest impact on ourselves so that we can make the greatest impact on others and on the world, listen to my latest podcast.

With expectation comes disappointment. With hope comes love, optimism, and courage.

 

Always Remember:

Not wanting is not the same as not working towards something or not achieving something. Quite the opposite. Not wanting means that you will work towards your goals without attachment to the results and without fear of failure, thus more of your goals will be achieved and more effortlessly than ever.

Not wanting is also not the same thing as not doing or just accepting whatever is in your life. Without desire or attachment, we can work even harder to overcome adversity because we won’t be creating mental resistance and draining our own energy. Good and bad things will still come and go, but without being clouded by desire, our happiness will no longer be dependent on those temporary circumstances, and our contentment and satisfaction can begin to grow exponentially. More on how to understand the mind and become free from the tricks that the mind plays in my YouTube video.

As this week comes to a close and another one soon begins, let’s take a moment to remember that no one knows what will happen. Sometimes, what we hope will happen turns out to not be the best thing for us. Other times, when things go “wrong,” we later discover how much of a blessing it turned out to be. By reflecting on this deep truth, we can remain equanimous no matter what is happening around us.

PS: Some of the common questions I get are, “Can meditation help alleviate depression? What if meditation makes me more depressed? Is there a special way to meditate for depression? I explore the answers to these questions in my recent article.

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Path to Peace Why Should I Try to Change and Become Better If I Am Alone?

Spirituality is a word that means something different to just about everyone. Some people think spirituality is about being kind to others at the expense of ourself. They think it means being taken advantage of, letting governments and people do anything they want, being passive, inactive, and naive.

Other people think spirituality is all about selfish interests, self-love, self-care, and selfishly feeling happy despite the many problems in the world. They think spirituality means taking care of yourself at the expense of everything else. 

But, both of these views miss the bigger picture. Other people's joy is our joy. Our joy, if we are surrounded by misery, is not the deeply joyful experience we long for. And so it is by recognizing our interconnectedness, even if we feel like we are alone, that we can see how our actions impact the world, and how that impact gets amplified and multiplied until it eventually gets reflected back to us. 

In this podcast episode, I talk about how we can make the greatest impact on ourselves, on others, and how the changes we each make within can change the world entire.

Please enjoy other episodes where I share meditation techniques, tips and spiritual lessons from around the world for peaceful and stress-free living. Remember to subscribe to stay up-to-date.

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Feels Like Your Life Is Slipping Away?

There are two things taking place when we feel like our life is not going the way we hoped or wanted it to. The first thing is expectations — those pesky things created by society, our loved ones, and our own biased assumptions about how life should be. The second thing is a feeling of stuckness — that dull feeling, which lacks newness and excitement, that stems from repetitive and monotonous thoughts and behavior.

With expectations, it’s really best we get rid of them all together. When we drop a ball, we can expect it to fall. But why put pressure on the ball? How about we just let the ball do what the ball is going to do? Expectations, whether we put them on other people or on the universe, communicate that we are more important than the universe, that we know better, and that we have the clarity and foresight to know what’s best for everybody in the long run.

Ultimately, we may all be wrong about everything. There are pros and cons with both sides of every issue. Wise expectations can only come when we are certain, and certainty just doesn’t exist in this world. We may expect a promotion, but instead we get laid off. But that layoff can open doors to better positions at better companies. And conversely, what you may think is best, may be worse off in the end.

Whether it’s being rich or having a family or traveling the world, ideas of success are subjective and all that matters is living a life that makes you happy. Everyone gets to live however they wish, and you deserve no less. It’s your adventure. More in my podcast on how to find that free and infinite wellspring of joy and contentment in life that no object, circumstance, or amount of money will ever compare.

With feeling stuck, there are many things we can do to shake things up and add some variety to our lives — exploring new places, trying new foods, cycling instead of driving, etc… But before we go quitting our jobs and changing cities (more on this in my YouTube video), it’s important to ask ourselves if we are actually only trying to get away from that feeling inside of us.

Repetitive behavior doesn’t have to feel boring. Monotony doesn’t have to feel tedious. The fact is, it’s not the things we do that shape our experience. It’s the mental story we tell ourselves about our experiences. We can be a wealthy movie star and still feel stuck (just ask Jim Carey). Or, we can be a garbage man and derive immense joy from our family, friends, and even a day’s honest work. It’s all in the mental story we tell ourselves. (Sometimes we have to give meaning to our meaningless lives to make them interesting. Here’s how to find that meaning and purpose in life.)

 

Do This to Declutter Your Mind:

Every day we’re bombarded with millions of messages and inputs from other people and the media we consume. It’s enough to fill any mind with junk and clutter. These daily bombardments of negativity are enough to grind anyone down. That’s why it’s so important to take some time each day to reset and recharge, to process the inputs, to recenter oneself, and to digest all this mental junk food, including stress-inducing news stories, mindfully (here’s how I got over my own news addiction). It is essential to finding peace in a hyperactive world.

The way to do this can be as simple as spending more time in nature, or even just looking at a flower or plant for an extended period of time. It can be making art or playing music. And of course, there is no greater way to tune out all external stimuli than to sit in meditation, watch your breath, be present and conscious of the present moment, allow thoughts to come and go, and simply watch the thoughts without getting lost in thought. As you do this, you will notice that the external noise that fills up our internal world will get quieter and quieter until it is completely inaudible, peaceful and calm.

No matter where you are in life, appreciate how far you’ve come. No matter where you’ve been, be grateful for those experiences that made you who you are. No matter what you’re doing, give it your full attention. And may you find the wonder and adventure that lie within every moment.

PS: We all know meditation can make us more peaceful, patient, relaxed and joyful. We know it lowers stress, anxiety and blood pressure. But did you know meditation can lead to better decision-making? In this article, I’ll tell you how it works and show you how to use meditation for making smart choices.

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