Brad4d Savasana

Two camps seem to dominate my Instagram feed: how to be successful in the world and how to find the authentic self. Both promise to fulfill our dreams without accepting and learning from the challenges before us. They sell destinations rather than true inquiry. That’s because most of these messages are about inflating the ego rather than putting it in its rightful place.

Take a few moments to truly contemplate what happened Easter morning by engaging in Ignatian Contemplation, which is a type of meditative prayer passed down through St. Ignatius and the Jesuits. This prayer might be challenging for people who are used to prescriptive or repetitive prayers. However, Ignatian Contemplation allows you to experience the true meaning of Easter.

Self-help practices should be free, particularly in a world rampant with mental illness. Many people who need some of these healing practices can’t afford them, yet perhaps they also don’t fall into those populations where it’s offered for free. Pay close attention to these marketing schemes. If healing practices cost nothing to produce or gain expertise, they should be free.

We’re often told to fight through our problems, but this can weaken even the strongest people. When things aren’t working, fear often exacerbates our weakness. We can often work with our problems not by fighting but by accepting them, and being open to new solutions.

Finland is one of the happiest places in the world. The US is #15. Some countries, particularly in Northern Europe, seem to get it right about how to live a happy life. It’s a combination of mindset and practice. How many of these methods do you engage in? Which of these can you put into practice today?

When we encounter suffering, we often run from it or rush through it without reflecting what lesson it has to teach us. It’s not like we purposely cause self-harm or do things to exacerbate our wounds. Instead, we work at it each day. Yoga teaches us to find that edge, to find the right balance of stress to work through our difficulties and limitations.

We might know our personalities and say we “know who we are,” but do we know the multiple personalities that show up when we’re under stress? Certain situations elicit certain personas that help us adapt to these situations. It’s important for us to be aware of how and when these characters show up in our lives so we can limit the havoc they typically wreak.

Is Daylight Savings Time a surprise? Then why do people consistently complain about it? Complaining about losing an hour of sleep only makes it worse. Today marks a season where we can spend a little more time outdoors in the evening. It’s also a time of anticipating warmer temperatures to come.

We all yearn to be free. We want to walk through life being free to do what we want. Yet we often get caught up—and eventually bound—in pleasure and craving. Religious traditions teach us that the path of liberation is through discipline. It’s about restraining the patterns and behaviors that keep us stuck so we focus our energy on true freedom that’s everlasting.

We often go through each day mindlessly without paying too much to the details. We might remember specific episodes that make us look good, or we might ruminate on the episodes that stoke our anger or fear. If we take a few moments each day, preferably in the evening, we recall all of the ways we behaved—good and bad—to see if we’re in accord with our beliefs and values. This daily Examen can teac...

How easily those memories of the past seize us in the present moment! Or the anticipation of the future yanks us away from what’s going on here and now. Thich Nhat Hanh calls these “ghosts,” because they only exist in our mind. We conjure them—or they automatically return—through our conditioning. This keeps us stuck, feeding more thoughts into them so they get strengthened. If we can take a slive...

Humility isn’t a very popular value because in its nature, it’s not about gain. Our society seeks gain rather than remaining humble, so it’s no wonder we’re always in competition with one another. Yet when we come across someone who is truly humble, it warms something within us. Why not practice humility today to defy our culture of gaining and winning?

How easily do our lives get pulled in many directions, to the point we can no longer drive straight! We might notice this during times of unconsciousness or emotional upheaval, when our autopilot kicks in. Lent is a time for us to reevaluate how we’re living our lives. We engage in certain efforts to bring our lives back into alignment with God.

How often do we take on a fad diet, lose weight, then gain it back once we return to our old eating patterns? Mental health is similar. Sure, drugs might help ease our symptoms of anxiety and depression, but it takes years of therapy to recognize our old patterns and develop new ones. This journey requires courage, strength, humility, and compassion.

Who is the good friend—the friend who tells you want you WANT to hear or NEED to hear? Marketers emphasize the first, and teachers stress the second. If we walk around life only listening to messages that validate our ego, we might miss the lesson.

With many churches losing members of their congregation, we also lose valuable voices that can help shape these communities. Church isn’t about attending a service once a week. Instead, it’s being part of a community that often disagrees. That community becomes lost when dissenting voices leave or fear speaking up.

Thomas Merton’s book, The Inner Experience, begins with a warning: You can’t use contemplation to hide. It’s not a solution to your problems. Many of our problems are situated in our false self. Contemplation is about being fulfilled in God’s existence.

So many self-help books and courses promise freedom and happiness, as if it’s an eternal state. That book or course might address a particular chapter in our life, but it might not fit into the next. Then we reach again for another quick fix out of our suffering. The best books and practices are those that teach us not only acceptance but also connecting with God or transcendence. Life is never a...

A branch of Buddhism tells the story of Indra’s Net to describe not only the non-solid nature of things but also how we’re interconnected and reflect one another. We can exhaust so much effort to try to stand out or stand above others, but that only tears the fabric that connects us.

We all have a still, soft voice within us. We often can’t hear it because we’re held captive by so many distractions outside of us. It’s critical for us to spend a few moments each day anchoring ourselves in Truth. Only then can we open our ears and hearts to what the still, soft voice wants to say.

This basic question points to where our will is directed. It points to meaning and purpose. Without this singleness of purpose, our lives may have little meaning or fulfillment. If we don’t know this answer, maybe sit with the question for a few moments and see if one arrives.

When our lives are nothing but chaos, we can exhaust ourselves trying to effect a resolution. Sometimes the best we can do is to be still. This allows us to conserve our energy, stay in balance, and avoid more chaos until the resolution arrives.

How many times do you hear, “Do what you love, and the money will follow.” Although “doing what you love” is often tied to purpose, calling, or vocation, the second part of that sentence is bound by expectation and outcome. Doing what you love should have the reward of its own. You do it because it’s an authentic expression of you. It’s about process rather than outcome. It doesn’t need to be abou...

When someone famous tells their story, they often tell about those moments when their lives seem hopeless. We like to hear how they triumphed over their breaking points. But what about the rest of us who continue to struggle? Can we find hope amidst our struggles and look at them as those chapters in our life story that contribute to our growth and character?

Our conscience speaks to us—sometimes loudly—when we’re alone. That’s why we often surround ourselves with people who will validate our wrongdoing so we don’t have to listen to our conscience. But it will catch up to us. It’s important for us to spend time alone with our conscience to see what it has to say. If it’s conflicting with what our community says, we might ask ourselves about the company...