How to find happiness (notes from the Dalai Lama & Yoga Sutras, and me)
by heidi_behr | Jul 14, 2015 | Being choosey, Core beliefs, EFT, Energy Medicine, Healing anxiety, Healing grief, How to Feel Peace Now, Manifest Abundance, MIndfulness, Self-care Practices, Self-Compassion, Tapping, Vulnerability, Yoga
Yesterday I was looking through my little prayer journal and I found a quote I’d copied from Meditations From the Mat, by Rolf Gates:
“Our thoughts create impressions on our souls (samskaras) - these impressions, in turn, predispose us to similar thoughts.”
Yikes!! I don’t know about you, but the preponderance of thoughts that MANY of us have are negative. Thoughts like, ” I can’t do that” or “I’m not likeable” or “I suck” or “I’ll never be thin enough, smart enough, have enough money….” You get the gist. And this is the truth, as Gates pointed out: negative thoughts lead to MORE negative thoughts…. so we need to be careful what we are thinking!
But how are we to change this? How can we be happy?
The Dalai Lama says that the purpose of life is the be happy. His teaching, similar to the Yoga Sutras, explain to be happy we have to deal with and understand the causes of our suffering. We have to reflect on our lives to understand what is bringing us unhappiness. And oftentimes, what is making us unhappy is our thoughts about our life- what we have lived through in the past and what we fear we may live though in the future.
In the Yoga Sutras 2.3 Patanjali writes that the five sources of suffering (klesah) are: 1)misunderstanding or ignorance- not seeing things as they are (avidya); 2) ego / confused values / sense of “I” (asmita); 3) excessive desire / attachment (raga); 4) avoidance/ aversion /anger (dvesa); and 5) fear / clinging to life/ insecurity (abhinivesah).
In my counseling practice, I deal with all of these types of suffering and many times this is what is the target of the EFT/Tapping intervention. Using this gentle technique, we face the issues, the negative thoughts that are running rampant in our heads. By using the acupressure-like technique, energy shifts and changes and insights and compassion begin to arise where there was none before.
This is one way the samskaras are burned up, or released. They actually seem to evaporate in the room, at times, while I am tapping with my clients. It is truly amazing to witness the relief on my clients’ faces when they feel free– that is why this intervention is named Emotional Freedom Technique.
The Dalai Lama says:
Contemplating the painful nature of life, considering the methods by which our misery can be brought to an end, is a form of meditation…Meditation is the process whereby we gain control over the mind and guide it in a more virtuous direction.
You can use EFT to guide your thoughts- it is a compassionate way to work on the issues from the past and help sway our thought patterning to be more present focused and thereby free from fear.
If you want to learn more about EFT, you can come to my new workshop series, starting July 21. You can register by calling me at 407-252-8035 or emailing me at Heidi@feelpeacenow.com — there is also a link at my website here.
As always, thank you for reading this blog and may be peace with you today.
Namaste!
