When nothing less than the best will do

Life is too short to be living half a life. Nothing less than “whole assed” will do the trick.

You feel that way?

I’m sure you do. I’m sure you wouldn’t be reading this if it wasn’t true.

I get you.

A few people, like yourself, don’t want to just get through life. There’s no satisfaction in survival mode. You don’t want to waste a single moment.

There has to be meaning and purpose and excellence. There has to be quality. There has to be a sense of living well.

Whatever it is you do, there is a push for more, a push for everything.

You want to make sure you get everything from life - everything. You want to make sure you live as the very best version of yourself.

It’s difficult to describe, but I feel it. I’ve felt it all my life, this lust for more.

What I didn’t realise was how rare this was. I thought many people felt this way, but recently I have found I have been mistaken.

There are so many people who are very happy settling for less. Just ticking along is perfect, it is enough.

I hope it doesn’t sound like there is judgement there, because there isn’t, I just didn’t realise that I was talking a different language.

I didn’t realise why I didn’t make any sense to some of the people I was in front of.

There was a fundamental lack of understanding, and I didn't realise it.

Now I do. Now I get it.

I’m so glad you guys are around so I can talk to you about being amazing.

I want to say it’s awesome to know you. To know that you want to make the biggest difference you can, and that you are.

And I want to say I know if it drives you crazy sometimes, that needing to have more; that whole question, “What is my purpose? What am I doing here?”

It used to drive me crazy. Talk about being jumpy and so not content or satisfied. I was constantly looking for the next thing, the next adventure, the purpose.

I am so glad (glad isn’t even touching the depth of appreciation I feel) that I learnt to Ascend. That one weekend, being given those simple meditation techniques, it aligned so much for me.

It gave me the ability to have my cake and eat it too.

To be content and to thrive on more.

To have an anchor, a sense of connection, of purpose, and the springboard to experience everything.

To have a means of going beyond limitations and self-sabotage.

To see my mind clearly and all it’s habits and be able to drop them and live as the best version of myself.

So bravo.

Bravo for not settling for less, for wanting to be the best you can be.

Cliched I do not want to sound, but if I do, oh well.

If you need anything, anything at all, let me know. I will do my absolute best to help you out.

It is a pleasure to have you here. Thank you.

"My own bad habits are my biggest problem"

I was speaking with some people earlier in the week and was asking what was the biggest source of stress for them.

Someone very perceptive piped up with “my own bad habits”.

For her it was eating at her desk - not taking a proper break for lunch, or any breaks throughout the day.

On a mission - working and working, pushing through.

Effective? No. Constant busy-ness isn’t. Nor is it enjoyable.

I'm not going to soften this one: Your biggest problems are caused by your own actions and choices.

You know what your own bad habits are. The ones that mean that you don’t do the things that you need to do to look after yourself.

All of them - not taking breaks, not doing absolutely anything for a spell or two throughout the day, trying to multitask, not getting enough quality sleep, not exercising, not eating well, not meditating.

All of them are about trying to do too much and not nurturing yourself.

The thing is - they all seem like small compromises at the time.

You can get away with bad habits for a few days, a few weeks, someone people go for months and years even, but it creeps up on you.

Before you know it you’re exhausted, irritable, not able to think straight. You get caught in emotional moods, you snap quicker with less choice… life just seems harder.

Where did the joy go?

It seems like life just gets more and more difficult.

Nope, it all comes from you. It is your own bad habits that make life hard.

Especially in this busy time leading up to Christmas, make sure you look after yourself.

Do what you need to do so life is smooth and simple.

You may be busier, but take breaks, regularly.

Be present - stop trying to multitask. If you’re making a cup of tea, make a cup of tea. If you’re on the phone, be on the phone.

Stop throughout the day and be grateful for something, to someone - out loud.

Stop throughout the day and just take 5 deep - and I mean deep, slow, smooth - breaths.

Stop throughout the day and close your eyes - meditate!

It’ll give you clarity and rest. A sense of calmness, of perspective and acceptance. You can deal with everything when it’s in perspective.

There’s an old saying that says when you are busy, meditate. When you are really busy, meditate twice as long.

You deserve to enjoy your life, fully.

See how you get in your own way, and stop.

Keep it simple. You know what to do - you just have to do it.

When everything is taken away, what is left?

Someone asked me what learning the Bright Path Ishayas' Ascension gave me. I thought it was a funny question, maybe I was feeling cheeky, but what I told her was this:

Nothing. Learning to Ascend gave me nothing at all.

But took away so much.

It took away the doubt and the worry.

It took away thinking so much about everything.

It took away the OCD of checking and rechecking that my front door or car door or office door was actually locked.

It took away the self-sabotage, the thinking I couldn’t do it so I didn’t start.

It took away the fear of failure, of not doing it right, of the world coming crashing around my ears any moment now.

It took away everything that was interfering with me being myself and enjoying all of life.

In that it did gave me the ability to be free and easy and ok exactly as I am.

Interesting huh?

You are the same - you need nothing. You have everything you need already within you.

The best version of you is already there.

You just need to be it.

You need a way of leaving the interference behind.

Finding a way to regularly be that best version of yourself is incredibly important.

Living with limitation is just half a life.

The habits of the mind are the only thing stopping you. They are the only handbrake.

All of your negative patterns come from just thoughts - they don’t have to be real. They can be just an option.

If you look at them clearly, you will have choice over them.

Practice, that’s it. Habits are just something you’ve done several times. Make another habit. Practice being something else.

Be present, come and exist in the same place as your body. There you can thrive.

You need to do so little.

You don’t need to fix anything, just choose to be alive and present, here and now.

Job done.

Personally I would learn to Ascend. It makes everything so easy. It makes being the best version of yourself the natural thing.

You deserve to have everything that is not you taken away, forgotten about.

Start now, and keep going. You'll find it so rewarding. So inspiring. So enjoyable.

You come alive.

Why asking “What do I do?” ended in frustration for me

Yesterday I was talking about having your cake and eating it too.

In that you need give nothing up to have a life of 200%.

200% is what the Ishayas call having perfect internal calm and connection and yet a completely full and rich external life - enjoying all the things this world has to offer:

Fine wines, dining out, strong coffee, nice clothes, warm pork pies, good music.

That’s why I loved the Ishayas.

I loved the practice of Ascension, so super simple, so honestly and clearly giving me the choice to detach from the worries and doubts of my own mind.

But the Ishayas also never told me how I should live.

Every time I asked what should I do about this, or what should I do about that, they always asked me what I wanted to do.

They just said practice being so alive to this moment, so open, so fresh and excited and then live. Go beyond your mind - see how you limit yourself with your own thoughts. Live a life without limitations.

That was it.

They refused to say what I should do. And for someone looking for a way, this was a little frustrating.

All I wanted was someone to tell me what to do.

How else did I know I was living right?

But I came to realise how liberating that was.

No one can tell you how to live your life. Your path is your path.

You have to find your instruction manual within yourself, and within each and every moment.

You see, it’s constantly updating, constantly refreshing itself.

But you come to be present and alive to now and you will know what to do, where to go, how to live. Listen in and you will find the answer for this moment.

You will become clear on your own life.

Perfect.

What I learned from a rapper about balance

When I was a little bit younger I loved a band called Faithless - I loved them even more when I read an interview with one of the members.

I knew he was a rapper and he loved to drive his racing car on track days, but I almost fell over when he talked about how he was a Buddhist.

See, I had thought the two worlds were separate.

On one hand you could choose to have all the good things in life - for me that extended to paddling rivers, snowboarding, cool music (well I thought so), telling dodgy jokes with my friends, having people over and nurturing them with good food and wine.

Or, you could have a spiritual life. You could find peace and purpose.

There wasn’t a crossover.

Yet here was a guy who was obviously enjoying driving fast and dancing all night who didn’t consider his spiritual self to be separate from that.

I remember him saying that his Buddhist practice meant he became more real, more authentic to himself.

There wasn’t a trying to become some one else, different. He enjoyed his life, his passions, even more.

I think that’s why I had no doubts about becoming an Ishaya monk.

The Ishayas lived both parts of life so fully.

I found them to be absolutely calm and centred, yet so passionate and excited, enjoying and unapologetic for their own personalities and tastes.

They were balanced people - busy and productive yet they made sure they took time out to rest and nurture.

If you want all of life, everything that it has to offer, follow their example.

You don’t have to give anything up. You can have it all.

You don’t need to change - you have everything you need, already within you.

You just need to remember. In that remembering, be balanced.

Can you remember now?

The more you remember, the more that becomes a habit. The more it becomes a habit, the more the best of life comes and gets you.

A great state to be in.

Have your cake and eat it too. Don’t go changing for peace.

All about habits, not hobbits

So this fellow and I are having this discussion which takes a moment or two to really get going, simply because he was talking about habits and I thought he said hobbits, as in hairy-toed short people. Don't worry - we sorted it out in quick time and were onto much more fruitful pastures.

It's all because I'm not native to this land being from New Zealand, and certain accents take a little, actually a lot, of focus to grasp.

Reminds me of the time that I met a true Geordie, from Newcastle, who upon hearing I used to live in Mexico tried to engage me in Spanish. Tricky to understand him speaking English let alone in Espanol, which is average in me at best.

But I digress. What became obvious is this:

There are some things which are comfortable to you - habitual you might say.

Because they are habitual you have set your life up around them - they are also convenient.

But just because they are comfortable and convenient does not make them life affirming and beneficial.

You have habits that add to your life, you have habits that don’t.

There are a thousand things you can and do fall into when you just want comfort.

Alcohol, drugs, sugar, porn, gambling, shopping, train-spotting…

Take a look at your life, what do you use?

Have you ever noticed that doing something different - even if it is life affirming and “good for you” - is rarely ever comfortable?

Like starting an exercise regime. Definitely not comfortable on a physical level, it hurts. It hurts on a pride level because you used to be so much fitter, it was so much easier…

But there is something in it.

You do it because you want to move on, you want to move forward.

Now, I believe you are reading this because you aren’t satisfied with mere comfort.

You’ve tried comfort and you want more.

You are okay being uncomfortable in order to really see what this life has to offer.

You are okay with at least the idea of giving up something in order to gain something greater.

And that is the point -

All habits are comfortable.

Because of this, you only need discipline for as long as it takes for a new way to become a habit.

Then it becomes filled with comfort. You didn’t know how you lived without the new way.

The rewards of the habit become convenient, close, quick and coming quicker.

You have become a different person, bigger, with a clearer perspective.

Finding time to sit down to meditate - for those who Ascend, sitting down to Ascend - is rarely comfortable in the beginning.

The doing is pleasurable, it brings enormous benefits in terms of rest, healing, clarity, effectiveness, joy and peace…

…but it may not be comfortable to break your other habits - in the beginning.

It may require you to turn off the TV, hide your phone in the next room, log out of Facebook…

It may require a little discipline - in the beginning.

Expect the resistance and do it anyway.

Crack on, because your life will become far more comfortable with it than without it.

Choose your habits wisely!

...and you definitely can choose your habits, just don’t expect comfort in the beginning.

The Force - it is within you.

I went to see the Martian last night, which I enjoyed so much. I know I’m a bit slow and behind the times, but I got there. I like Matt Damon a lot, my fiancé (rhymes with Beyonce) is a little jealous. She has no reason to be, I mean he lives in California or somewhere so there’s no chance of us meeting.

But the best thing was seeing the new Star Wars trailer on the big screen.

I have always loved all those films. The biggest thing being the Force, the idea of this unseen power that can allow anyone to do incredible feats.

There is a line in there, where the voice over goes - “the Force, it’s within you”, and I got all goose bumpy.

You see, its not fiction.

There is nothing that anyone can give you that is worth as much as that which is already inside you.

Within you is an absolute presence - still and complete.

If you carefully and completely pay attention to the essence of this moment, if you open up your senses to now, you will find an expanded sense of your own awareness.

There is nothing missing, it stretches forever, there are no boundaries, it is a moment of perfection that can only be experienced now. It needs nothing but gives you everything.

There is no struggle, no suffering, only perfect contentment and awareness.

When you are full of this presence, no thought, no emotion, no habit has any power over you. You are fresh, complete, alive.

I, or anyone else, can remind you of this presence, I can teach you tools so you can remind yourself of it, but no one can give it to you - because it is already you.

The magic pill would be nice to give out, but unfortunately it's the one thing that you need to do by yourself.

You are the one that needs to choose for it.

Explore within, explore your awareness, find and live from that presence. It is the greatest thing you possess. It is the only thing you truly possess, it is truly who you are.

Live that and be completely and effortlessly alive.

It is so simple and so natural to do, you just need to do it.

Mr T and the good life.

Living the best life possible is absolutely possible. Before I started on this Ishaya meditation path I had the suspicion that there was more to life than what I was living.

You know that inkling that perhaps there was something missing, or something more?

That’s what I had.

Nothing really satisfied. I was happy, and doing well at my job, doing the best I could with life, but there wasn’t deep contentment with all of it.

I found that came with a simple practice of being very present and aware right now.

Learning the Bright Path Ishayas’ Ascension helped immeasurably. It made being alive, right now in this moment, super simple.

But also important was the means to make life about my own choices. To be clear when I was choosing to struggle with something.

…when I was trying to change something that I had no ability to change.

…when I was grasping for something that wasn’t here.

It’s so clear now when I put it like that, but it wasn’t at the time.

And so I worked at it.

I used being in a struggle as a great wake-up Mr T style “what you doin’ fool?!” alarm for me.

You know Mr T… if you don’t You Tube him. He’s my motivational guy - uncompromising but allows me laugh at myself too.

I tried to make it a game…

When life got even a little bit tough, I took it as a cue to look at myself and what I was doing to push and fight in the situation and create a struggle…

I looked at me, not anywhere else

…so I could stop, so I could change course, so I could make another choice.

And so through practice, through making it a game, through doing it until I knew it… life is not a struggle anymore.

I haven’t “got” anything. I’m constantly learning. Constantly exploring more.

But it's exciting. Life makes sense. There isn’t anything missing. Nothing.

Life keeps getting better.

If I can do it, you can do it too.

Life never has to be a struggle.

There are things that will happen that you will not like. There are things and goals that you do want.

But you can flow through life without struggle, without fight, with always a sense of contentment and clarity in your heart, no matter what.

And I am going to remind you as much as I can that life can be a wonderous, fulfilling, constantly exciting, enjoyable thing.

And the thing that counts in that is you.

Your choices make your life.

You may not have control over the circumstances, but you can certainly have control over your reactions.

You may not know how. That is ok.

The key thing, the thing to begin with is always the dream - the possibility that life can be continually and constantly better, that you can be the best version of yourself.

I have even written a little book all about it. I am very excited about it, because it has certainly been long time coming, and the editor is doing her best to make it readable. But I’ll tell you more on that later.

Make this day super enjoyable… okay? The first day of the rest of your life.

________________

If you haven’t learnt the Bright Path Ishayas’ Ascension, you should. If you have, isn’t it time you repeated the weekend?

Retreat weekend - Richmond, North Yorkshire 20-22 November

£200 - repeat as many times as you like for free, anywhere in the world, with all the support for the rest of your life, also completely for free.

Come stay with the family if you’re from out of town. Nearest train station is 2 hours from Edinburgh by fast train, 2.5 from London. Simple.

I don’t know how I can make learning the tools to be free of struggle any easier. Your call!

Email me for more details, or click here for more.

What is the problem?

I recently did a survey amongst my email list (sign up ---->). What they loved about life, what they found a struggle. Several people said it gave them clarity and perspective. Those two words are among my favourite words, but more on them in a minute.

If you are like the guys on my list then you love life, that much is obvious. It’s pretty good, even great, for most of you, most of the time.

You know what you love about life, and you experience it a lot - but there is definitely room for more goodness.

Similar things cause you to struggle, to worry. The future, money and careers, relationships and your loved ones, health, what this life is all about and making sure you make the most of it.

I think I knew these things, having been around the block a bit, but it’s nice to hear it from you. It’s nice to have it confirmed.

So what do we do about it?

What do you do so you live the good things more, and are able to deal with the not-so-good?

Many people were super clear that it was their own minds that are the biggest cause of trouble for them.

The problem is one thing, and then your mind adds by far the deepest layer of trouble on top of that.

If I could give you that magic pill that would fix any problem, it wouldn’t change a thing about your life.

If I gave you a magic pill that changed your life for you, it would be great for a little while but then your mind would inevitably find a way to re-create the old struggles and dramas - just in a different setting.

Instead, my magic pill would consist of clarity and perspective.

It would give you the ability to continually and clearly know that it is your own mind that creates the hugest chunk of problem.

It would give you the ability to see the tricks of your mind, it’s patterns, it’s ways and it’s anxieties and addictions…

… to be clear on these things would be the most valuable thing you could ever possess.

Because then you could choose to change your attitude, change your perspectives, change your habit of being in the future, or the past.

The magic pill would give you the ability to think and communicate and act from clarity and perspective continually…

…and then you would see how you create your own peace and your own pain.

…and you would have constant stability, no matter what the world threw at you.

…and then you could change your own life, and keep changing it, however you wished.

…and you could show others how to as well.

Your mind doesn’t need to change to have the best life possible, you just need to gain insight, perspective, clarity.

How?

Become aware.

When you’re struggling… why? See your part in it all.

Close your eyes, every day. Meditate. Get to know that little guy or girl in your head so well you don’t buy into their tricks.

Create a glass half-full attitude and mindset.

Make the most of the good, find a way to accept, change or leave the bad.

Get some strategies that work for you.

Stay inspired. It may not happen over night, but it will happen. Living the best life possible is worth committing to.

And this is what I’ll be doing with the email group too (sign up above), helping you out with my view on it all.

Til, next time - keep the peace!

Get off the rollercoaster.

The reason I learnt to meditate and the reason I became a Bright Path Ishaya monk was that I was tired of the rollercoaster. All I wanted was stability, a point of reference, some control.

Not external stability, all was well there, I was living exactly the life that I wanted.

But having everything on my tick list did not equal contentment or satisfaction. There was something missing. I had this continually nagging doubt, a voice that constantly said “Is this it?”.

Drove me a little mad that voice did.

I was tired of being up and then down. I was tired of pining after my ex-girlfriend who didn't want me. I was tired of the worry about this or that. I was tired of looking for something - something I knew not. I was tired of not being satisfied.

I was so tired of looping around in my head, thinking the same thoughts, worrying the same worries, wishing the same wishes.

I was tired of my own mind.

What was this life all about?

What I found was exactly what my swimming coach said to me back when I was a wee fellow of fifteen with Olympic dreams in my head.

He said the mental game was the most important game there is.

It is the foundation for everything.

Without the mental game, all the best preparation, all the best intentions, all the best goal setting in the world is for nothing.

Getting your mind sorted means you have a very fertile foundation for everything you want to do life.

In any and every area of your life - sports, business, parenting, relationships, art, music, study, health. Everywhere.

When you get a good mental game, when you learn to be the boss of your mind (and not let it be the other way around), every part of your life improves.

You get better at what you do, instantly.

And you also lose that sense of something being wrong or missing.

You become content.

You become happy for no reason.

You get off the rollercoaster.

Now, I became a monk so you don’t have to. You don’t have to give a single thing up. In fact the only thing you have to give up is limitation.

We live largely in a box defined by the limits of our minds.

Every now and then we get to see a sneak view of the world as it is - and it is wonderful.

And then the mind takes over again.

The mind is the source of all your happiness, all your sorrow.

If you want to live outside of the box, you have to learn to put the mind back in its place. You have to.

It’s easy to do. Simple, just not many people really know how to permanently be the boss of their own minds.

How?

Be super present. Choose to be right here.

Simple huh? Easy, perhaps not so.

The thing is it can be.

Come along to my mini-retreat weekend course 20-22 November and I will give you everything you need to live free as a bird, to make it simple and easy.

I will give you every tool I use and tell you everything I know. I promise. I don't hold back.

If you want a place send me an email and tell me you want in.

Enjoy your day!

Watch your head - don't let it be the boss.

Make the most of your time here.

I’ve always wanted to live the best life possible.

The whole reason for learning and practicing Ascension meditation, to consciously and actively have a better attitude, to clearly see what limiting thoughts and attitudes I have, all of it is to make the most of my time here.

I realised early on that life is short. All because I had so many friends and acquaintances die in their late teens and early twenties.

One guy I worked with went to the doctor with a sore stomach and was dead 2 weeks later. One friend died on a kayaking trip. A friend was on a cycling trip and got hit by a car. Another, a brother of a friend, crashed a plane. So many more stories.

It’s not pleasant at all, but I’m glad it happened. Like all things, death has a silver lining.

Death has been the greatest lesson -  simply because the presence of death is an awesome reminder that we don’t have a whole lot of time.

See when you think you have a lot of time, you tend to waste it, you tend to postpone. You tend not to worry about squeezing the most out of life because you can do it, well... later.

But those who realise how precious this life is, that time indeed is running out, they really do get the most out of each and every moment. They don't wait until later.

Each person, each conversation has greater significance because you don’t take things for granted.

Each dream, each great ambition, you don’t let a doubt or a limiting thought get in the way of you making it happen.

You don’t have the time for a life that is not yours, living and doing the things you can’t stand and can’t accept.

Come to terms with the fact that life is short. Develop the ability to make the most of each and every moment, to make sure you live your dreams, to live the best possible life.

Don’t delay!

How do you stay calm and present in stressful situations? Part two.

When you've gone through a stressful situation the most important thing is to let it go as soon as you can. The sooner the better. Let go of all the mental reviewing of what just happened. Just don't even get started on that track.

Tough times mean you have to stay present otherwise the critic in your head is going to give you a good kicking. What happens is we stumble through an argument, for example, and then we look back and replay the whole thing with what we "should" have done or said.

Hindsight is a valuable thing, but you did what you did and that is that.

If you need to go apologise you go and say sorry, but again, the most important thing is to let it go. Know that you did your best, give it another shot next time. You can't do anything about it, so give yourself a break and start fresh.

There is no value in endless recycling of the past - but that is what will happen unless you are super present, alive to this moment.

Also...

Don’t be afraid of emotion. The inner critic can judge us harshly for being emotional. But anger, for example, can tell us a lot about ourselves, about what is important.

Don’t assume calmness and happiness means never getting excited or passionate.

The only problem with something like anger is when we don’t say what we need to say. Then it builds and builds and really explodes. When you feel it coming be very aware and see what it is all about. Be as clear as possible with your communications, don’t hold back what you need to say, and then… let it go.

You’re not going to master this straight away, but keep doing it and you will. Treat everything in life as one big journey of self-discovery, of what works best for you. Throw the critic and perfection out the window and embrace the idea of constant improvement.

You’re always going to discover more about yourself, and sometimes the tough times show you the most. The best attitude when you see one coming? Say to yourself: “Excellent! Bring it on.”

Have fun with this, ok?

How do you stay calm and present in stressful situations? Part one.

The crucial thing is that the more present you can be ordinarily, the easier it’s going to be when things gets tough. You'll notice yourself losing your cool and be able to step back and gain some objectivity sooner and sooner.

The more you prioritise your peace, the more you can see it slipping - the more you can tell when you aren’t prioritising it.

Gather to yourself an eyes closed practice - some time and tools to really get familiar with presence and inner stillness. Let that be the foundation upon which you structure your day, so you remember to be present and aware when you are out and about with your eyes open.

The regular practice develops a baseline of happiness and calm within you so it becomes super obvious when you stray from it. It just gets easier and easier to return. It actually gets to a point where peace comes and gets you when you leave it. Which, needless to say, is pretty cool.

From here life becomes more and more enjoyable. The saying “do you want to right or do you want to be happy?” becomes crystal clear to you in terms of your choices, and so you lose it less and less, just because it's not worth it any more.

"Hmmmm... do I want to be right or be happy?"... Happy please!

So don't let up on your practice when the going is good. Don't assume you don't need it. Just do it and get so familiar with inner stillness so that you never leave, even when the house is burning down around you.

Being calm and clear starts with a choice, now. If you're consistent with that choice, being consistently calm and clear comes quickly, and easily, and simply.

More on this though, so stay tuned for part two...

The zone of awesomeness.

There are times in life, no matter what you are doing, where you are captivated, absorbed, transfixed by what you are doing.

It is a very enjoyable experience, and it is a universal experience, one that many have had a taste of and long for more of.

Everything you do has this potential zone of awesomeness within it. It’s probably called something else by those who study such things, but as amateur researchers in the good life I’m sure you can grasp what I’m referring to.

Classic names given to it are the “runner’s high”, being in “the zone”, or a state of “flow”. It doesn’t matter what it is called, the fact is that it exists, and within it performance and enjoyment are maximised.

The people at the top of their fields - whether it be sports, art, music, business, parenting, whatever - they all know how to access this zone with relative ease.

Here’s what you need to know about it:

It need not be something you touch upon. It is possible to live life continuously in the zone. That is the whole point of meditation. Meditation is training to be Alive.

Second, the zone exists within you. It is not about the activity. You have favourite activities that you love, and you love them at least partially because they bring you closer to absorption in the zone. But it’s not about the thing, it's always about where your attention is.

The ability to control your attention is everything. It is the ability to be focussed and relaxed at the same time. Too much arousal and you become stressed. Not enough and you are bored. There is a sweet spot in any activity, and that sweet spot is the zone.

The easiest way to be in the sweet spot is to be completely absorbed in this moment.

How do you do that?

Notice what is going on in your mind. Bring it back to to now, bring it back to what you are doing. Ignore everything else. Constantly and gently do this and your mind will learn to stay here, in the same place as your body.

Absorption and flow, the zone - it's all right here, right now. Where are you?

I can’t encourage you enough to learn to meditate. A simple tool like the Bright Path Ishayas’ Ascension is worth its weight in gold because it makes the return to presence of mind and relaxation of the body so effortless. It makes living a life in the zone inevitable. It makes everything awesome.

Good luck! Enjoy, always enjoy. After all, that is the purpose of life, is it not?

- Arjuna

___________________________ How to be mentally fit, fluid and free www.arjunaishaya.com

The Zen of doing and not doing.

“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” - Serenity Prayer of Alcoholics Anonymous

The mastery of life lies in the mastery of the above three things: The ability to do nothing, the ability to make change, and the presence and wisdom to realise when to do what.

Doing nothing is just as important as doing. Yet while many are excellent do-ers, not many can truly do nothing. That is why it comes first.

If, for example, within a situation you dislike wherein you cannot change or leave, you must accept. You must. There are no other options. Instead, many people complain and resist and blame, all stressful, pointless responses.

Life is change. Attempting to follow a set plan despite the reality of what is actually happening will always be as fruitful and enjoyable as banging your head against a wall.

In acceptance you are surrendering to what is.

You give up your insistence of what “should” be happening in exchange for peace and perspective: an excellent trade off.

You stop fighting and are able to see clearly and work with what you have, within the situation you find yourself in. There lies fluidity and freedom, and great serenity too.

Secondly, life is also about action. If you don’t do something, nothing will happen.

What do you want to do? It is your choice. After you decide, you need to follow through.

All of this may require courage. Now - needing courage to do something is an excellent sign that it is important to you. Keep walking that direction. Everything that has been important to you has required a jump into the unknown. A gulp and a leap. As tempting as it may be, don’t avoid it, do it.

Thirdly, the wisdom to know what to do comes from being very alive to what is being presented to you in this moment. Then and only then will you be able to meet the need of this exact moment.

Be alive to now, see what this moment requires, and let the next course of action be revealed to you. Wisdom lies in the ability to wait and see what is needed, what can be done.

When you know, do, or do not, but be whole hearted in your doing, or not doing. Don’t sit on the fence.

OK? Nothing worse than living a life half arsed.

Stop pushing.

We think we are in control. We strive and force and try and for what? A life of struggle? Is that how you want to live?

No, of course not. It's just often we don't realise how much we push.

Life is meant to be one of ease. Don't get me wrong - life still involves action - but action that is inspired, fluid and simple.

All the great things that have come to you have come with this straight forward, flowing effortlessness. A moment of inspiration and then an outpouring. An absorption in presence and then simple, obvious action.

Instinct, flow, grace.

Every time - and it doesn't matter if you are an athlete, an artist, a writer, a mechanic, a father, a teacher or a business woman, every good thing has come this way.

You act and you choose and you do, but the best comes when you let go of the future - of any idea of what should result.

The greatest moments have always been when you were totally present. Not overly concerned with the result or the plan, simply doing the right thing to do as it felt in that moment.

Control is the opposite. It kills inspiration and grace. It kills effortlessness and fluidity.

When you control you struggle and you try and you strain.

Struggle happens when you think you know what you need to do, and its not happening to your plan.

Instead of being fluid, you push a little more, and a little more. The resistance gets bigger and bigger. You get more and more tired, more and more stressed. There's less and less enjoyment.

You need to be aware of when struggle comes in and, in the knowing it is counter-productive, simply let go.

Letting go of control is that simple. Stop struggling. Stop fighting. Stop resisting what is.

The bottom line is protect your own peace. Protect the baseline.

You think you can do that? Of course you can. Just now, notice the trying and let it go. That is all. Little by little. Be present, be peace.

The key to staying cool, calm and collected

The key to staying cool, calm and collected is to have little islands in your day, regular little points of detachment from the world where you completely come away from what you are involved in. Spreading these times throughout your day when you stop and reconnect is the key to not losing your peace and fully enjoying what you are doing - whatever that may be.

How you do this is up to you. When I first started The Bright Path Ascension meditation, what was recommended was time in the morning before work, some time in the afternoon - perhaps at lunch and/or on coming home, and last thing at night.

(This is eyes closed time - "power nap" or meditation/breathing time. Anything else is fine, but time closing your eyes is much more beneficial, just so you know.)

This way I had a little "oases" (plural for oasis) so I could start the day right, plug back in so the afternoon was easier, and/or in the evening so I could let go of the day and sleep well.

It quickly made such a difference to my attitude and energy levels.

Doing this means peace is a priority to you. If you commit to these times - not let them be flexible on a if and when basis, but a definite appointment, then you are saying to yourself that remaining clear, calm and content is the most important thing.

It sets a bench mark of calm so its easier to know when you're getting wound up and you need to back down.

Without this benchmark stress just creeps up on you. Sometimes you're not aware of how uptight you're getting simply because most stress comes in little by little, a death by a thousand cuts.

When a weight gets cranked up little by little it goes un-noticed until the straw comes that breaks your back, and you yell at the person who (usually) least deserves it.

With this benchmark you are more prone to take action to stay there. You are more conscious of your physical wellbeing, your internal attitude and mood, everything.

If you're regular with a practice of stopping it means this benchmark of calm is easier to come back to. If you fly off the handle, you can let go and reset quickly. You fly off less, need to apologise less, everyone is happy.

The bottom line is the ability to act - to have clarity of choice - as opposed to reacting, habitually.

There is nothing better than the ability to consciously steer your life in the direction you wish it to go. There is no need to be captive to the ups and downs of life. You want to be captain of your own ship, and you can be, it simply requires a little practice.

Freaking out about life

I just came back from three months at the Bright Path Ishaya retreat in Spain. Waking up this morning in my little cottage in the UK is different, but wonderful. There was a real sense of peace and serenity and aliveness on the mountain there in Spain.

But you know what? There is here in North Yorkshire too.

While waiting for our lift to the airport I read the last chapter of an autobiography of a guy who went to live besides a river in India to find his peace.

He returns back to the west after years and years of spiritual study and practice and instantly freaks out. The noise, the yelling, the traffic,the consumerism, the drunkenness, the sex.

He completely loses it, becomes a gibbering wreck until he manages to stumble upon a meditation centre - to him, an oasis of sacredness in the midst of a city of the profane.

How sad.

He's completely missed the point of all of his practice. He's created a mood, an idea that peace and clarity is only available when the world looks a certain way. When I'm by my river, then there is peace. When I'm on my mountain retreat, then there is peace.

Life is out there, continually knocking at your door. You cannot avoid it forever. You cannot make it look the way you want it to all the time.

But peace is everywhere, no matter what, if you know how to tap into it.

In reality there is nothing that is not worthy of love.

All this time you've been looking for peace, it has been within you - and it will be, forever more.

Life transforms when you realise this. The circumstances of life don't give you peace, you bring peace to life - regardless of the circumstances.

Permanent peace, freedom and happiness is an inside job.

It may take practice to realise this, but it is the only reality in town.

Why meditate?

"The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware." - Henry Miller

The result of meditation is the ability to not attach to the stuff in your head. It is the ability to be mentally fit, fluid and free.

You develop the ability to purely witness, to allow thoughts and emotions to come and go.

You develop the ability to choose what to focus on.

You gain the ability to enjoy every - every - aspect of your life.

Perhaps there is a negative thought or a worry or a doubt. Meditation isn’t about banishing it, it is about simply letting it be there but not getting wrapped up in it.

It is there, but it isn’t you. You don’t get lost in it anymore. Or if you do, you can choose to let go, simply, effortlessly, immediately.

Meditation in action is when you take this ability to not react to things in life.

So something doesn’t go the way you want it to. You are able to not be affected, to remain calm and clear and see what you can do about the situation - if anything.

You don’t get wrapped up in drama any more. You develop the awareness that being calm and at peace is much more enjoyable, and you know how to choose for it.

You give up your ticket to the rollercoaster - life becomes one steady, super enjoyable, very effective moment. Joy and contentment is the overwhelming response to life.

This is good, that is good, all is good.

From that calmness and clarity comes the ability to live the very best version of yourself.

All through a little practice. A little commitment to being that version of you.

You can do this, it is who you have been all along.

Stop, take a moment from trying to work stuff out or trying to control. Be present and alive to this moment. See the beauty that is here, see the good that is already in your life.

Why would you want to set aside time to meditate?

So you become aware, and in doing so, totally and completely alive.

It's worth it.

Regrets? Why not make a life so you don’t have any?

I saw an article the other day - it’s from a few years back, but it’s still really fresh.

The author interviewed elderly people on their death beds as to their regrets. Although its about people who are dying, it is really advice for people who are living.

Read it here:

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/01/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying

It’s a quick read, but something you might want to come back to again.

What did you think?

What I see is that the basis of all those regrets is not having balance, of not seeing what is important or making time for it until it is too late.

Not surprisingly, at least to me, the list contains many of the things that the people who come to the Ishayas’ Ascension meditation classes say they want from life.

You see, the people that I meet already know what is important to them, its just that they don’t prioritise it, or they don’t know how to prioritise it.

Actually I think everyone already knows these things, we just don’t do them.

Don’t wait until its too late.

You have to live a life so that when you look back on your deathbed you are filled with joy. That you don’t have a single “I really wish…”

You deserve the fullest of lives, in every sense.

Part of that comes from an attitude of finding the good in everything, of being present and not looking back.

The other part comes from making choices that are fulfilling, of finding a way to prioritise what is really important to you.

Meditation - to me the Bright Path Ishayas' Ascension is the simplest and most powerful of all meditations (I could be biased) - is the thing that enables both. It really does. It changes your approach to life, it helps you be the very best version of yourself.

Take the time every day to stop and go within. Close your eyes, rest. Discover what is there and how when you nourish it, it nourishes you.

It is the secret to living life versus Life.

Just practice - five, ten, fifteen minutes every day. Set a time, sit and don’t come up until the time is done.

You won’t regret it.

Any questions, send them to me, I would love to help.