“If a warrior is to succeed at anything, the success must come gently, with a great deal of effort but with no stress or obsession.” ~ Carlos Castaneda from The Wheel of Time

I love that –> “With a great deal of effort but with no stress or obsession.”

We usually wind up on one extreme or the other: we’re either REALLY goal-driven and obsessed and stressed OR we’re on a beach somewhere or in meditation trying to breathe/relax ourselves out of the stress through NON-action.

The challenge, of course, is to be FULLY engaged and totally calm. (Fun!)

Lao-tzu and the Taoists call this “effortless effort.”

It’s not NO effort. It’s effortless effort.

It’s like water moving downstream—incredibly active and powerful but without stress—it’s simply moving with it’s built-in purpose: downstream.

I love that. I call it “dynamic equanimity”—that place where you’re totally engaged and totally balanced.

How are you showing up? Are you stressed or are you flowing? Are you totally disengaged and timid about setting exciting goals because you don’t want to become imbalanced or are you having fun finding your center while playing at the edge?!?

He turned 78 last Saturday and still says he meditates for three hours every day, starting at 4 am. He says he is just a simple monk and that kindness is his religion, calling for love and compassion to promote world peace.

When we met with the Dalai Lama he was standing on his veranda overlooking the beautiful Himalayan Mountain range, smiling and waving for us to come. We went to bow as is the tradition but he lifted us, took our hands, and said: “We are all equal here.”

We really didn’t know what to expect as he walked us into his sitting room. We imagined this spiritual leader to millions would be a serene Buddha-like figure sitting on a throne, yet he sat between us on his couch, still holding our hands, for forty-five minutes. He was the most ordinary person we ever hung out with. The world’s greatest meditator was simple and unassuming, he felt like our best friend, and he laughed a lot.

Just by sitting with the Dalai Lama we realized the effect of his years of meditation, as his very presence emanated all those qualities that meditators seek, such as inner peace, loving kindness, authenticity, and mindful awareness. This is particularly seen in his devotion to ahimsa, non-injury, and his policy of non-violence, which is why he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

Research, such as that conducted by neuroscientist Richie Davidson, a friend of the Dalai Lama’s, at Wisconsin University, and shared in our book Be The Change, proves how meditation actually develops the part of our brain that increases compassion and loving kindness. “By training the mind, we can actually change the brain toward greater contentment,” says Dr. Davidson in Be The Change. “There is certainly evidence to show that meditation practices designed to cultivate compassion and loving kindness change the brain in many positive ways.”

However, the mind desires endless entertainment and much prefers being distracted than facing the constant dramas racing around inside it. The idea of sitting still and watching our breath can appear boring, meaningless, even a time-waster, and not at all fun or creative. Yet meditation invites an undoing of what isn’t and a revealing of what is; we don’t become someone else, rather we become more who we really are, which is far from boring! It is about being fully present in this moment, no matter what we are doing: if washing the dishes, then let any thoughts and distractions dissolve into the soap bubbles; when eating, be aware of every bite, taste, and texture.

–From Ed and Deb Shapiro 

“Sri Krishnamacharya used to tell me: ‘Do the Headstand when you are tired and in need of a tonic; when you are unable to fall asleep; when you are hungry, nervous and unhappy. Do it when in need of relaxation, when the brain is clouded, when you are in low spirits. Do it when your thoughts are distracted and you cannot concentrate properly or meditate.‘”

~Indra Devi

Some “Basic” Cellular Biology

There are thousands upon thousands of receptors on each cell in our body. Each receptor is specific to one peptide, or protein. When we have feelings of anger, sadness, guilt, excitement, happiness or nervousness, each separate emotion releases its own flurry of neuropeptides. Those peptides surge through the body and connect with those receptors which change the structure of each cell as a whole. Where this gets interesting is when the cells actually divide. If a cell has been exposed to a certain peptide more than others, the new cell that is produced through its division will have more of the receptor that matches with that specific peptide. Likewise, the cell will also have less receptors for peptides that its mother/sister cell was not exposed to as often.

Thus if you have been bombarding your cells with peptides from a negative attitude, you are literally programming your cells to receive more of those peptides in the future. Even worse, you are lessening the number of receptors of positive-attitude peptides, making yourself inclined towards negativity.

This is why it takes more than a few days of positive thinking to make a significant impact on your long-term attitude patterns. Every cell in your body is replaced every 2 months. So if you have a history of negative thinking, depression, pessimism or perpetual frustration, plan on working on yourself for longer than a few days before you see more permanent results.

Start today. Start reshaping the biological structure of your cells and become inclined to happiness and optimism instead of whatever emotion your are physically addicted to right now.

Hat tip to Ryan Calvert for finding the link on High Existence.

The Dalai Lama said he was counting on young people to create a “happier” century as he celebrated his 78th birthday on Saturday in southern India with tens of thousands of Tibetan exiles.

“The present-day generation can create better conditions and build a world where everyone can live in harmony and in a spirit of coexistence,” the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, told the crowd.

“Youngsters of today have an opportunity to build a happier century,” said the maroon-robed monk. “For those of us from the 20th century, there is nothing we can do now.”

The spiritual leader spoke to some 40,000 Tibetans who migrated from Tibet and settled in India.

In an hour-long speech, he urged people to “practice compassion” and not just think of themselves, adding that education only has value “when you are compassionate towards others.”

We think that happiness is something that you find or if you reach some level in a company or a school, then you’re happier.  And what we’re finding is that happiness is not something that happens to you.  Happiness is a work ethic.  It’s something that requires our brains to train just like an athlete has to train.

In order to become happier, we actually have to focus our brains down on things that actually move us forward instead of stressing about things that are outside of our control. That doesn’t move us forward at all.

We need to change the formula for success. If we prioritize happiness, it will then raise our success rates, but it’s also something that actually requires effort. It requires training and requires us to be able to focus our attention on this.

We often think that if people get happy, they’ll stop working hard or that happy people are unintelligent.  And what we’re finding is just the opposite.  I think it is the most counter-intuitive thing we’ve found, which is happiness actually raises an individual’s intelligence and their success rates.

We find that the happy people aren’t always the smartest people. I’ve met tons of people that are very successful and not happy, and people that are extremely intelligent and not happy.  So we might assume that those two things are divorced, but now what we really realize in the science is that both of those individuals are actually underperforming what their brain is actually capable of.

And if we have more role models in our companies and schools of individuals that are positive and infect other people with that positivity rippling out through those mirror neuron networks, not only can we raise the levels of happiness and engagement in our schools and companies again, but we’ll actually raise their levels of successes as well.

Via Shawn Achor 

5 Reasons to Soak Nuts and Seeds Before Eating

Have you ever felt like the nuts you were eating were rock hard and tough to chew? If so, it’s likely that you’re eating nuts that your digestive system cannot break down. Nuts and seeds have natural defense mechanisms (to fend off predators such as squirrels, humans, etc.) These defense mechanisms include toxic substances and enzyme inhibitors. These defense mechanisms are present until growing conditions exist. After soaking your nuts and seeds, you create a growing condition and the defense mechanisms are broken down, making the nut a much healthier option. Soaking nuts and seeds is also known as “sprouting.”

Why Soak Nuts and Seeds Before Eating ?

Eating rock hard nuts and seeds is like eating “dead food,” or more accurately, food that is not yet activated or alive. You activate, germinate, and sprout the nut or seed by soaking it.

5 Reasons to Soak Seeds and Nuts Before Eating :

1. You unlock the nutritional power of seeds and nuts by soaking

Not all nuts are created equally. A lot of people eat nuts because, “they have a lot of protein.” But what good is protein if you can’t absorb it? Soaking the nuts unlocks the protein and allows your digestive system to absorb it.

2. Soak nuts and seeds before eating for better taste

Soaked nuts taste better.  They’re softer and moist, giving the nuts more of a “nut+butter” taste.

3. Soak nuts and seeds before eating to eliminate toxins

The enzyme inhibitors and toxins are all but removed after soaking nuts and seeds, reducing potential damage to your digestive tract and internal organs.

4. Soak nuts and seeds before eating to activate beneficial enzymes

Not only does soaking reduce toxins, it also activates beneficial enzymes and vitamins (especially Vitamins A, B, and C.)

5. Soaking nuts and seeds before eating is better for your teeth

Any dentist will agree ~ it is better to bite and chew softer foods. You can turn a rock hard nut or seed into a soft, nutritional powerhouse in a few short hours. The lucid practitioner is always seeking vitality through healthy, cleansing, enlivening foods. You can actually increase the life, power, and vitality of your seeds and nuts by soaking them! What experience do you have in soaking/eating seeds and nuts?

If you follow Lucid Practice on twitter you may have noticed that after nearly every “destination post” I hashtag the word “manifest.”

Manifest means, to me, to take your mind and thoughts where you want them to go. We actually manifest all day. Life happens around us and we quickly manifest a judgment or a thought. Each thought creates an energy flow within us and around us. If you are thinking positive thoughts then this energy is positive and great experiences happen. If you are thinking negative thoughts then the experience most likely will be negative.

Your thoughts and energy create your reality.

At around 5pm every day I have been posting a picture of a place that I have been or would like to go to in the future. I have had some awesome experiences traveling and I love exploring new cultures.

So every day, if even for just a minute, I go somewhere. I manifest a reality where I am in the picture that I am sharing. Over the past few weeks I have taken a world tour. Asia, Africa, South America, Europe….I have taken myself around the world. The manifestation process (for me) is simple in this case….I look at a picture, close my eyes, visualize and breathe.

Monks in the Himalayas sit, meditate, and manifest for sometimes months at a time.

You can manifest your life. You can manifest happiness. You can manifest what you want to accomplish. You can manifest your dreams. For the people who want money? Boom. You have it. Visualize yourself with all the money in the world.

With this tool, you can enjoy a sense of positive energy and optimism that manifests in amazing ways in your daily life.

We are what we think we are.