Meditate Like A Monk

Ask a monk (who knows that they are doing) what they do when they meditate the essence of their answer will be “nothing. I just sit and don’t do anything”. True, very true - meditation ultimately is about doing absolutely nothing.

But doing nothing isn’t so simple in practice. How on earth do you do nothing?

If you’re like me before I entered into this meditation business then you are very good at getting busy.

You’re probably more busy in the head than you actually are in real life.

Plans and schemes and dreams and to do lists, all jostling for attention.

When you close your eyes, that’s all you see, that’s what you get sucked into - leaping from one thought to another, one plan to another, one past moment to another.

And that’s the thing - stopping on demand (when you want to) is the tricky part.

It takes practice to do nothing, to let go.

The more you practice, the better you get, for sure.

Meditating like a monk involves not stopping the thoughts, but letting them go. Not being attached to them.

It’s a completely new and different skill - and you have to see it like a skill.

You don’t have to shave your head and wear robes, promise. It isn’t some hoodoo mystical path that involves complex wisdom.

It’s actually quite straight forward (to explain at least).

It is simply the skill of being able to watch and be aware.

So practice - don’t worry about getting caught up, it’s just a habit. Come back now, come back now, come back now.

Practice makes perfect.

The more you watch, the stronger that skill gets.

You'll want to develop that skill if you want to be able to:

- appreciate the wider, more subtler picture of what is there beyond your mind - find presence, aliveness and focus in this moment - stop getting caught up in the past and the future, the thoughts and emotions - be at peace and be happy, for no reason whatsoever - get anchored in a sense of stability and permanence. You won’t get lost, no matter the changes in life.

It is the one thing that makes all of life shine brighter, it makes you more effective in whatever you do, and it means you can enjoy each and every single moment.

OK? So practice.

Cool - if you want to dive into this “doing nothing” business, there’s an Ascension meditation course coming up - 15-17 April, £200 with all the follow up and support you need, and you get to resit for free.

Email me for more details and if you want to reserve a seat.

You won’t regret it. And I’ll give you your money back if you do. But I doubt that very muchly.

Have a great day, enjoy it all. - Arjuna

FREE ebook and email coaching on meditation and mindset for ending stress and self-sabotage, and living an exceptional life:

www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

 

How Richard’s Life Went Through The Roof (In A Good Way)

I got a sweet email from Richard Evans this morning - I taught him Ascension meditation about three weeks ago. He’s pretty chuffed with Ascension: _________________

I just want to thank you by the way, from the bottom of my heart, what you have brought into my life is amazing! Truly, I can't tell you enough what a calm mind for a week has done! Genuinely it's actually changing my life! Thank you!

_________________

I would love to take credit for being an amazing teacher, but the fact is that really I know I can’t up myself.

The brutal (to my ego) reality is that it had nothing to do with me.

The fact is that Richard’s results are simply because he put the plan into practice.

He listened to the oh so simple instructions and followed the process.

Following the process means he got the results.

And there’ll be ongoing results and discoveries and goodness for him, simply as long as he keeps doing his practice.

And that is the very reason why I became an Ishaya monk...

...it is the very reason why I have kept doing my Ascension meditation every single day since 2003.

It is why I can stand in front of people and say to them, hand on heart, do this and you will find your way beyond the worrying and fearing and whining and reacting of your own mind.

It matters not if you believe it will work, or if you are the biggest skeptic in the world.

If, and that is the key point, IF you do the practice, you will blossom.

You will be able to step beyond any self-imposed limitations - ones that you know are there, and the ones that you have no idea about, the blindspots.

You will be able to live as the very best version of yourself, constantly.

Just by following the simple and enjoyable process.

And therefore it is not for everyone.

There are some people who just want a magic pill. They want to transform the quality of their life just like that, without any personal investment on their behalf.

If you are one of these people then Ascension meditation is not for you.

In fact, this email list is not for you either. I would unsubscribe - link at the bottom.

You can lead a horse to the sweetest of waters, but if they don't drink, they don’t drink.

But if you are interested in doing the small amount of work in order to reap the rewards, then welcome.

I am here to help.

If you want what Richard’s got, come to an Ascension meditation course, and soon: 15-17 April. £200 (which includes all the followup you need for the rest of your life)

I am so confident that you will not only find the weekend super enjoyable and powerful, but the ongoing practice super enjoyable and powerful, should you disagree I will give you your money back.

Isn't that good of me? I just want to make it as simple as possible for you to come and give it a go. I know you're going to love it.

Send me an email if you want in.

Excellent stuff.

Enjoy your day! Keep the Peace. - Arjuna

FREE ebook and email coaching on meditation and mindset for ending stress and self-sabotage, and living an exceptional life:

www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

 

The problem people have with thoughts and meditation

The biggest problem everyone has with meditation is thoughts.

Pesky, pesky thoughts.

Everyone believes that they need to get rid of thoughts and then meditation begins.

The fact is:

You can’t stop your mind.

It’s busy and active because you are alive.

If you’ve ever tried to shut it down you’ll know it’s only possible for a few seconds, maybe a few minutes, tops.

There is an easier and much more fruitful way.

It is one of the key things that I teach on the Ascension meditation weekend, and crucial for you to get to become the boss of your own mind.

You need to come to a place where you can be at peace with your mind, no matter what it looks like.

Let it run, let the mind chatter, good, bad, horrendous.

Doesn’t matter.

You are not the content of your thoughts.

If you allow the mind, you can then find a way of going beyond it.

You can be aware of what else there is.

Now, where ever you are, just relax into yourself. Open your senses right up to everything. Stop and do nothing, just for a moment.

Just notice what it like to be alive and present right now.

Simply - without changing a thing, or straining, or pushing - just be aware.

That is part of what I teach people to do in Ascension mediation. The other, probably most important part, is the tool you use from there to bring you deeper in.

When you use the Ascension meditation techniques they meditate for you - no matter what your mind is saying.

It’s like gravity. No matter what your mind believes or says or thinks, if you jump in the air, you’re going to come back down (let me know if you don’t).

Same, same. The techniques mean thoughts become irrelevant.

Whatever you do the bottom line is that you need not stop your mind. So stop trying to stop it. Find a way around it.

If you’re interested:

Ascension meditation course 15-17 April, £200 for everything, all the follow up, and the ability to resit as many times as you like for free.

Complete beginner or expert meditator, I guarantee you’ll find this course just the ticket. If you don’t, I’ll give you your money back.

Send me an email to say you want in.

Job done.

Keep the Peace!

- Arjuna

FREE ebook on meditation and mindset for ending stress and self-sabotage, and living an exceptional life:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

What IS real, Neo?

Just come from the gym where, I must admit, I was a bit of a wuss.

I gave it my best shot, but it wasn’t my best. But at least I turned up and did what I could.

Ever have those days where 20kg just isn’t that any more? Or 10km seems like 15? Or indeed an 8 hour working day seems like 12?

What happens here?

Does reality change? Does that kettle bell eat a few pies at night and gain a coupla pounds?

Does the clock just decide to slow down to a crawl?

Nope - it’s all because of your mind.

Sure, physically my body wasn’t firing on all cylinders.

But your mind has a huge part to play. It has the ability to change reality.

If this is the case (and it is cos I’ve been studying this for many years now) if you change your mind, you will change reality.

Oooooh!

One obvious place this happens is in your body. Neuro-physiologically speaking, your cells are affected by your thoughts.

Happy grateful thoughts: happy, efficient, energised body. Negative thoughts: not so super body.

Ever fallen in love? Of course you have. How’d that feel? How was the world? A shiny, pretty, happy place, no doubt.

Fallen out of love? Aye. Same conditions, but a crappy, grey, miserable place indeed.

You get the idea?

In other words, your mind filters reality so much you can’t tell what is real and what is your mind’s idea of what is real.

We’re getting into “The Matrix” territory here. You’ve seen that film, right?

But what limits to this do you suppose there are?

I don’t know, but I’d give my last penny to find out. Wouldn’t you?

How you going to do that?

I would become a student of your own mind.

Study it closely, become aware of how it may be shaping what you believe is true, and in that find a way to choose what you want to pay attention to.

Set yourself free from your own mind.

Find a way to experience reality clearly, without any filters.

Me? Ascension meditation does it.

A course where you can learn? Glad you asked. 15-17 April, begin 7pm on the Friday. £200. Awesome, or your money back (true - if you complete the course, practice and don’t like it, I’ll refund you. Nice huh?)

Send me an email if you want in.

Have a great day, let me know if I can help with anything.

- Arjuna

FREE ebook on meditation and mindset for ending stress and self-sabotage, and living an exceptional life:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

Have you ever walked away from something that scared you?

When I was a younger fellow, my sister and I went bungy jumping - off a huge bridge, into a gorge below.

That was the plan anyway.

She went first. They hooked her up, she jumped, no hesitation.

Me? I was terrified before I had even climbed down onto the little platform.

I’ve always been afraid of heights - well, jumping off heights. But I had learnt that if I could push my fears by doing stuff like kayaking and rock climbing then:

a) the rush was amazing, and …

b) the sense of certainty and inner peace that came after was extraordinary (I hadn’t discovered Ascension meditation back then)

So I decided that I could actually jump off a bridge, and I would like to.

I got on the little platform, they hooked me up, and with legs a trembling I found that I couldn’t even stand straight. I was leaning way back you see, in an attempt to get away from the drop.

I knew I wanted to do it, I just needed a moment, or two.

The guys operating the jump started mouthing off: “Strap it on”, “Come on you big girl”.

And at that all the magic was gone.

I got them to undo me and I walked away. And didn’t regret it at all.

In that moment I saw the difference between doing something because other people think you should - and are yelling at you to - and doing something because you want to.

Doing something in your way, in your own time and on your own terms, because you know that’s the way you’re going to do it.

I saw the perverse side of me that would rather walk away than do something because “I should”.

I also saw that you can be so filled with fear, but also a knowing that you’re gonna do it anyway despite the emotion, despite the thoughts.

There is such a sweetness in that. Everything focusses, everything becomes super present.

And then some oik shouts in your ear and it all crashes.

Ah, it’s a fun game this life.

The lesson in my non-jump experience? I’m sure there are many but my coffee hasn’t kicked in yet.

But I know experiences like this led directly to me wanting to be the boss of my own mind. To find calm in the face of everything. To know my own mind and do things because I want to, not cos I should.

And so, should you feel the same, I would welcome you on my Ascension meditation course. 15-17 April, £200.

Email me for a very comfy chair.

I’ll leave you with that. Have a superb day!

- Arjuna

FREE ebook and email coaching on meditation and mindset for ending stress and self-sabotage, and living an exceptional life:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

Friends with Benefits: Arjuna’s Casual Sex Agony Aunt Advice

So I get asked a lot of advice, and some times I can give it because I’ve lived through the same situation.

One such situation I want to share with you is about casual sex.

I bring sex into this email not only to titillate but because it’s important to have a healthy relationship with it. And for years I didn’t.

Meditation for me is about inner peace and clarity yes, but it also needs to give you the awareness so you can make better choices.

Meditation is useless if it doesn’t help you live your life better.

A young fellow, in the prime of his youth, emails me asking about a “friends with benefits” style relationship. Meeting up for sex, and sex only.

See he’s stuck, just a little bit.

(Good sir, if you are reading - all my words here, so excuse me if I mix this up)

His mind says “yes!” - this is the perfect thing that you have always wanted. Sex without commitment. Hurrah!

His heart says “No! This feels hollow and horrible and unsatisfyingly temporary”. Boo hoo.

We come to a place many of us find ourselves in - switching and swopping between a “yes!” and a “no!”.

What to do?

I too always thought casual sex was my idea of heaven, but ultimately it just felt hollow and pointless.

There's that social idea though, that men should go wild especially when you're young.

But I tried it and was disappointed.

Thick as I am, it did take some time to catch on.

For me, the connection between the two people has become much more important.

And how am I going to get that connection without some kind of commitment, and work?

What I realised, the bottom line for me, was that relationships take investment and time and effort on my part.

The more I put in, the more I get out.

The physical part of sex is a thousand times better when I’m invested in the person I’m having it with.

It may be different for you - and don’t let me tell you what to do - but I’ll put myself on the line here and say it is the same for everyone.

If you are truly honest with yourself, the thing that you (and everyone else), squirm away from the most is commitment and persistence and long term work.

It is easier to run away and sedate than face yourself.

Cos that’s what’s happening when you are in a relationship. You get to clearly see all your “stuff”: all your insistences, all your neediness, all your negativity, all your patterns.

It’s easier to hide than transcend.

But rising above all your stuff is the only way to grow, the only way to make sure you live a life worth living.

And that’s what life is about. Living large.

A little deep, but just what was needed this morning I guess.

Don’t compromise a fully rich and satisfying life. It takes work, but it’s worth everything.

If you want the tools to do this, email me. I got them, I can teach you simply.

15-17 April. £200. Done.

Word!

- Arjuna

FREE ebook on meditation and mindset for ending stress and self-sabotage, and living an exceptional life:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

Being “mindful” is only a small part of the picture

Sometimes when I talk to someone who knows how to meditate they seem the same as the last time I talked to them. In other words, there is no change.

Which surprises me.

Most people who meditate change, at least the ones who use Ascension meditation - who I see the most of - do.

They don’t become different, just more of themselves. It’s like a light has been lit within them. There is an excitement about life and a calmness as well. It’s nice to see.

But sometimes I don’t see that, and I just worked out why that is.

When I quiz them they will say to me something like:

“oh, I practice being present all the time with my eyes open” or “I’m being mindful during my day”.

You see being “mindful” doesn’t mean change comes rapidly.

It’s a great start, but eyes closed is your meat and potatoes of change.

If you want to drop the limitations and the habitual patterns of behaving and reacting in ways that you rather you didn’t, then you need to close your eyes.

Closing your eyes is such a nice thing, it’s no ordeal - especially if you make yourself comfortable.

It actually is super restful and rejuvenating. You’ll start to look forward to closing your eyes.

It’s just that the busiest people, the ones who are most stressed, the ones that try and do everything, the ones that never stop, are the ones that have the hardest time with eyes closed.

Simply because it is so uncompromising in the stop factor.

There’s something in the “staying busy” habit that keeps the mind as the boss.

And it’s just a habit.

You actually need to stop to help others. It’s the “put your own oxygen mask on first” effect.

So don’t be a “Busy and Dizzy Lizzy” - if you value peace and clarity, if you want to be more effective and more helpful, the fastest way to get it is by closing your eyes, consistently.

Just do it, every day

- Arjuna

ps. I’ve been slowly putting together more of a page which tells you what happens in an Ascension meditation weekend. It’s coming along, but won’t be together for a few days. But I have recorded a video that explains something more about it.

If you’re interested, go here:

https://youtu.be/LJhv9T-TAEk

The course is 15-17 April, (start at 7pm on the Friday) super simple, super powerful techniques so you can be free of your stressful head. £200 and you can resit as many times as you like for free.

FREE ebook on meditation and mindset for ending stress and self-sabotage, and living an exceptional life:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

The biggest problem most people have

The biggest problem most people have is not that they don’t have enough, it is that they take for granted what they do have.

When you take something for granted you ignore and forget what is already there. You have huge blindspots to the very very good things that are already there.

Sometimes it takes a disaster to wake up.

I read about a girl who lost her legs in an accident. On waking up she decided to be grateful just to be alive, rather than the loss of limbs.

She said it was on that day that her life truly started. She only really started living when she lost her legs.

I must admit I’m not always that grateful on waking every single morning. I do like sleeping in.

But I think perhaps you knows what I mean.

Don't wait for something huge and disastrous to wake you up.

Spend more time seeing what you do have and not focusing on what is missing.

One path leads to greater and greater joy, health and abundance.

The other leads to misery, depression, fear, lack and scarcity.

Ever felt like that? I have. Yuck.

Such a simple way out.

Just notice what you do have. Get rid of your blindspots.

And you know what?

Gratitude is an essential part of the second Ascension meditation technique.

You don’t have to imagine something or create a mood or anything fluffy like that.

You just use the technique as I teach you and it undoes all the beliefs and conditioning that cause you to have these blindspots in the first place.

Effortlessly undoes it all, just by you closing your eyes.

By chance, I have a course to assist you in this very matter! 15-17 April. £200 for the whole thing - and you can resit for free, forever.

Email me for a very comfy seat - learn to meditate properly, and have the best weekend you’ve had for a long time.

Have a good one! - Arjuna

FREE ebook on meditation and mindset for ending stress and self-sabotage, and living an exceptional life:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

7 secrets to mastering meditation

You want secrets and tips to mastering meditation?

The trick is that meditation is nothing like everything else you have ever learned to do. It takes some right unlearning to undo some of the knots and bad mental conditioning you have picked up.

All those bad habits that lead to stress and self-sabotage … no deal, becoming mentally flexible and fluid is simple when you know how.

Right here … I gotcha some “right understanding”. Let’s call it Right Understanding Thursday (RUT for short).

1. Just Do It

I would say the number one secret is consistency. Pick a time and stick with it. No matter what your mind says, stay for the time - don’t cut it short.

2. Learn to ignore everything your mind says

Just for the time you have your eyes closed consider everything, and I mean everything, to be irrelevant. If you think you’re doing good, if you think you’re doing bad. Just ignore it all.

3. Don’t try

The more you try in this game, the more you try and get anywhere or anything, the less you’ll be meditating. The game is to try and give up all straining, trying and controlling for the time you have your eyes closed.

4. Give up a sense of progress

If I could go back and talk to young Arjuna and whisper some wise words of wisdom born from experience, one nugget I would impart would be stop looking to get somewhere with meditation. Give up the need to develop or master or become.

5. If you need to judge…

If you really need to, judge not on what happens in your meditations, but the changes in your life. Is life getting easier, simpler? Is there more headspace, clarity and calm, with less reaction? Are you having more fun? Of course you are.

6. It’s not about the thoughts

What you focus on grows. So if you focus on trying to stop your thoughts, that’s all you’re going to get: lots of thoughts. If you have the right tool, you can focus on that and let it take you beyond thought, back to the part of you that never changes.

7. Learn to be more and more present during the day

Consciously and (again) consistently pause during your day to become less entangled in the details and more aware of this moment in time. Stay there and then get stuck back in, but without getting lost in the busy-ness.

So hopefully you might have a sense that you won’t master meditation. The truth is meditation masters you.

The only thing you can do is consistently show up while (in its own good time) meditation has its way with you. Easy huh?

If you would like the right tool (in fact the best tool I have ever seen in my 20+ years of meditating), and not be a right tool, come to the weekend I got for you - 15-17 April.

Everything you need to bust free of all negative and limiting patterns, habits and mental conditioning so you can be free to live the life you want to live.

£200 is the fee, a small price to pay for not only the tool, but all the understanding you can soak up: for the rest of your life.

Email me if you want in.

Keep the Peace

- Arjuna

FREE ebook on meditation and mindset for ending stress and self-sabotage, and living an exceptional life:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

Why is Formula One just like meditation?

There are two parts in becoming the Lewis Hamilton of meditation.

I have to be careful here because my knowledge of Formula One is limited, in fact non-existent.

I should have conferred with my friend Jivana who, in between teaching Ascension meditation, actually has a gig flying around the world commentating on races in hospitality tents for high flying companies, i.e. he knows everything.

(Do you think he enjoys his job? I suspect very much indeed.)

Nonetheless, I will pursue my metaphor … perhaps to my doom.

Right understanding, the first part, is like being trained to drive a car proper. It isn’t the vehicle, it is the knowledge on how to get the best out of what you got.

It is training and use and tactics and how to look good in a onesie with sunglasses on.

Very very important.

But useless without the second part: What you do drive.

Obviously driving something beautifully made and engineered will be a completely different experience from driving something like those three wheeled numbers that certain gentlemen of a rougher persuasion like to cause sport with through tipping them over onto their side while they are stationary at traffic lights.

Three wheels? Made to fall over? Not much fun, slow too. Uncomfortable really. Perhaps even embarrassing if your friends saw you.

The “right tool” is an important part of the equation.

Not “a” right tool as in a derogatory term for a chap, but “the” right tool as in the perfect vehicle to take you where you want to go, speedily, simply, efficiently, enjoyably, and perhaps even with the window wound down, elbow resting like so, and with the stereo suitably turned up. Seat warmers for winter? Check-a-rooney.

You see the difference?

Why would you take the stairs when you could take the express elevator?

Why express elevate when you could fly?

Why fly when you could teleport?

The right tool is 80% of it. Very important, but not the whole picture - you could have the perfect tool, the perfect vehicle, and through zero understanding, stall at every opportunity.

In the Ascension meditation course we spend much time on right understanding. But I have the luxury of having the right tool to give.

Because even with a tiny amount of instruction (the right understanding) the right tool will start to teach you.

That is why I can run a less than 20 contact hour course and confidently send people away knowing in my heart of hearts that they have everything they need to be free of their minds and master all sorrow, struggle, and suffering, and start living truly exceptional lives.

I was going to give you some tips on right understanding but looks like I’ve ran out of time.

Tomorrow I promise: secrets of right understanding.

But remember, the right tool is 80% of it.

You want that?

15-17 April, £200 for the complete package - right everything.

Email me for your own, very very comfortable, seat.

And remember to look out for tomorrow’s email. Sorry to be a tease but I got carried away.

- Arjuna

FREE ebook on meditation and mindset for ending stress, struggle and self-sabotage, and living an exceptional life:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

Are You Merely Surviving, or Really Thriving?

“If you don’t know what you want, you end up with a lot you don’t” - Chuck Palahniuk

If you’ve been reading for a while you know how much in esteem I hold Chuck.

The author of the “Fight Club” seems to speak directly to my being every time I see a quote from him.

He never settles for less.

And today is no different.

What is it that you want from this one and only life?

Past all the day to day must do’s, the distractions of merely surviving, how do you want your life to look?

What do you want to achieve?

It’s so important to know what you want the big themes of your life to be. Otherwise, just as Chuck says, you end up with so much you don’t want.

Where are you heading?

Just round in circles, surviving?

Or making steps to getting where you want to be and do, and thriving?

Thriving can’t just be in one area.

You also need to concern yourself with the how: How do you want to achieve those things?

With style and balance and enjoyment?

Or stressed, struggling, straining your relationships, giving no attention to your health or your fitness?

It’s an important question, equally important as to what you want to do.

What if you could have your cake and eat it too?

You can indeed have it all, even if right now you know you would like something to change, but you don’t know what it is.

What having it all needs as a basic is consistent clarity and the ability to be totally present. And you can simply have that, if you know how.

First thing I do every day is not charge into the day, but stop and take stock.

I use my Ascension meditation techniques, then grab a coffee and map out the day from a space of clarity and calm.

It sets the scene and makes sure I get more of what I want and not what I don’t want.

When I’m done at work, again I stop, settle down and use the Ascension meditation techniques.

It means I can let go of the day and embark on the evening that I want to, and not carry the day.

In bed before sleep, again I use the techniques. It means I can sleep well and wake feeling good, not anxious or worried or un-rested.

Simple rituals, but they make sure:

  • the day is enjoyable and effective, not stressed and spinning on the spot
  • that the evening is what I want it to be, with nothing lingering from work
  • and sleep is deep and restful so you can recover and go again

This quality of life and of perspective is simple to come by. You just need a few things:

To give the time to yourself to get that. And the right tools and the right understanding.

If you want these, join me 15-17 April, Ascension meditation course. £200 and you get to resit as many times as you like for free for the rest of your life as well as getting all the support and follow up you need.

Email me for a place.

Take it easy

- Arjuna

FREE ebook on meditation and mindset for ending stress, struggle and self-sabotage, and living an exceptional life:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

I'm so sore

I’m so sore, and it’s all my fault. I can hardly type - seriously.

You see, it’s been 10 years since I have been kayaking on a river, and I spent the whole weekend thrashing myself, in a boat, out on the water.

And what fun it was.

Totally worth the pain and suffering right now.

Funny isn’t it? I’m pretty fit, I run and I lift weights and I do yoga, and yet I found new ways to hurt.

Lessons for you in this all?

Plenty.

As great as my life has been up to now, coming back to something that was the core of my life for so long - I was a kayaking addict - has added a welcome extra little sparkle.

I feel so good this morning.

You need to do the things that you love. You can learn to be content with anything and everything, but you need to get out and do those things that make you shine.

It is far too easy to not do them, to get into a rut of thinking other stuff is more important. It’s not.

When you do that what happens is that a bit average becomes the new normal. And that is not the basis of a great life.

The other lesson was in attitude.

You see the guys I was paddling with were testing me out.

So they threw me in the biggest, safest (read boring-est) kayak they could find. We had lectures on what would happen if someone (ie. me) came out of their kayak. And so on and so on.

And fair enough too, it has been 10 years. But I must confess I was a bit "yeah yeah whatever".

We turned up at the river and the water is barely moving. Hardly challenging at all. It wasn't looking like a good start to a fun day. Boring!

Before, the old me, pre-Ascension meditation would have had a grump, and been bored, and sulked.

And yet I had the best time. It was so fun.

I could have chosen to be bored but I didn’t. I made the most of what I had, ginormous safe boat and all.

Sounding like my dad now, but I made my own fun with what I had.

It was truly a good time. I surprised myself.

I learnt once again that I can be content and enjoy what I’m doing, even when my ego thinks things should be different.

It’s never about the situation, always about your relationship with it.

And they saw me having fun, and invited me back on Sunday for something harder, something more challenging.

Nice one!

No one wants to hang out with Mister Grumpy. Everyone wants to help out Mister Having Fun.

And so my fiancee was left waiting for a pick up at the train station while I was late off the river (“just one more go on that wave”) but it was all worth it.

To sum up?

Your choice matters. Your attitude changes everything.

What you do is important, and how you do what you do is even more so.

Do you have freedom of choice? Or do you get stuck in loops of certain emotion or certain thoughts or certain reactions?

If you want a way out, I have the means: 15-17 April. Give me £200 and I will give you everything you need to have complete and absolute freedom of choice: freedom from your own mind and negative patterns for the rest of your life.

Simple, easy, powerful.

Send me an email and you are in.

Hopefully I’m not still sore by then.

Take it easy! I know I will be.

- Arjuna

FREE ebook on meditation and mindset for ending stress, struggle and self-sabotage, and living an exceptional life:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

Hero conquers own mind - gets the princess, the treasure, and the glory

A while back a guy called Tim Galway talked about the inner game of tennis. It’s still a great book and worth a read, you should be able to pick it up on on Amazon for pennies.

Basically the inner game is the most overlooked and important game there is.

The inner game is the “real You” versus all your bad habits, negative thinking, worrying, not being present, overthinking stuff - you know, your monkey mind.

Many people think the outer game is the important one - the game where we practically go get what we want.

The truth is you can’t do anything about the outer game without the inner game. The inner game changes all.

This is certainly true. It’s why I’m here writing to you about meditation and mind games, not kayaking.

I was an outdoor instructor for many years back in New Zealand. I found the whole key to giving someone an exceptional experience was to get them to a point where they could win the inner game.

If I could arrange things so they could see the doubts of their mind and then make another choice - (to use an overused phrase) to see the fear and do it anyway - then they were a leap ahead in facing whatever challenge would come up next in life.

This life is all a mind game.

If you play the inner game to win, if you practice, you will find that the outer game shifts with it.

I’m not saying just sit at home, do nothing, just meditate, no way.

I did try that for a spell, and I can affirm that as a continued life choice it certainly has its drawbacks.

What I’m saying is the inner game is your foundation.

Having a solid foundation where your thoughts are not real, just an option, means everything gets simple, and clear, and fun.

From that foundation of very real choice you can live your life however you wish, do anything, go anywhere. There is nothing from within stopping you.

Getting your head screwed on right takes a bit of practice, but that is all.

With the right tools and the right understanding this practice can become really enjoyable.

My good friend Thomas, who is an all-round amazing and super inspiring guy told me about learning Ascension meditation:

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“I’d always been a Star Wars fan and it felt like I’d finally gotten the tools to access the Force. My motivation to practice wasn’t because it affected my life, which it did, my life was changing a lot, but I felt so great when I closed my eyes and practiced I didn’t really care about anything else.”

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Sounds a bit different from your average meditation, huh? That's cos it is.

If you want the right tools and the right understanding come and join me at my Ascension meditation course, 15-17 April.

We begin 7pm on the Friday so you can still get to it from work. We’re in Richmond, North Yorkshire cos the venue is superb, and the grounds are beautiful. Taking a walk in the woods by the river after a meditation session is one of life’s great simple pleasures.

The price is a very reasonable £200 which includes the ability to resit as many times as you like for free, and all the support you need. It’s ridiculous how cheap that is.

If you want a seat, email me. Pronto! Don’t miss out.

Till next time, keep your peace. It’s the most important thing you possess.

- Arjuna

FREE ebook on meditation and mindset for living an exceptional life:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

Lose Everything - Learn Ascension Meditation

“What do you hope to gain from this meditation course?”

It’s one of the first questions I ask people when they come to learn Ascension meditation.

I love their faces when I tell them that they will gain nothing, that they will lose everything.

I’m not lying - it’s true. You gain nothing from your practice of Ascension meditation.

Nothing at all.

You lose, and thank the stars for that.

What is lost, what is left behind is all the bad habits, the over-thinking things, the impatience, the worry and the doubt, the missing out on what is right in front of you by being lost in your head, the limiting beliefs, all of that.

Which is what you want. You lose the mind being your (awful) boss.

You lose everything that limits you from getting everything you want from life.

What is left is pure, simple, unrefined, exceptional YOU-ness.

You regain the lost art of effortless focus. To ignore distractions and doubts just like a champion.

You are happy, just happy. Happy for no reason.

Centred too. Knowing what is the right decision for this exact moment.

Don’t forget infinite patience. And the ability to be direct, but relaxed about it.

Sidestepping anxiety and worry is one of my favourites.

This, and more, is You at your core, when you put your limited habits in their place.

How do you begin?

Just be present. Drop all the mental chatter and be right here. Move beyond the little tin can of your mind and notice what is around you and what is within you.

Be present and attentive to your presence in this moment. No need to strain or create a mood - it’s You after all.

You are that. You have a mind but you aren’t the mind. Make sure you live like that.

Simple, definitely simple.

But perhaps not so easy.

To make it easy, truly simple and easy, you need the right tools and understanding.

If you’re interested in the simple tools that have changed my life, and the thousands that I have taught since 2003, reply to this email telling me you want a seat at the weekend course 15-17 April.

It’s in Richmond, North Yorkshire but a bit of travel is a small sacrifice compared with what you get.

If you are tired of messing around and are ready for the simplest yet most powerful practice that will give you an exceptional life, then just do it - hit reply.

If you’re like me, you’ll kick yourself that you didn’t learn earlier.

Otherwise, just hang tough till the next course. Do the best with what you have. Be present and enjoy each and every moment.

And always, always, keep the Peace.

- Arjuna

FREE ebook on meditation and mindset for ending stress, struggle and self-sabotage:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

“I just can’t do it - it’s too hard …”

Yesterday morning was a tough morning. For no reason except my mind was reacting to the mere fact of being alive.

For the little kid in my head it was too tough to simply be out of bed, walking around, making coffee and small talk with the fiancee. A mind tantrum, you might call it.

You ever been in the supermarket and see some kid sprawled on the floor screaming, with their mother dragging them to the checkout?

Do you ever have those days?

I used to get this a lot. I wouldn’t say often, just more frequently that I would like. It used to hurt too, I would be swallowed up by this sense of “I just can’t do it - it’s too tough”.

The more I dwelled on that thought, the more deeper into a pit of despair and darkness I got. Errk. Not a nice place to be in.

The good thing about yesterday is that I know my own mind so much better than before.

In awareness there is choice.

In choice I can do something different, or in the case of yesterday know that the tantrum is just a sign of doing too much for too long.

I’ve been on the road teaching and travelling for three weeks. I saw the fiancée for a single night in a dodgy hotel near an airport. No wonder my mind’s kicking off - I should really schedule things a bit better.

So I put the plans on hold and give myself some space to do nothing. Nothing at all.

And even though the thoughts don’t change - they’re still telling me being alive is too hard - it’s simple to ignore. The thoughts have no influence to my mood.

I actually laughed out loud at one point. Being alive is simple. It’s just a fact. You can’t help but be alive. It’s the mind and thoughts that makes it harder or easier.

If you want a way out of your own mind - not to force it to change, but to be able to see it clearly and laugh, then join me for the ultimate answer.

There is a weekend course of Ascension meditation on the 15-17 April and it’s going to be fine. I’ll give you a treasure map, complete with compass and shovel - in other words, all the tools you need to find and live as the ruler of your own mind. And in that, happy and alive:

  • An end to stress, struggle and self-sabotage.
  • The ability to focus when you need to, let go when you want to.
  • To be happy and content, no matter.
  • To be the best version of yourself, always.

If you want in, email me for a (comfy) seat.

Any questions just email me too.

Have a great day,

- Arjuna

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FREE ebook on meditation and mindset for ending stress, struggle and self-sabotage:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

I never want to tell you what to do, only how to do it

I was surprised - my little email on marijuana caused a small flurry of indignation from certain quarters.

I feel misunderstood. (Poor me. Violins?)

My intention was never to tell anyone what to do.

Your life is yours to do whatever you want with it. I don’t know what makes you tick.

But I do know that so many people easily get stuck in a rut.

I do know that many many people only live in the past and the future. They are never present.

It is certain that struggle and stress and self-sabotage is rife on this planet.

People are living half-arsed, sedated, resisting and running from reality, not following their dreams.

How do I know?

Because I see it everywhere. And I was there, for the longest time: unconscious and full of compromise.

What made it worse was that I said I never wanted to compromise, and yet when I looked clearly it was obvious: I wasn’t walking my talk.

My life was great, but I realised it could be greater.

The intention behind my marijuana email wasn’t prohibition.

It was to tell you that you don’t want anything in the way of being clear and calm and centred.

You don’t want to rely on anything external for that. Even that app.

The number one priority in your life should be learning how to live as the master of your own mind.

From that foundation everything and anything you choose to do is bolder, brighter, more fun.

You are filled with purpose, life has true meaning, you can really make a difference.

Without that foundation you are like a monkey on a chain, pulled to and fro. Lost at sea. Stranded without a way home.

I never want to tell you what to do, only how to do it.

If you want to know how to do everything with style, peace and panache, then you owe it to yourself to get yourself a seat at my weekend Ascension meditation course: 15-17 April in Richmond.

Simple, and effortless.

But if you like being offended for the sake of being offended, if you like to live life constantly feeling hard done by, then perhaps unsubscribing is the way for you to go.

The link is just down there.

If not, be free: be truly the master of your own domain.

- Arjuna

FREE ebook on meditation and mindset for ending stress, struggle and self-sabotage:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

Smoking weed for peace: Why some Facebook advice is not what you really want

Smoke weed every day? As an answer to being calm, clear and content?

I was just looking on my Facebook page and someone left a little comment saying to the effect that the answer to being clear, calm and content lay in smoking marijuana.

Now I’ve smoked some before and as fun as it was in its own way, marijuana wouldn’t be my go to practice for clarity.

Calm maybe, horizontal more like. But clear? I was more fuzzy headed than anything. And hungry.

But the fact of the matter is that I got to the point in life where I didn’t want anything to be the “middleman” to my peace and focus in life.

I didn’t want to rely on anything anymore.

Not drugs, not kayaking, not adventures, not music, not reading inspiring books, not yoga, not other people.

I wanted to be able to choose to clear, calm and content - to be the best version of myself - without needing anything external in order to do that.

See I wasn’t able to simply “reset” myself and be present. Sometimes I just couldn’t get out of my own head.

I would do some yoga and breathing as a means to “de-stress” but it could take an hour and a half of yoga to step outside my own looping thoughts.

That was too much time.

I wanted to come to a point where I had a means of just remembering what was beyond my small mind in seconds, not minutes or hours.

Having freedom of choice, I believed, needed to be fast, and without conditions.

It needed to be an internal thing, independent of “stuff”, otherwise I was just relying on something else … do you get me?

You don’t need anything to choose, awareness is all, and you have that already. You are that.

You just need to remember to be it.

Now, if you’re like me, a tool, or a technique to help you remember, to get you out of your mind (in the best possible sense) is very very very useful.

But it needs to be an internal tool that will mean you can choose and be aware without relying on anything but what you have within.

It needs to be simple, because simple is quick.

It needs to be something that you can use with your eyes open - because you spend your life with your eyes open.

An eyes closed meditation practice is excellent, but a tool you can also use eyes open, superb.

And if it’s not illegal then you are away laughing.

If you are the same as me, you may well want to join me on the next Ascension meditation course. We are on 15-17 April.

I’ll give you everything you need to become completely present and aware quickly, whenever you want, without any unnecessary "fluff" or anything “external”, or the chance of being arrested.

If you want a (comfy) seat, email me before too long.

Take care, and have a superb day

- Arjuna

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FREE ebook on meditation and mindset for ending stress, struggle and self-sabotage:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

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A little little thing that can make this Valentines the greatest ever

So - assuming you are in a relationship with a “significant” other, this Valentines will mean you are set for a day of goodness with your “fluffy bunny” or “snookums” or whatever pet name you have for them.

If you are flying solo, so to speak, do not despair - it doesn’t matter. This will still apply to you.

This is because we are constantly in relationship with someone, romantic or not. Some relationships are more important than others, but interactions are a constant part of being human. Unless you are sitting in a cave right now, with nothing but the birds and the bats for company, that is.

The secret to an amazing relationship - once again, any kind of relationship - is to realise that average Joe relationships are all about “what can I get from this?”.

Given that average Joe is about “me, me, me”, and you, since you have the good taste to be reading this, are as far from average as can be, you should do the direct opposite.

Make every relationship, and especially the ones you want to thrive, about what you can give.

Ensure your approach to your loved one is “how can I give?” and you will be happy forever.

Tip number two is that the best gift is of yourself.

Shiny, expensive things are all well and good, but your full and complete attention, your ongoing appreciation and gratitude, your compliments, your assistance, your understanding and patience, your awareness and presence … in other words, you, is so much more than shiny-ness.

All you have to do is be aware - give, a lot, and constantly. And be aware when you are taking.

And you can’t do it later. Nothing is more important than the important people in your life. Don’t take them for granted!

Job done.

You can thank me later.

Have a great day, love them to pieces.

- Arjuna

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FREE ebook on meditation and mindset for ending stress, struggle and self-sabotage:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

_______________________

Lessons in living well from the airport

My time in Norway is at an end. I sit here in departures in the airport, sipping on coffee, watching people sit and walk and do their thing.

Humanity is just the same, everywhere I go.

Every class I teach, every talk I give, I try and ask people what the most important thing to them might be.

Everyone, everyone, says some version of happiness. Not a billion kroner, but peace and love and joy and contentment and peace and an end to struggle and suffering.

A man just walked past with his baby. The baby looked surprised, the man, happy and in love.

Maybe it’s that simple? Make a baby and carry it around?

I believe it’s even simpler. You just have to make sure your happiness is more important than getting stressed, or reacting, or thinking too much.

If it’s important, if you prioritise your peace, then happiness comes quickly.

It comes quickly because you find that happiness has its basis not in achieving anything, but in being content with what is.

Without being able to choose to be content, not even a baby’s soft cheek can help you.

If you understand this one thing then you know that you need nothing to make you happy, you just need to be attentive to this moment, letting go of any wishes or concerns that it was different somehow.

Imagine what it would be like if you had a foundation of happiness, constantly content?

It gives achieving your goals such a solid foundation because you no longer need to achieve, but you want to achieve, for the sport, for the joy, for the challenge. A huge difference.

If you want the tools to do this, I am teaching a fine course which will give you everything you need to:

  • be able to let go of every single limiting mental programme you may have
  • to be full of contentment
  • focus at will
  • move beyond all the bits and bobs that you’ve picked up which lead to suffering and struggle and self-sabotage in the first place.

Simple and easy.

15-17 April are the dates for this weekend course, and you are able to resit it, as many times as you like, for free. A excellent deal. Email me for more details and to book your place.Simple and easy.

Till then … keep the Peace,

- Arjuna

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FREE ebook on meditation and mindset for ending stress, struggle and self-sabotage:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset

Why regret and worry can seem like your friend, and why they aren't

I used to spend a lot of time in regret. As a percentage of my time it probably wasn’t a lot but it felt a lot because the things I regretted were important to me.

The biggest thing I would regret is behaving in a way that felt rude, or impatient, or not kind or compassionate in some way.

I had pretty high standards, but some times I would just react, fire off, and hurt someone’s feelings or just feel like I was an idiot in front of someone.

It was so much in my head, the whole guessing what someone else might actually be feeling or thinking about me, but the fact is I really wanted to be as “good” a person as I could be, and it hurt when I felt I wasn’t.

These days it’s easier because I’ve learnt not to second guess and think about it, if I do think I’ve said something stupid, then I ask. Saves staying awake at night.

I also don’t react as much as I used to. I feel like “button pushing” moments are getting rarer these days, and I’d put that down to my Ascension meditation practice.

It has a great way of making you like teflon - you find it difficult indeed to have anything stick to you.

And the other thing I’ve gotten is just better at not carrying the past.

I still strive to be the best possible person I can be, and in many ways it’s still true that “I don’t fear dying, I fear not living life fully” (Wim Hof) but I’m without the striving part.

I know that a full rich life can only be lived now. Noble goals are made up of small steps. The best step is the one that you can take now.

There’s not that double sided coin of fear/punishment driving me, so I can relax and enjoy as well as push some boundaries, if and when they’re there.

What I want to say to you, if any of this resonates, is learn to overcome regret and worry. Don’t indulge in it - even if something is worth worrying or regretting over.

It just doesn’t help.

Keep starting a fresh, do your best but carry nothing.

That in itself will mean you evolve as past as possible, you’ll squeeze everything you can out of this life. You don’t need to struggle and analyse “how to”, you just need to learn how to stay very very present.

Everything will come from right here.

Have a great day. As always, if you need anything, I'm here. Right here (just a little metaphysical joke).

- Arjuna

PS. The Bright Path Ishayas' Ascension meditation weekend interest you? 15-17 April (we begin at 7pm on the friday)

It's the single greatest thing that I have ever done. And I know I'm biased, but if you want a way out of regret and worry, to step into a happy, free life, then come along.

Get in touch if you want a seat.

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FREE ebook on meditation and mindset for ending stress, struggle and self-sabotage:

http://www.arjunaishaya.com/discovermeditationandmindset