Practice Metta meditation by envisioning individuals (self, easy people, benefactor, neutral, difficult, all beings) and repeating phrases of goodwill (e.g., “May you be happy, healthy, safe, and live with ease”), trusting that consistent practice will lead to shifts without forcing feelings. This practice helps uproot biases and build a baseline sense of friendliness for everyone, recognizing shared human experience.
Practice dis-identifying with strong emotions like anger, viewing them as temporary phenomena passing through the mind rather than personal possessions. This reduces personal attachment to emotions, prevents neurotic feeding of them, and decreases suffering.
When desire arises, sit calmly and pay attention to it, observing its impermanence until it passes. Noticing the passing of desire is a liberating practice that can prevent impulsive actions driven by temporary urges.
View moments of irritation as opportunities to apply meditation training and practice observing emotions without reacting. This enhances the practice and can decrease the frequency of irritation over time.
Practice noticing anger or rage at an earlier stage (e.g., at 50 out of 100) and consciously try to scale it back before it escalates. This helps prevent the corrosive long-term effects of unchecked anger, even if the initial self-righteousness feels good.
Attend long meditation retreats, even for a day, to disconnect from busyness and commit to not causing harm to other people, practicing observation of irritation without acting on it. This can lead to transformative shifts in perspective and reduce reactivity to daily frustrations.
Practice forgiveness as a conscious, empowering act, defining your own terms and boundaries, and only when it genuinely makes you feel whole and in control. This allows you to reclaim personal power after betrayal or violence, fostering inner confidence and wholeness.
Utilize both therapy and meditation as complementary, evidence-based tools for happiness and well-being, rather than choosing one over the other. Therapy addresses the content of experience, while meditation focuses on the process of the mind, offering different but equally valuable paths to relief and freedom.
Use yoga and meditation as healing modalities to confront and process hidden pain and real feelings, creating a safe space for emotional release. This facilitates deep healing and recovery from trauma by allowing suppressed emotions to surface.
Engage in meditation as a tool to process and find a way out of prolonged suffering and painful experiences. It can be a path to healing from deep trauma.
For parents, prioritize fostering joy in children, especially those in high-pressure academic environments, as it helps them succeed in the long term. Joy is crucial for sustained well-being, as ambition and competition alone are unsustainable and can lead to misery.
For veterans or individuals with PTSD, TBI, or MST, consider applying for a service dog from organizations like Canines for Warriors. Service dogs provide constant companionship, emotional support, and specific safety commands to mitigate symptoms and enhance daily functioning.
Engage in writing as a method for healing and processing life experiences, as it can be a huge source of recovery. This powerful tool aids in self-reflection and recovery from past events.
Share personal trauma experiences and actively listen to others’ stories without judgment, recognizing that trauma is complex and takes time to resolve. This helps break cycles of shame, fosters connection, and acknowledges the long-term process of healing.
Use meditation to explore motivations behind an overloaded schedule and identify areas to cut back. This practice helps gain self-awareness about daily activities and make more conscious choices about time and energy.
When experiencing minor irritations (like waiting in line), recognize it as an “oatmeal moment” and observe the irritation without feeding it. This practice can be applied anywhere in life to reduce frustration and increase a sense of freedom.
Start meditation through yoga, especially if it’s a classical yoga center where meditation is part of the curriculum. This can be an accessible and structured entry point to meditation practice.
If physical movement is limited, practice sitting still and observing dissatisfaction around not being able to move, without feeding it. This helps manage the emotional impact of physical limitations and find peace.
Be cautious about how mindfulness is applied in military contexts, especially if used to avoid confronting emotions or to enhance harmful actions. While powerful for healing, such applications may have long-term negative consequences for the individual’s human spirit.
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Sign up for the “Podcast Insiders Feedback Group” at 10percenthappier.com/podcast to provide regular feedback on the show. This allows listeners to directly influence the show’s content and quality.
Utilize the “A Journey to Sleep with Oren Sofer” meditation or other sleep meditations available on the 10% Happier app. Sleep meditations are a growing and helpful part of the app for improving sleep.