Mindfulness E-Book

Costa P.

• Herausgeber: Tektime
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 121

Beschreibung

Imagine reading a book to help you fall asleep…. Did you know that your mind is most relaxed at the time you prepare to go to bed? This is also the moment when it is at its most receptive state and best able to assimilate information. Your night will end up disturbed and cumbersome if you go to sleep weighed down by the burdens of daily life.
On the other hand, your sleep will be peaceful and you will be well rested if you go to bed with a light head. The main aim of this book is thus to offer you short, simple stories and tales that will help you to forget for a moment the stresses of the world, from others, as well as your own.
The purpose of these tales is to take you back to experiences that, due to the demands of modern life, are most of the time pushed to the back of the mind.
Deliberate efforts have been made for the positive impacts of this book to be as close to our real lives as possible: the fears, all sorts of temptations, including the burdens of daily life that hang over our shoulders. There is always this quiet inner voice that does not leave us at peace.
To sum it up, there are so many underlying mental processes that contribute to the “rot” in our lives.
Fortunately, there are many positive illustrations for giving the mind a state of calm and tranquility, and which have enabled us to better understand these processes that otherwise would tear us apart.

Leseprobe

Copyright ©2022, Dr. COSTA P.

Cover Design: Mateus Rocha de Carvalho

All rights reserved, inclusive of the right to reproduce parts or the entire book in any form whatsoever

MINDFULNESS

Lessons TO LEARN

BEFORE GOING TO BED

To the main sources of my inspiration:

My family,

My friends,

My colleagues,

My patients.

|CONTENTS|

| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |

| INTRODUCTION |

| LIVING YOUR FEELINGS |

| THE BUSY MAN |

| THE INSOMNIAC |

| THE SENTRY |

| THE MUSICIANS |

| THE MILLIONNAIRE |

| HIDDEN TREASURE |

| THE PRESENT TIME AS IT IS |

| THE REED |

| THE ALLURE OF A SMILE |

| MEDITATION AT ANY COST |

| THE STRONGEST OF ALL ANIMALS |

| THE ROMAN FIGHTER |

| HE WHO WISHED TO BECOME AN INSTRUCTOR |

| COLORS OF LIFE |

| PATIENCE AND ACCEPTANCE |

| THE GOSSIPERS |

| THE MASTER AND THE SAMURAI |

| NOISES |

| THE ACTOR AND THE BEGGAR |

| THE SEEDS |

| AWARENESS |

| COMPARING IS NOT REASONING |

| ACCEPTANCE IS NOT SUBMISSION |

| A FAMILY STORY |

| PATIENCE OF A GENERAL |

| LOCKED UP INDOORS |

| THE PEASANTS |

| AUTOMATIC GEAR |

| EXPECTATIONS (OF THE MIND) |

| TRANSFORMATION |

| THE PRISONERS |

| SELF-LOVE |

| THE SHRUB WHO WISHED TO BE AN OAK TREE |

| A NUMBER OF DAYS |

| A CHILDLIKE SPIRIT |

| THE FLEDGLING |

| SUCH GREEN GRASS |

| A LIFE SAVED |

| THE DESIRE TO SEE LIFE AS IT IS |

| WHAT IS GOOD, WHAT IS EVIL |

| THE GOD WHO COULD NOT SLEEP |

| THE ROAD |

| IN A RIVER |

| MAKING CHOICES IN LIFE AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY|

| I WANT |

| THE BURDEN |

| ARCHIBALD AND THE CYCLE OF LIFE |

| TRAPPED BY THE MIND |

| THE POWER OF SILENCE |

| WOMAN IN A RUSH |

| THE WONDER IN YOU |

| THE POTTER |

| NEGATIVE FEELINGS |

| THE MAYFLY |

| THE TRUTH IN WRONG |

| THE SACRED WAVE |

| THE PRESENT TIME |

| BECOMING YOURSELF |

| THE MAN AND THE BIRD |

| THE MAN WITH DIFFERENT COLORED EYES |

| A MATTER OF PERCEPTION |

| PRAISE FOR CHANGE |

| THE PRINCE’S GARDEN |

| THE MONKEY |

| ALL ABOUT OVER-EXERTION |

| COMPLAINING |

| PREMATURE JUDGEMENT |

| EPILOGUE |

| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |

T

hanks to my wonderful passion for the medical profession, the writing of this book became a marvelous adventure filled with numerous encounters and surprises; and it was all for you!

I am grateful to a lot of people, all of whom were deeply involved in one way or the other in the publication of this book. I am thankful to all who helped me by participating, by supporting me and in being a part of this project. Your involvement and your support are my motivation to continue writing and sharing ideas with the readers. Indeed, there are many who supported me, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

Without any doubt, I was really fortunate to have you by my side!

My heartfelt gratitude to my family, friends, colleagues, as well as the entire community on meditation in compassion for all your help, company and participation!

| INTRODUCTION |

Imagine reading a book to help you fall asleep…. Did you know that your mind is most relaxed at the time you prepare to go to bed? This is also the moment when it is at its most receptive state and best able to assimilate information. Your night will end up disturbed and cumbersome if you go to sleep weighed down by the burdens of daily life.

On the other hand, your sleep will be peaceful and you will be well rested if you go to bed with a light head. The main aim of this book is thus to offer you short, simple stories and tales that will help you to forget for a moment the stresses of the world, from others, as well as your own.

Dear reader, the purpose of these tales is to take you back to experiences that, due to the demands of modern life, are most of the time pushed to the back of the mind.

Deliberate efforts have been made for the positive impacts of this book to be as close to our real lives as possible: the fears, all sorts of temptations, including the burdens of daily life that hang over our shoulders. There is always this quiet inner voice that does not leave us at peace.

To sum it up, there are so many underlying mental processes that contribute to the “rot” in our lives.

Fortunately, there are many positive illustrations for giving the mind a state of calm and tranquility, and which have enabled us to better understand these processes that otherwise would tear us apart.

*******

The 69 short stories in this book have been divided into seven topics for you to reflect upon as you go to sleep. At the same time, they act as an appropriate safety valve in our lives:

- Impartiality: these stories bring out the power of observation in us, our ability to look at our inner selves and our own actions, with the aim of gradually establishing a sense of freedom in our lives.

- Patience: this is a necessary virtue to embrace if we wish to achieve inner well-being and tranquility.

- Fresh mind: ways to help you adapt to the pressures of life and to develop a mindset that can help you accept all manner of life’s challenges.

- Confidence: confidence and self-respect are indispensable characteristics to help you rediscover your inner self beyond the views and opinions of others.

- No effort, no expectations: We spend our daily lives struggling against the realities of the world. We have our “demands”, which we go to great lengths to achieve. Are there no other ways of finding happiness?

- Acceptance: our minds twist reality to make it conform to what we desire. Indeed, we always reject those things that are not in line with our desires.

- Thinking and letting go: this is about accepting the fact that our minds and feelings are ever-conscious as we pursue our daily activities. It would be possible for us to reduce our burdens once we accept this reality.

*******

These topics are the seven pillars that help us to achieve a more comfortable and compassionate life. This fact about “compassion” is very fundamental, given that it operates as a sort of a release button to our inner selves and gives us the opportunity to escape from the hassles that make us worry and suffer. That is the power of Compassion.

These tales are anchored on wise sayings that have been in existence for ages. They have survived over the centuries, and this has given them a universal nature. On the one hand, they make a lot of sense, and on the other, they bring out in us a keen sense of observation.

The intention is that they should bring into the open the spontaneous actions that have a negative impact on our sleep and affect our daily lives. We can then deal with these factors once we become conscious of their existence. The first step is to carefully read the stories, right before going to sleep.

To get the most out of this book, it is strongly recommended that you read only one story per night, as you prepare to go to bed.

The question is: why just before going to bed? Well, it is at this time that your mind is best poised and suited to fully internalize the stories. They may appear ordinary, but their ability to transform your mind should not be under-estimated.

After reading one story at night, it would be important to give it time to develop within you. They are certainly very easy to understand, but they have in them very deep messages that unravel in you bit by bit. That is where the secret lies, the magic of Compassion: these tales will leave an impression, become real and capture your minds even when you are asleep. It is a slow, progressive and continuous process of infusion and development.

It would thus be important to fully internalize these stories. You should not be in a hurry to go on to the next story, it would be wise to exercise patience and proceed in a systematic manner. You can also expeditiously read the book over and over several times. You could equally refer back to a story that particularly touched your senses more than the rest (after completing the first reading of the entire book). I wish you happy reading! May these tales bring you good health, peace, and expose in the open the hidden obstacles in your inner selves.

| 1 |

| LIVING YOUR FEELINGS |

IMPARTIALITY

“The wise come up with new ideas,

fools spread them”.

Heinrich Heine

A long time ago a certain wise man decided to confine himself in a cave, and vowed not come out until he had completely managed to control his feelings. People would look at him from afar and admire him, even though they considered him to be a sort of a hermit-saint.

Several years later, all alone in the cave and spending the better part of his time meditating, he finally managed to completely control his feelings. Indeed, his separation from the real world was so total that he did not have any feelings at all by the end of his life. He had even practically forgotten his own name.

He felt proud that he had achieved his aim, believing that he had lived a saintly life, and also that he had discovered the secret of wisdom.

However, on his deathbed in the cave, his mind was flooded with a lot of regrets: “There’s so much I haven’t done yet, so much joy that I’ve missed! Alas! It’s too late now”.

As he breathed his last, he finally understood that wisdom does not mean rejecting one’s feelings, but rather acknowledging and being conscious of them as well.

Do you live your feelings or do you spend your time chasing after life’s negative things?

| 2 |

| THE BUSY MAN |

THE VIRTUES OF PATIENCE

“Steadfast calm, availability at all timesl,

multiple interests, are all true masters of the moment, given that they can take a back seat, through the use of

humor”.

Jean-Louis Servan-Schreiber

An old man is taking a stroll along the corridors of an old people’s home, with the aid of a walking stick: he stops by a clock and takes a deep breath in desperation. When he was younger, he was an energetic businessman with extremely busy schedules. He was constantly on the move, ever coming up with one development project after the other. His business too kept evolving. It was impossible for him to stop for even one minute, he was always busy. Hardly had he completed a project than the next was ready to be launched. He was ever engaged on some activity, or attending a meeting somewhere. One day he was on a visit abroad, the next conquering a market somewhere else. Never a minute’s pause to take a breather. His lifestyle was a constant flow of passionate and innovative activities.

He is now 87 years old and lives in an old people’s home. He spends his time wandering along the corridors, tormented and with nothing anymore to keep him busy. It is an agonizing wait…. He feels depressed with no businesses to manage; his active life is in the past, and he cannot bear the situation. He feels lost and disoriented.

— Did I overwork myself too much and forgot to learn to be patient and nurture it…

The world today is constantly pushing us to always be busy doing something. Patience, however, is an open door towards simply being alive: a life of relaxation without anxieties.

| 3 |

| THE INSOMNIAC |

THE VIRTUES OF PATIENCE

“Sleep is the only friend

that does not respond when called”.

Diane de Beausacq

— Doctor, I’m no longer able to go to sleep…., declares a young lady.

— Is that so? For how long has this been going on?

— It started a few months ago…. But for the last two weeks I’ve been able to fall asleep at best for two hours only.

The doctor looks at her and asks:

— Have you gone through some experience that might explain these bouts of insomnia?

— No, not really. I am naturally a stressed person with a very agitated lifestyle. For me that’s normal… I’ve not had any experience that has disrupted my lifestyle…

— Close your eyes. We are going to try and enact what happens when you sleep. Tell me what’s going on in your mind…

— Umm… I’m thinking about my day tomorrow and what I’ll need to do…. Then I tell myself: “Well, you need to sleep now”.

— And then?

— And then, nothing…. I see the minutes, then the hours pass by.

— What do you tell yourself?

— The thoughts that come to my mind are: “Hey! I have to fall asleep!” she replied in exasperation.

— Fine. This is what you shall do tonight, said the doctor.

That evening the young lady stands in front of her bed and ponders:

— Alright. No medicine…. Just a sentence to repeat….. Given my situation, I think it would be best to follows the doctor’s orders.

She lies on the bed and covers herself. She sets the alarm and starts, in a slow and low tone, to repeat to herself:

— I have decided to invite sleep.

Twenty minutes later, she was fast asleep with her fists clenched together.

It is easy to avoid falling into the trap of impatience by replacing attitudes of “I must” and “I should” in our lives by an attitude of good-will towards ourselves.