Monday, October 1, 2012

Matt's back: Happy People Dancing on Planet Earth

Wow, this is happiness!!!

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120710.html

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Are you being too positive?

The New York times recently ran a great thought provoking article called The Positive Power of Negative Thinking, which I noticed thanks to Dan Millman's sharing it on Facebook. I found many of the article's key points very consistent with my experience and findings on my journey, some of which I've tried to share via previous articles on this blog (ideas such as "goal setting is not always a good thing" or "a healthy person is angry 10% of waking hours, sad 10% of waking hours and generally happy/satisfied the rest of the time"). The article also challenges the effectiveness of affirmations, which is something that I intend to write about soon as well (for the record, I am not a big fan of positive affirmations because they "treat" the surface - I much more prefer a method such as Dynamind, which I've also written about, because it goes deeper towards the roots). But the thing I like most about the article is that it encourages us to see things not positively (or negatively), but to see them as they really are. And that's what I believe should be one of the main goals of the "journey towards happiness".

Monday, June 11, 2012

Did you know that you can live this life twice?!?

Recently I took a walk through the center of Prague, and in the Kampa area, close to the medieval Charles Bridge, I came across a monument that Prague firefighters built for the firefighters that lost their lives in New York in 2001. And the motto that is written on the monument goes something like this:


"A firefighter is a person who lives in this world twice: once for himself and once for others. And that is why a firefighter's life is the right example for the proper understanding of the human life."

Isn't that awesome??? That we can actually live this life twice?!? I am sure that firefighters won't mind if we take this concept as applicable for all people who engage in service to others. I really think that this is getting just about as close as we can get to the essence of life itself. So, let's all of us live this life twice! And as a bonus, I am sure that our personal happiness will soar sky high as a side-effect!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Turn right for enlightenment | OdeWire

Another great article from OdeWire, where the findings are absolutely consistent with what I believe as a result of my journey... Roy Martina suggests hypnosis as a way to access the subconscious, I propose holotropic breathwork as another...

Turn right for enlightenment | OdeWire

Thursday, April 12, 2012

The Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

As a spiritual but non-religious person, I do not come across prayers too often. But recently in one intensive personal and spiritual development session we worked with a prayer that I found absolutely beautiful and an almost perfect summary of what the spiritual path (and a life based on joy and happiness) should be all about. So I would like to share the Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi below.

And as long as I am writing on the subject of prayer, I would also like to offer a tip to those who have a resistance to prayers (as I did and sometimes still do): Instead of thinking "prayer", think "speaking from the heart to the creator, a higher source or to something that transcends us". You may find that such a shift may release tremendous energy and joy deep from your heart. Also, try experimenting with creating your own prayers or "speeches from the heart to a higher source", according to your wishes and needs at the time.


Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Eating healthy foods is only a small part of really eating healthy!

One of my new year's resolutions was to eat more healthy. So I cut down on stuff like sweets, cola drinks, alcohol and increased the amount of vegetables, fruits, high-quality juices, wholewheat grains, nuts, beans, etc., in my diet. Basically no brainer stuff, but surprisingly hard to do. But the more I thought about healthy eating, the more convinced I became that eating healthy foods is only a small part of really eating healthy! By that I mean that I believe that just as important is eating slowly, fully chewing the food, eating fully concentrated (i.e., not reading or watching TV while eating), eating with appreciation for the food itself and for the energy contained in the food, savoring each food's different taste and smell, and so on. I really believe that in today's high-paced world we have lost much of these aspects of eating healthy, which were probably once as natural as breathing deeply or getting lots of movement. However, at least in my experience, these non-food aspects of eating healthy are even harder to do than eating the right foods. Anyway, I just wanted this post to be a "hmm, lemme think about that for a while" kind of post, rather than a "this is what I think everyone should do" kind of post. So, what do you think about this? Are there are other factors of eating healthy that I've missed? And how important do you think they really are? I am curious to hear your thoughts. Tomas