Todd Perelmuter's Blog, page 5

When Life Feels Out of Control: How to Regain Peace and Clarity

Life only gets out of control when the doing is out of balance with the being. 

Therefore, when we are constantly doing, constantly receiving a bombardment of information and messages from society, from advertising to social media to the friends and family we are surrounded with, we are always being bombarded with trillions of informational data points that the brain processes and uses to create a model of the universe around us.

If we don’t spend an adequate amount of time processing that information, digesting it, and releasing certain negative emotions that were caused, then we will feel like our lives are out of control, chaotic, and disorganized. And we can feel like the ground has been pulled out from under us.

If we, for example, are constantly doing activities, constantly doing things, and not giving ourselves enough introspection or reflection, then we may only notice the effect our behavior has on us in the moment, but not in the future. That’s why we may eat garbage and feel like garbage, but we might not connect the two, because when we eat the garbage, in that moment, we feel a rush of pleasure. We don’t feel the sickness that comes 20–30 minutes later.

This is true in every aspect of our lives. If we don’t notice how something is making us feel, how something is affecting our lives, how something is affecting the people we love around us, then we will be lost in ignorance, and we will create a life that is directionless and unpredictable. That will make it incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to achieve any dreams or goals.

Once we invite that space into our lives, immediately, that overwhelmed feeling disappears because there’s space to breathe. Our bodies can relax. We were in a heightened state of chronic stress, and finally, there was a moment to breathe.

Because when we are being bombarded with information, our minds are going into overdrive to process it. And if it doesn’t have some space to do that, it will do it in a very hurried, impatient way. It will not be effective. It will make us more impatient and more miserable.

For a lot of people who have been living 100% of their lives doing something, which is most people, those first few weeks of inviting that space will feel like torture. It will feel like one minute is twenty minutes. And this is okay. In fact, this is wonderful.

This is the undoing of doing. This is the beginning of being. And this fully changes our lives because we go from a place of chronic stress, a place of chaos, to a place of wise reflection, so that we know, in each moment, what our actions will do for us now and in the future.

In doing so, we begin to have a future that we are consciously creating and shaping, instead of unconsciously making through unskilled and ignorant choices. I don’t mean ignorant as an insult, simply meaning a lack of understanding and a lack of deep wisdom in what we’re doing.

So, whether it is doing anything that helps us get out of our head and helps us be present, it is very useful. It’s a great transition to going beyond that and doing actually nothing, and letting our brain reflect.

Phase 1) At first, it can be a walk, a jog, swimming laps, exercise, anything that we do where we can take out the headphones and just be. We can still be running or walking, but take off the headphones. Or we can be doing anything that forces us out of that normal thinking mode. The more you do that, the better.

That includes art and creativity, performing on stage, these moments of heightened presence that force us to be aware and alert for at least a short period of time.

Phase 2) Then the second phase, which we can start right away in small amounts, is meditation, yoga, and even just sipping tea with no distractions by yourself for five or ten minutes. This is the way we change the way our mind works fundamentally in the long term.

So, swimming is great, but it doesn’t train our mind to act differently after swimming. That’s why these meditative activities are incredible. They’re worth doing, and they make life worth living.

But once we get into meditation, the real nothing, then we are not focusing on balance and moving our legs and arms just so, or avoiding cars or bumping into things. We are putting our full attention inward. We are giving ourselves that much-needed wisdom to understand why our life is the way it is, what choices we made to get here, what we want our future to look like, and what choices we can make to get there.

All it takes is a little bit of time, thoughtful thinking, planning, reflecting, and introspection, and we can all create a life that is both busy and thrilling while simultaneously filled with inner peace, inner calm, and inner stillness. That is the goal we can all reach: a balance of being with doing.

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The post When Life Feels Out of Control: How to Regain Peace and Clarity appeared first on EastWesticism.

Path to Peace This Might Be the Biggest Mistake You’re Making

We can move forward from any mistakes. We can be freed from all regrets. And we can gain from both wisdom and courage. None of us are slaves to our past.

The fact is, notions of regret and mistake live only in the mind. We did not choose our circumstances or our brains. These self-imposed prisons are merely illusions we carry with us.

So many of us spend so much of our lives feeling regret for mistakes we've made in the past. It's part of life, to live and to learn. But the greatest mistake we could ever make is the one I share in this podcast.

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.

*****
If you ever feel like my words brought a change in your life, and want to show your SUPPORT for what I am doing, click here.

Find all of my BOOKS for wherever you are on your spiritual journey: https://www.eastwesticism.org/spiritual-meditation-books/

Want to gift a book to a prisoner? Go here.

The post Path to Peace This Might Be the Biggest Mistake You’re Making appeared first on EastWesticism.

Path to Peace We’re All Buddha and Hitler, But Here’s the Good News

Does every human being have Buddha nature and Hitler potential within them? Are we destined to exist within one of these extremes? Are we forced to live according to our programming — genetic, cultural and familial — or are we capable of rewriting our future? Do we all truly have the potential to achieve Buddhahood, Christ consciousness, and Krishna consciousness. And if so, how?

The more we understand what makes a person who they are, the more we discover how to change ourselves. The more we change ourselves, the more we instinctively help others change and the more we can shape society into a more peaceful and loving place. Then soon we'll have a billion little Buddhas running around.

In this podcast, I explore how we can escape those darker impulses of the human condition. I talk about how we can nurture those better angels of our nature. And I share how we can break free from our past to create a more incredible future.

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.

*****
If you ever feel like my words brought a change in your life, and want to show your SUPPORT for what I am doing, click here.

Find all of my BOOKS for wherever you are on your spiritual journey: https://www.eastwesticism.org/spiritual-meditation-books/

Want to gift a book to a prisoner? Go here.

The post Path to Peace We’re All Buddha and Hitler, But Here’s the Good News appeared first on EastWesticism.

Path to Peace This Mindset Shift Ends 90% of Relationship Conflict

Relationships are both the greatest sources of happiness we can find in our lives, and the greatest sources of pain and suffering. Not only can relationships cause us tremendous heartache, but the lack or loss of them can be even more heart-wrenching.

So what are we supposed to do? Live as hermits in solitude? Live as doormats to be taken advantage of? Live in constant conflict? Or is there a better way, a way we can enjoy the delights of companionship and skip the conflict and pain?

In this podcast, I talk about a very important 3-step process for improving all our relationships. We can't control others, but if we follow these simple steps we can make a powerful change for ourselves and how we relate to others.

*****
If you ever feel like my words brought a change in your life, and want to show your SUPPORT for what I am doing, click here.

Find all of my BOOKS for wherever you are on your spiritual journey: https://www.eastwesticism.org/spiritual-meditation-books/

Want to gift a book to a prisoner? Go here.

The post Path to Peace This Mindset Shift Ends 90% of Relationship Conflict appeared first on EastWesticism.

Path to Peace Can Life Be All Peaks?

We all want our life to be all peaks all the time. We want maximum enjoyment, pleasure, satisfaction and achievement every moment of our waking lives. Even when we're asleep, we want the best dreams on the best mattress and sheets. 

We want to always be at the peak of the rollercoaster of life. We want to reach the peak of the mountain without doing the hard, grudging work to get there. Not only do we want it, but we've come to expect it. And that is one of the major causes of suffering in our modern and comfortable lives.

In this podcast episode, I explore if living life a life of peaks is possible, if it would actually be a good thing, and if it would truly make us happy. I talk about how we can shift our perspective so that we can appreciate those inevitable dips. I share the truth about the fleeting and unsatisfactory nature of peaks. And I discuss how we can learn to find the joy in every step we take on this beautiful journey of life.

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.

*****
If you ever feel like my words brought a change in your life, and want to show your SUPPORT for what I am doing, click here.

Find all of my BOOKS for wherever you are on your spiritual journey: https://www.eastwesticism.org/spiritual-meditation-books/

Want to gift a book to a prisoner? Go here.

The post Path to Peace Can Life Be All Peaks? appeared first on EastWesticism.

Path to Peace 3-Step Process for Breaking the Cycle of Self-Sabotage

Why do we give great advice to others and yet we have a hard time following it ourselves? What is the root cause of our own self-sabotage? Why do we keep making the same mistakes over and over again? And what can we do to break the cycle?

In this podcast, I talk about why we keep failing to make positive changes and I share a simple 3-step process for breaking free from that inner voice that keeps giving us bad ideas.

If we want to stop making life hard for ourselves, we have to get to the source of the problem. Exerting immense effort and discipline is exhausting and unsustainable. Only by understanding the true nature of self-sabotage can we free ourselves from this habit once and for all. Here is how to do exactly that.

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.

*****
If you ever feel like my words brought a change in your life, and want to show your SUPPORT for what I am doing, click here.

Find all of my BOOKS for wherever you are on your spiritual journey: https://www.eastwesticism.org/spiritual-meditation-books/

Want to gift a book to a prisoner? Go here.

The post Path to Peace 3-Step Process for Breaking the Cycle of Self-Sabotage appeared first on EastWesticism.

Path to Peace Why You’re Addicted and Don’t Even Know It

We are all addicts. Every single of one of us is addicted. And it's not to our phone, alcohol, food, work, substances, gambling, sex, shopping or whatever else you may think it is. 

Some of us are wild and out of control. And some of us are able to manage our addiction. But we all struggle, we exhaust ourselves putting forth tremendous effort to refrain, and in the end we either cave in or temporarily fight off. But we all have this one addiction, and it is the cause of all our other addictions.

In this podcast, I share what this universal addiction is. I talk about how we get it, how to notice it, and how to free ourselves from it. This addiction is the root cause to all of our other addictions. It's why we often swap one addiction for another. It's why we can seem to have many addictions or an “addictive personality.”

As long as we focus on the symptoms of our addiction — the substances or the activities — we will never be free. When we get to the root cause of our addiction, all addictions effortlessly fade away. Here's how to do exactly that.

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.

*****
If you ever feel like my words brought a change in your life, and want to show your SUPPORT for what I am doing, click here.

Find all of my BOOKS for wherever you are on your spiritual journey: https://www.eastwesticism.org/spiritual-meditation-books/

Want to gift a book to a prisoner? Go here.

The post Path to Peace Why You’re Addicted and Don’t Even Know It appeared first on EastWesticism.

Path to Peace The 3 Biggest Steps You Can Take for Your Happiness

Who’s your best friend? Did you say yourself? You should, because there’s no one more important to you than you. You may think there is, but you can only experience other people through your own state of consciousness. So your state of consciousness is the most important determining factor for your relationships and your happiness in life.

So how do you treat yourself? How do you talk to yourself? Are you loving and kind, or critical and harsh? Do you spend quality time with yourself uninterrupted and undistracted, or do you avoid yourself? Do you dread spending extended alone time with just yourself, or do you love it? The answer to this question is the real measure of your happiness. 

In this podcast, I talk about the nature of our relationship with ourselves. I share 3 simple but powerful steps for improving that relationship. I talk about a practical tool that a shaman in Peru taught me for giving ourselves some much needed self-love. And I share how we can deepen our relationship with ourself in a way that improves our relationships with everyone around us.

Remember, if the source of happiness was on top of the world's tallest mountain or at the bottom of the deepest ocean, it would have been discovered long ago and everyone would make a pilgrimage to this place. But instead, the universe put that source of happiness in the last place anyone would think to look — within.

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.

*****
If you ever feel like my words brought a change in your life, and want to show your SUPPORT for what I am doing, click here.

Find all of my BOOKS for wherever you are on your spiritual journey: https://www.eastwesticism.org/spiritual-meditation-books/

Want to gift a book to a prisoner? Go here.

The post Path to Peace The 3 Biggest Steps You Can Take for Your Happiness appeared first on EastWesticism.

Path to Peace You May Have It and Not Even Know It — How to Heal from Denial and Emotional Pain

There is an epidemic sweeping the world. You may have it and not even know it.

That disease is called denialism, and it's not just psychological. It manifests as physical symptoms and can negatively impact every aspect of our life.

We live in a world where appearances matter more than truth. We are rewarded if we can shove down our pain, ignore our stress, and drown our sorrows. But when all of those problems bubble under the surface, eventually they explode.

Denial is one of the major, if not the number one cause, of chronic pain, addiction, mental crises, anger outbursts, and many of the physical disorders and diseases in our world.

The fact is, we need to feel to heal. We need to address what's going on beneath the surface so that we can release it in a healthy way. In this podcast, I share how to do exactly that.

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.

*****
If you ever feel like my words brought a change in your life, and want to show your SUPPORT for what I am doing, click here.

Find all of my BOOKS for wherever you are on your spiritual journey: https://www.eastwesticism.org/spiritual-meditation-books/

Want to gift a book to a prisoner? Go here.

The post Path to Peace You May Have It and Not Even Know It — How to Heal from Denial and Emotional Pain appeared first on EastWesticism.

Path to Peace 3-Step Process for Healing Emotionally When You Don’t Know Where to Start

What if your entire life is being shaped by wounds you don’t even know you have?
Most of us carry emotional scars buried so deep, we’re not even aware they exist. And because we don’t see them, we don’t know we need healing—let alone how to begin.

Trauma isn’t always dramatic. Sometimes, it’s subtle. It’s the weight of things unspoken, inherited pain passed down from generations, childhood moments that left marks, or a society that never taught us how to feel safe.

The real issue? Our world doesn’t teach us how to heal. It teaches us to distract, to numb, to escape. And so we go on, letting the past quietly control the present.

In my latest podcast, I share a simple but powerful 3-step process for healing emotional wounds. It’s a way to break the cycle—for yourself, and for those around you.

You don’t have to live stuck in pain.
You don’t have to pass it on.
Here’s how to start healing—even if you don’t know where to begin.

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.

*****
If you ever feel like my words brought a change in your life, and want to show your SUPPORT for what I am doing, click here.

Find all of my BOOKS for wherever you are on your spiritual journey: https://www.eastwesticism.org/spiritual-meditation-books/

Want to gift a book to a prisoner? Go here.

The post Path to Peace 3-Step Process for Healing Emotionally When You Don’t Know Where to Start appeared first on EastWesticism.