Dalai Lama Foundation Study Circle Montreal

May 10, 2012

a project of ServiceSpace

15 Things You Should Give Up To Be Happy

“We hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering — and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy — we cling on to them. Not anymore. Starting today we will give up on all those things that no longer serve us, and we will embrace change. Ready? Here we go.” Dana Sauvic, a student of the arts, economics and spirituality reflects on 15 commonplace impediments to joy that we often unwittingly carry around with us, and urges us to release them. { read more }

Be The Change

What can you give up in your own life that is keeping you from joy? Try removing it just for today.

DailyGood is a volunteer-run initiative that delivers “good news” to 114,321 subscribers. There are many ways to help. To unsubscribe, click here.

Other ServiceSpace projects include:

HelpOthers // CF Sites // KarmaTube // Conversations // More

May 9, 2012

a project of ServiceSpace

How to Stop Labels from Becoming Judgments

“A yoga teacher of mine was describing a class he held for girls struggling with anorexia. He asked them to stand hip-width and was shocked when all of them were standing with their feet as wide as the yoga mat. Their physical bodies were much thinner than what their mental perceptions told them. It isn’t something that just afflicts these girls — all of us fall prey to believing labels that define our self-image. The problem isn’t in the labels themselves, but in how conscious we are of them. Labels are just a mental shorthand for leveraging past experience, and preparing us for what lies in store. But when I am unconscious of these labels, I start believing them to be the full truth, when in reality they merely reflect my own conditioning. Then, instead of giving me a head start on gaining more information, labels collapse my experience and actually limit my opportunities to grow.” On the neurobiology of labeling: { read more }

Be The Change

Today, observe your own tendency to label your experiences and even other people.

DailyGood is a volunteer-run initiative that delivers “good news” to 114,287 subscribers. There are many ways to help. To unsubscribe, click here.

Other ServiceSpace projects include:

HelpOthers // CF Sites // KarmaTube // Conversations // More

In just a few days my new book Emotional Chaos to Clarity will be available in bookstores. I want to share with you why I wrote the book and ask for your support in spreading the word about it.

Emotional Chaos to Clarity is the culmination of the various wisdom practices I have taught over the past 17 years. The inspiration to write this book came from my students, who have repeatedly asked me to create a map of my teachings to guide them in living the dharma in daily life. Emotional Chaos to Clarity begins with an explanation of why intention and mindfulness are essential if you want to have a greater sense of well-being in your life. It then leads you through a series of empowering practices that help you cultivate clarity. Next, the book shows how these practices can support you in developing skillful behaviors, including learning to make wise decisions and navigate change successfully. The last section of the book contains practices for uprooting the causes of chaos in your life.

At the end of each chapter, I offer a self-assessment exercise or supplemental practice to assist you in applying the teachings more specifically to your life. Naturally, Emotional Chaos to Clarity incorporates stories and examples from the lives of many of my students, as well as my own. I did not hold back: I write about how to live with difficulty and darkness in your life, how to work with compulsions, how to stop doing violence to yourself, and much more. It is truly a handbook for wise living. Many of you have heard me speak about the importance of the imaginative possible in personal transformation — it is my hope that this book will lead you to experience your own moment of the imaginative possible.

As you know, traditional book publishers are struggling to compete in the new world of electronic and social networking media, so bringing Emotional Chaos to Clarity to the attention of people who might benefit from reading it is a challenge. Also, I’m a very private person and have shied away from participating in social media. Therefore, I need your help in letting people know about this practical guide to well-being. If you’re willing to lend a hand, there are a series of things you can do, beginning with deciding for yourself if the book is worthy of your effort. If you find that it is, then please help by doing any of the following:

• Visit the Emotional Chaos to Clarity Facebook page and “Like” it.

• Recommend or blog about the book in other social media you use frequently. And if you know of a social media site where it would be appropriate to draw attention to Emotional Chaos to Clarity, please let Kathryn Arnold, the creative director at the Life Balance Institute, know about it.

• Email those friends you think might find the book valuable. (I receive a number of such emails myself and find them useful.)

• Go to Amazon and write a review.

• Finally, mention the book when you visit bookstores in your area.

Thank you considering my request, and I hope you enjoy the book.

Phillip Moffitt

SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, May 19, I will be leading a daylong retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center based on Emotional Chaos to Clarity. The proceeds for the day will benefit Spirit Rock. Find out more on the Spirit Rock Web site.

VISIT the Emotional Chaos to Clarity Web site to access these additional resources:

Emotional Chaos to Clarity Study Guide for Book Groups

Emotional Chaos to Clarity 52 Weekly Teachings

A schedule of my book teaching tour. I will be teaching in these cities — Chicago, Denver, New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver,
Washington, D.C. — and more.

Copyright (C) 2012 Life Balance Institute. All rights reserved.

World Peace and Other 4th-Grade Achievements

DailyGood // Conversations // iJourney // HelpOthers

MovedByLove // CF Sites // Karma Kitchen // More

Thank you for helping us spread the good. This newsletter now reaches 43,204 subscribers.