06Nov 2019 by aryask@gmail.com

An unconditional surrender

mindfulness, poetry, self-awareness
Caught in a riptide, hallow pressures, energy currents drift before my eyes, the story plays on, light hanging down, she stretches her shoulders, her pointy shoes swivel on the floor. Friends are near, experience builds trust. It's absurdly charming, my rhythm is life. My mind is not real life. The nature of the mind is to think about life. Reality responds to what you think, but it is not responsible for self-deceptions. Humans can be experts at self-deception,With so much emotion inside this flesh. Focus around the eyes and neck. Solar flares blend and dissolve what’s left.
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04Nov 2019 by aryask@gmail.com

A fresh focus with mindfulness

mental health, mindfulness, mindset, self-awareness, Uncategorized
"The body is the shore on the ocean of being." - Sufi saying Mindfulness is feeling the freshness of now, a heightened awareness of breath, spine, and intentions. In the past decade, mindfulness has weaved into mainstream psychology and spirituality circles with its calming and healing effects. Who would refuse greater self-awareness and mood regulation? who would refuse greater focus and wellbeing? What's more, mindfulness is free and anybody can practice it, anywhere. Being aware is common sense and a basic part of being a human. Inside of a mindful moment, a person is awake to what is happening in real-time because of a simple recognition: the present is innately sufficient and everfresh. It is not driven by ambition; it is the feeling of awareness. A mindful moment is not a…
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13Oct 2019 by aryask@gmail.com

Creative brainstorming with mindfulness

creativity, mindfulness
I learned about a company called IDEO some years ago and I was intrigued by their human-centered approach to design and innovation. I followed them over the years. Their founders wrote several books, one titled Creative Confidence, a must-read for educators, leaders, and designers looking to boose their problem-solving skills.  My thesis on creativity, like other soft skills, is that you can activate creativity, you can also de-activate it, but you cannot force anyone to care about it. IDEO seems to share the same ethos. At IDEO there are 7 principles used during brainstorming sessions to enable a team's creativity. It's like oiling the creative engine. A well-oiled engine has a smooth and stable ride.  One of the principles is "defer judgment: put all critiques and judgments aside."  The ancient practice of mindfulness is about…
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24Feb 2019 by aryask@gmail.com
Being mindful with dragons

Being mindful with dragons

mindfulness
It was a full day of meetings and I was rushing to make the afternoon train. I was leaving town for two weeks to volunteer on a farm. My day’s mission was to make it to the train. The farm was expected to be cold, so my girlfriend Ree graciously offered me her sleeping bag, which in hindsight was the greatest thing I took on the trip. It was a hectic day and I’m knocking out the meetings. At some point, I planned to swing by Ree’s house to pick up the sleeping bag. In between my meetings, she says that suddenly she had to leave her house, so she was going to leave it with the security guard. I was fine with it. Later as I’m dashing through the…
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08May 2018 by aryask@gmail.com

From meditation to laughing in tears

mindfulness, self-awareness
Mindfulness Meditation is a way of developing a felt-sense of being with the body and simply being present. It challenges us to step back from the mental chatter to reduce stress and regulate attention. It is a discipline of sheer focus, but we don’t have to take ourselves seriously to be committed to the practice. Here’s a story from some years ago. I’m in the middle of the desert for a 10day meditation retreat. Every day I wake up at 4am, step outside of my dorm and into the cold morning air. It’s quiet, and in the distance a rosy dawn is painted over the mountains. I walk over to the big meditation room with 60 other people - no speaking or eye contact for the entire 10 days. You just…
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