Develop a disposition to recognize that you live in a ‘gifted universe’ where abundance is constantly present, regardless of circumstances. This practice helps you realize ’everything we need is here,’ fostering thankfulness and moving from a vision of abundance rather than scarcity and fear.
Actively work on cultivating gratitude, recognizing it as a trainable life skill rather than a fixed trait. This can lead to a deeper sense of thanksgiving, appreciation for abundance, and seeing good in others, helping to prevent regret in later life.
Understand gratitude as more complex than just transactional exchanges like thank-you notes, involving both feelings and actions expressed individually and communally. This broader understanding allows for appreciation of diverse forms of gratitude and a more profound experience of gratefulness.
In meditation, treat all thoughts (positive or negative) the same way: respectfully acknowledge them, gently escort your attention back to the breath, and optionally make a mental note of the thought or emotion. This practice helps you avoid being ‘owned’ by thoughts or emotions, allowing you to respond wisely rather than reacting blindly, and to recognize impermanence.
If you want your child to be mindful, actively practice mindfulness yourself, as children are more likely to model what you do than what you say. Your mindful behavior and responses can allow mindfulness to ‘seep into’ your child by osmosis and help reframe issues for them, even if they don’t meditate.
Engage in the political process from a place of hopefulness, recognizing the universe’s abundance and viewing political narratives of scarcity as injustices. This perspective provides empowerment to participate, seeing connections and the importance of sharing gifts rather than hoarding them.
Adopt the mindset of giving thanks ‘in everything,’ rather than ‘for everything,’ especially during difficult times. This allows you to find gratitude amidst challenges, helping you see connections, love for neighbor, and how gifts should be shared, without being thankful for the negative circumstances themselves.
Incorporate daily gratitude practices, such as keeping a gratitude journal, writing thank-you notes for kindness (not just gifts), or using a physical prompt like a ‘gratitude rock.’ These tools help you recognize and record the gifts you’ve been given, making it easier to find more things to be grateful for as ‘gratitude functions almost like a sort of spiritual multiplication’.
When faced with distressing circumstances or negative news, use them as a ’negative prompt’ to actively seek out and identify things you are grateful for. This technique can shift your perspective, reminding you to look for the good even amidst challenges, and can lead to seeing the world differently.
When dealing with anxiety and depression, explore different tools and practices such as guided meditation, silent meditation, walking a labyrinth, or being out in nature. These practices can help reduce stress and fear and provide grounding during difficult periods.
View meditation as a ‘first aid kit for sanity’ or for the human condition, practicing it to model sanity and spread it through your social network. Learning to meditate helps individuals become ’little nodes, little ambassadors of sanity,’ which can positively influence others.
If you wish to encourage loved ones to meditate, do so by gently recommending it rather than pushing it too hard. Pushing meditation can be annoying, backfire, and may imply that the person is ‘messed up’ or ‘broken’.
Engage in Christian centering prayer by using a mantra, such as ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner,’ repeating it and gradually dropping words until only ‘Lord’ remains, followed by silence. This allows the words to ‘come into you’ and be experienced with great depth, similar to other mantra meditations.
Practice classic silent breath meditation, potentially using rosary beads or mala beads, as a form of Christian centering prayer. This practice fosters a similar experience to silent Quaker meetings or health and wellness retreats, promoting inner silence and presence.