Favorite quotes: Warrior Goddess Training by HeatherAsh Amara
The first step to claiming your strength and igniting your will is to get clear about what you want. Not what your victim wants, or what your judge wants, or what you would like, but what your highest vision and purpose is for yourself. What I have found is that when you get clear about your heart's desire, the Universe steps up in magnificent ways to support you!
So I say, if you are burning, burn. If you can stand it, the shame will burn away and leave you shining, radiant, and righteously shameless. —Elizabeth Cunningham
What is your main taproot? Make it deep and solid. Redirect it if it has grown attached to a person or ideal. Anchor yourself in infinity, in earth, to the life-force. Where is your true source of energy and stability? Reach deep.
How to clear old emotions: Take five minutes each day, whether you feel like it or not, to move through some emotions. You can also do this by dancing vigorously and yelling. Use your voice; scream, cry, om, growl . . . let your emotions move!
Life does not personally punish people or seek to cause suffering; it simply moves.
When you let go of who you wish you were, you reclaim your power to be radiantly, magnetically, and creatively who you are.
High school wisdom
Here are scanned pages from my high school notebook where I collected what I considered to be sage advice and quotes.
A lot of these quotes, which now seem banal, really helped me survive the discomfort of high school and bullies and a broken heart.
Here are the quotes that still resonate with me twenty years later:
“Be tough in the way a blade of grass is: rooted, willing to lean, and at peace with what is around it.” — Natalie Goldberg
"Do you imagine the universe is agitated? Go into the desert at night and look at the stars. This practice should answer the question. The superior person settles her mind as the universe settles the stars in the sky. By connecting her mind with the subtle origin, she calms it. Once calmed, it naturally expands, and ultimately her mind becomes as vast and immeasurable as the night sky.” — Lao Tzu (apparently refuted)
“The greatest unexplored territory is the space between our ears.” — unknown (to me)
How to define your problems
To start defining your problems, say (out loud) “everything in my life is completely fine. Notice what objections arise.
— #53 on 100 Tips For A Better Life
Six right livelihood guidelines
Consume mindfully.
Eat with awareness and gratitude.
Pause before buying and see if breathing is enough.
Pay attention to the effects of media you consume.
Pause. Breathe. Listen.
When you feel compelled to speak in a meeting or conversation, pause.
Breathe before entering your home, place of work, or school.
Listen to the people you encounter. They are buddhas.
Practice gratitude.
Notice what you have
Be equally grateful for opportunities and challenges.
Share joy, not negativity.
Cultivate compassion and loving kindness.
Notice where help is needed and be quick to help
Consider others' perspectives deeply.
Work for peace at many levels.
Discover wisdom
Cultivate "don't know" mind (= curiosity).
Find connections between Buddhist teachings and your life.
Be open to what arises in every moment.
Accept constant change.
Happiness is a skill and a choice
Our happiness is built by attitude and intention. Attitude is not everything, but it’s almost everything. I visited the jazz great Jane Jarvis when she was old, crippled and living in a tiny apartment with a window facing a brick wall. I asked if she was happy and she replied, “I have everything I need to be happy right between my ears.”
An action plan for effective worrying
Ask yourself for evidence. Is this worry based on something that has happened before? Do you have reason to believe it is realistic? Write that down, but then also consider whether there is evidence against the worry coming true. If so, identify actions you can take to solve the problem. Write out the pros and cons of those actions. Choose one of those actions, and try it.
Ask yourself for evidence. Is this worry based on something that has happened before? Do you have reason to believe it is realistic? Write that down, but then also consider whether there is evidence against the worry coming true. If so, identify actions you can take to solve the problem. Write out the pros and cons of those actions. Choose one of those actions, and try it.
How to apologize effectively
Acknowledge how your action affected the person.
Say you’re sorry.
Describe what you’re going to do to make it right or make sure it doesn’t happen again. Don’t excuse or explain.
Acknowledge how your action affected the person.
Say you’re sorry.
Describe what you’re going to do to make it right or make sure it doesn’t happen again. Don’t excuse or explain.
What to say in moments of frustration
In moments of frustration and cognitive distortion, preface what you say with: “I need to say this, but I am not committed to it.”
In moments of frustration and cognitive distortion, preface what you say with: “I need to say this, but I am not committed to it.”
Follow your inner moonlight
“Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness. ”
An illustration of “Happiness”
“Happiness is the difference between what you have, and your definition of enough.” — More to That newsletter
Dream cards
These are words that were said in dreams and typed on to trading cards and watercolored.
Empty days
I always forget how important the empty days are, how important it may be sometimes not to expect to produce anything, even a few lines in a journal. … the most valuable thing we can do for the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of a room, not try to be or do anything. — May Sarton
“I always forget how important the empty days are, how important it may be sometimes not to expect to produce anything, even a few lines in a journal. … the most valuable thing we can do for the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of a room, not try to be or do anything.”