Cultivate the courageous and compassionate practice of learning how to be with yourself, as it is a powerful idea for personal transformation.
Understand that meditation is about “doing nothing” and undoing habits of running away from yourself; by simply being you and relaxing into your essence, you cannot fail and will discover inner happiness.
Practice meditation for at least 10 minutes a day, as neuroscientific evidence shows visible brain changes even after a few days, leading to increased calmness, reduced stress, and greater happiness over time.
Instead of pushing away emotional pain or discomfort through distractions, learn to sit with what’s making you uncomfortable, as this allows those emotions to transform.
Use meditation to sit with your thoughts rather than trying to escape them, as this approach leads to genuine transformations and helps you become less controlled by negative emotions.
Understand that meditation is not about clearing your mind, but about changing your dynamic and relationship with your thoughts, learning to relate to them differently rather than trying to get rid of them.
View distractions during meditation as beneficial opportunities to build mental strength; noticing your mind has wandered and gently returning to your focus (e.g., breath) is the core practice that makes you stronger.
Focus on your normal breathing, mentally counting cycles (in and out is one), and when your mind wanders, gently return to the breath and start counting again, which builds focus and presence.
When going through difficult times, focus on the physical sensations of discomfort (tightness, turbulence) in your body through meditation, rather than getting lost in the thoughts or storyline.
Use meditation to develop a creative relationship with your own pain and suffering, rather than always trying to let go, which helps you work with it differently and transform it.
When experiencing painful emotions like depression or anxiety, learn to give a sense of compassion and love directly to those feelings, rather than feeling shame, to allow them to shift, change, and relax.
Learn what to do with your unhappiness to break through and find stable happiness, as it is the key to a doorway.
View life’s difficulties and hard times as opportunities for personal transformation to cultivate resilience, kindness, and happiness.
Change your perspective on hard times, seeing them as fertile ground that can benefit you by cultivating compassion, resilience, and strength.
View all the difficult or painful experiences in your life, which you might normally discard, as “compost” to be used as fertilizer for your meditation path, fostering growth through suffering.
Adopt a liberating and powerful mindset by committing to work with whatever happens in life and use it in meditation, rather than being a victim dependent on external circumstances.
Understand that stress is resistance to a situation; learn to dismantle this resistance to reduce or eliminate the feeling of stress, even in conventionally stressful situations.
Practice acceptance as an active state of mind by embracing uncomfortable situations or feelings with compassion, loving-kindness, and openness, moving into them rather than pushing them away.
Recognize that a sense of incompleteness or dissatisfaction is an inevitable part of life, but learn to work with it rather than being oppressed by it, choosing to “sink or swim.”
Realize that you have control and choice over how you perceive things and the world, rather than feeling like the world is happening to you, to break free from limiting patterns.
Practice changing habits of reactivity by learning not to get triggered by others’ comments, creating space, and understanding that their behavior may not be about you, fostering compassion and acceptance.
Transform internal blame, upset, and anger through forgiveness and compassion, sometimes by putting yourself in another person’s shoes, to change your relationship with difficult people or situations.
Understand that forgiveness is primarily about dropping your own burden of anger and suffering, freeing yourself from re-traumatization, rather than being about the other person.
When feeling angry, shift your focus to the anger itself rather than the external person or situation, as this helps break the habit of anger and prevents it from proliferating.
When experiencing anger, remove the storyline and meditate directly on the physical feeling of anger in your body, focusing on it without judgment or trying to push it away, allowing it to transform and dissipate.
When a heavy emotion or social friction arises, view it as an opportunity to inquire into its origins, asking “What is this emotion? Where has it come from? What is underpinning it?” to foster self-transformation.
When dealing with others, adopt the phrase “If I was that other person, I’d be doing exactly the same as them” to lead with compassion, reduce emotional triggering, and better address situations from a calmer state.
Give up relying on external intoxicants (like alcohol or caffeine) for relaxation, as this allows you to discover and cultivate internal power, autonomy, and strength to feel relaxed and happy independently.
Focus on cultivating and recycling your own internal happiness rather than constantly needing more from outside sources, which is essential for sustainable well-being.
Recognize that while emotions are not inherently wrong, being overly driven by core emotions like fear, desire, or anger leads to suffering; aim to be less negatively influenced by them.
When caught up in emotions like desire, anger, or fear, practice going beneath the emotion and its distracting story to connect with your inner essence, where you can discover peace and happiness.
Be very intentional about what content you consume and how often, as your thoughts and ideas are often downstream of the content you’re consuming.
Approach technology consumption with discipline, similar to food as nutrition, using it in a balanced and healthy way rather than consuming it endlessly like sugar.
Periodically disengage from social media and online content (e.g., for six weeks) to tune into yourself, realize you have enough, and cultivate a heightened sense of calm and contentedness without external influence.
Engage in formal meditation practice, distinct from other activities, because it is a portable skill that you can take with you anywhere to achieve a calm, balanced state, even in stressful situations without equipment.
Reframe oppressive or harsh sounds (like clanging metal in a prison) as mindful moments, using them as opportunities to practice mindfulness and change your view of the sound.
In stressful or uncomfortable situations (e.g., on a crowded train), intentionally practice mindfulness by feeling the ground under your feet, relaxing your shoulders, and being aware of your body to change your relationship with stress and enjoy the moment.
Make it a daily practice to cultivate more compassion for yourself and others, and strive to be of help and service, as this is an ever-evolving path to personal growth.
Change, improve, and transform your relationship with yourself, as this becomes the source for improved relationships with others, where compassion for self and others work as a unity.
Use the unconditional love experienced between parents and children as a model to develop and extend a similar pure love, without wanting something back, towards all other beings.
Begin a meditation by focusing on someone you love unconditionally (e.g., a child or pet) until that feeling naturally flows, then intentionally expand and send that same love to other people, including strangers and those you dislike.
When experiencing success or positive external validation, be mindful and notice the ego’s buzz and seductive nature in yourself, rather than letting it control you.