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Namaste. "Say it again."

2/5/2014

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Here's a fabulous video explaining the meaning of Namaste from maybe an unlikely figure: Click

Not only does Bobby have some God in him, so do you. And so too does the person nearest to you, as well as the person farthest from you. We all do. We usually just don't realize it. 

As an aside: by God I mean something that truly can't be expressed adequately in words, but never the less is that which is infinite, eternal and inherently perfect. God is the non-physical essence that permeates all things. It is the absolute Truth, as compared to the relative truth. 

What would make you happier than to know that you've gotta a little God in you? 

And I don't mean "know it" in an intellectual sense. I mean it in a "feel it resonate so deeply that you have less than no doubt." 

That'd be some pretty good stuff, wouldn't it?

You can feel exhilaration beyond words, completeness so profound effort and desire dissolve into joy. 

And this experience can be yours at any moment, like right now. That would be through grace. Maybe it's your time, you're fated to become illumined right about now. Wouldn't that be cool? Hey, just don't rule it out. 

You can also pursue it. All upward paths lead to the same mountain top. I'll tell you about one, which is not by any means to exclude others. 

If I told you that the God in you, the inherent perfection, the bliss and indescribably awesome aspect of existence comes as a whisper from your heart and all you have to do is quiet your shouting mind, could you do it?

Just because you can't do it now, at the drop of a hat, summon it any moment you choose, doesn't mean you can't learn to do it systematically. Enter: Raja Yoga. 

Raja Yoga is an 8 step system for realizing that you've got a little God in you and for realizing that Bobby does, too. It's so old you'd have to agree that it's a discovery, not an invention. Like gravity. It works. It just does. 

Here's a link to an explanation of Raja Yoga from one of the indisputable masters of recent times: Click. 

One read through is definitely not enough. But suffice it to say, it'll put you in the ball park. Just do that, follow the 8 steps, one by one, in order. Don't stop at 3 or 7. Try to reach all the way to 8. 

All I can say it that I've dipped my toes in step 7 by following steps 1 thru 6 and not even to the letter. That has been sufficient to remove all of my doubts, to know the real Truth, apart from the relative truth about myself, and you and this experience. I can only imagine what the rest of step 7 and any part of step 8 are like. Holy cow! 

I'm really looking forward to very old age when perhaps my body won't want to move around quite so much. Because with the body still, all there is left to still is the mind. And I'm pretty sure I've been taught how to do that. If you'd like to come over to Bhakti Yoga Lounge for my 3, 4, 7 Intro to Meditation class, or the new 3, 4, 7, Deeper class, it'd be my pleasure to show you what I've been shown that has been so beneficial to me. 

Yoga chitta vritti nirodha

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Values: the key to contentment

4/28/2013

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Values are what matter most in life.

They are the notches on the yardstick we use to measure the success of our own lives.

When our lives reflect our values, we experience contentment. When our lives and our values are in conflict we experience stress, or even distress if they’re far out of alignment.

We don’t think about our values in day-to-day life. They can seem abstract, whereas ordinary life is usually practical. But that doesn’t mean that we should lose sight of them.

Have you ever gone through the process of identifying your individual values in order of importance?

Awareness always precedes effective action. In order to create greater harmony between your life and your values, you first have to be aware of your values. 

If you are already keenly aware of what matters most to you, have you successfully incorporated those values into your daily life?

In the quest for greater contentment the aim of action is to fill your time with valuable experiences. Because a life that embodies your values generates massive contentment.

To achieve that you must first be aware of how your time is used now. 
Then you can compare that to your most authentic life, the ideal life that enables full expression of your values. Knowledge of how your reality and your ideal differ enables you to consider practical ways to close the gap. Finally, you can act on your insights with a plan to begin making the necessary changes to increase your quality of life.

I have created a Values Hierarchy Exercise (VHE) out of my research and experience to serve as a guide for this whole process. I’ve used it several times and it’s invaluable for illuminating those deeper aspects of quality of life. I recently revised it into the Values Hierarchy Exercise 
– Expanded Edition to make it an easy to use tool for you to use, too.
When you complete this exercise, allow your mind to be free of limitations and acknowledge the importance of your feelings. The VHE is an exercise of becoming reacquainted with your deepest self. Don’t hold back. Be honest. Be thorough. Be excited about your future. 
The PATH² Values Hierarchy Exercise – Expanded Edition
File Size: 104 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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BODY – MIND – SPIRIT

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One Love

4/17/2013

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We were made to love. To want and need to give and receive it. 

Love is an infinitely renewable resource. Giving love produces love. Receiving love produces love. 

Love, as opposed to lust, is also a feeling of connection. It's gratitude for the existence of someone or something. And it's the source of a selfless wish that all will be well. 

Only when we lose the love of ourselves can we begin to hate each other. Love is lost to ignorance of our inherent perfection and unity in life. 

Try hard to nurture love whenever it can be found like an ember you can delicately coax into a flame that will grow into a warming glow for everyone to gather around. 

Strive to periodically return to the peaceful stillness underneath your thoughts and actions where love waits to refresh your spirit. 

Be curious about yourself, the world and the people you share it with and you'll invariably discover something that pulls on your heart strings. 

Try to lose your sense of individual self by doing something altruistic, however big or small, and you'll find the great connection among us all. 

However it speaks to you, act upon "A five-word sentence that could change the world tomorrow [which] is 'What would love do now?'"  – Neale Donald Walsch

Read the classic, The Art of Loving, by Psychologist Erich Fromme for an insightful description of the history and variety of the greatest human emotion and how to cultivate it to enrich your life and the world. 

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BODY – MIND – SPIRIT

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Top 5 positive actions to increase your happiness

3/27/2013

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"The pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal." The United Nations

From The Happy Planet Index

  1. Connect with loved ones. Spending time sharing in other people's lives and allowing them to share in yours satisfies our innate human need for positive social interaction. 
  2. Be physically active, especially outdoors. Fresh air and vigorous movement rejuvenates the body and releases hormones that improve mood. 
  3. Notice. Heightening your awareness of the present moment helps draws your attention to the numerous little blessings you're graced with that otherwise go overlooked.
  4. Keep learning. Do this all life long. There's strong evidence that curiosity, not even necessarily formal learning, helps maintain mental health, particularly as we age. 
  5. Give. Altruism in all its forms - thoughts, words and actions - is pound-for-pound the greatest investment you can make in your happiness. Read my recent post about all the benefits here.

Do you like to be happy? Would you like to live in a happier world? Then join the tribe that's ushering in that new reality. 
And . . .

Watch Nic Mark’s TED talk about the Happy Planet Index and why it's advancing the movement to replace Gross Domestic Product with Gross National Happiness as the standard by which our nations set development policy and judge progress. 

Read the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's remarks about the urgent need to replace our singularly economic standard of development and progress with a humanitarian standard that acknowledges the basic human need and desire to love the lives we live. 

Follow The PATH² to attaining total health and happiness. 

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Nothing rewards greater than selfless service

3/24/2013

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We all know that it’s important to help others. But perhaps you aren’t aware of how good helping others can be for you.

First of all, the kind of behavior I’m referring to isn’t just any kind that happens to benefit someone else; it’s called altruism. Altruistic behavior is characterized by a person’s intent to perform an act designed to benefit someone or something other than him or her self. You can also call it selfless service, volunteerism, or karma yoga if you like.

Performing random (or planned) acts of kindness is good for or a variety of reasons, some of them perhaps surprising. 

Broadly speaking, selfless service increases quality of life across the board. Sociologists found that volunteer work enhances six aspects of personal wellbeing: happiness, life satisfaction, self-esteem, sense of control over life, physical health and depression.

Here’s a review of 20 years of scientific research showing that altruistic behavior produces health benefits (click).

Basically, our brains are designed and built to enjoy helping others. Neuroscientists found an old (by evolutionary standards) pleasure center in the brain that makes us feel physically good to do something unexpected and kind for someone else. In fact, it's the same part of the brain activated by food and sex! 

Selfless service also satisfies our craving for positive social interaction. However great or small, the recognition we receive upon carrying out an act of kindness increases our feeling of connectedness. The UN surveyed the effects of volunteerism on global society and concluded, “Our own well-being is intrinsically linked to what we contribute to the lives of others.” (You should read Chapter 8 of the report.) 

Altruism is how we act upon the intuition that somehow we’re all part of the same team. Interestingly, giving aid can be even more beneficial than receiving it. In this way, life was designed to be a win-win situation.

People who spend some of their time selflessly giving to others are more likely to report being happy. 

Try the giving experiment for yourself. Maybe start small. Put a few quarters in someone’s expired parking meter or let someone go in front of you when both of your cars are tied at stop signs. Even a smile and a sweet thought to a passing stranger counts, “I hope you feel loved today.” Or just go big. Donate your hair to Locks of Love or offer to babysit for a veteran so he or she can have a fun night out. Here are some other ideas from RandomActsofKindness.org. 

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” 
  – Franklin D. Roosevelt    

Body – Mind – Spirit 

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Make big decisions with your heart and have your mind manifest them – the world may say you’re crazy, but it’s the only way to fulfillment

3/11/2013

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Fulfillment is a state we experience when our heart's desires are met. Aligning our minds with our hearts produces deep satisfaction because we’re devoting our lives to shaping the world in the image of what we cherish

The heart and the mind are complementary parts of a system that can create a life full of contentment. Like the story of a lame man and a blind man helping each other cross a busy road, the heart can see the way to fulfillment and the mind can take you there. The heart needs the mind to manifest its vision and the mind needs the heart to intelligently guide its efforts.

Search your heart for the answer to the following question: What matters most to you? 

I’ve posted the Values Hierarchy Exercise on the Downloads page to help you answer this. You can also directly download it by clicking here.  

Only you can answer this question, because your values are just that – yours. However, the company you keep and those who know you best can help you answer the next question you must ask yourself – what talents and skills do you have? Ability is largely objective and by asking the opinion of those you respect and those who know you well you, a picture of your individual talents and skills should begin to emerge. Your talents and skills reflect your capacity to manifest your heart's vision.  

Next, reflect on how you routinely spend your time in light of the previous questions.

If there’s a disparity between the things you value most and the amount of time you devote to them, your heart and your mind aren’t working together as closely as they could be. If this is the case, the upside is that your quality of life can get better than it already is.

BODY – MIND – SPIRIT

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Align what matters most with what you do the most

1/28/2013

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We've all heard it said; do what you love and you'll never work another day in your life. But for some of us, that's just not an option. There is a way to get closer to that ideal though, and it's by simply reflecting on our values. When what matters most to us aligns with what we spend our time on, the result is deep-seated satisfaction. Conversely, when that equation isn't balanced, the result is not just stress, but distress.

Everyone has values- the things that matter most- whether they’re aware of them or not. To create a satisfying life we first have to know what our values are so that we can make choices that are aligned with them. This goes for the big choices made in a whole lifetime and also for the countless small ones that are made on a day-to-day basis.

How we typically feel in the first and last moments of the day are indicators of how well we’re living and how happy we are. By paying attention to those quiet times and the insights they reveal we can have a greater understanding of what we value the most, and then implement those values to create our ideal lives. 


BODY – MIND – SPIRIT 
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Awareness is your greatest tool – developing it should be your #1 priority

1/27/2013

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When Socrates said, “Know thyself”, he was giving us some pretty important advice: to develop our awareness. 

If life is a river then awareness resides up near the headwaters. It flows downstream touching everything in its path until it becomes apparent that its influence is everywhere. Well, the benefits seem pretty clear: in developing better awareness we increase the possibility of influencing our lives in positive ways. 

Awareness is limited only by perception. There’s not much we can do to develop our perception. At best we can only slow the deterioration of our sensory perception organs.

However, awareness can be cultivated through practice. It’s easiest to begin strengthening physical awareness, by focusing physical effort in the body through an activity like choreographed dance, rock climbing, yoga etc. The list is endless, because there's no one exercise better than the other; the aim is just to find a physical activity and then stick with it.   

Once physical awareness has been attained, its benefit can then be applied to the mind where the effects of increased awareness are truly revealed.

It’s impossible to consciously respond to or influence what we aren't even aware of. Before we are able to enact change in our lives we must first be able to identify what's in front of us and whether or not it is really what we want. Awareness is the tool with which we will create the lives and environments of our dreams.


BODY – MIND – SPIRIT 
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Find your genius – there are many kinds and everyone has it

1/14/2013

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Everyone is a genius.

Every single baby lying in the newborn ward at the hospital has the potential to be absolutely amazing. 

There are many different types of genius: musical, social, mathematical, athletic, spiritual, etc. 

Do you know what your genius is?

If not, why not try to find out what it is? How's that for a raison d'être?

Once you know what your genius is -- and you'll know when you find it not so much in your head, intellectually, but more so in your heart, intuitively -- why not focus on trying to develop it?

Is there a more purposeful existence than expressing your genius, the unique gift you have been given? 

BODY – MIND – SPIRIT 

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Why this blog?

1/14/2012

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I have a wealth of excellent health information that has changed my life for the better and I feel obligated to share it with you.

That’s the short answer to "Why this blog?" 


I think you might want it because many of us have been infected by the same thing: Americanitis. We are living longer than ever with more problems than ever. This information can help us create solutions.

Here's my journey to The 
PATH²:

I stumbled into an interest in physical health and fitness. Since I was a little boy I always was athletic and played sports. Then I started lifting weights in high school. I read muscle magazines and noticed the ads for nutritional supplements and constant mention of diet in the articles. That's when I put together the two foundation pieces of physical health: exercise and nutrition. 

Around the same time, I heard my first mention of meditation. It was from a book about a man, Tom Browne, and his experiences training Navy SEALs in focus and pain management. He claimed and apparently proved that mind rules over matter by stabbing a sharpened bicycle spoke into his forearm without a whimper, grimace or drop of blood. I thought that was some real life superhero stuff. 

When I was in law school I came across the idea that there should be some sort of formula for attaining total health and happiness after noticing its opposite every day. I was struck by how worn down and unhealthy a lot of the older folks around, the teachers, lawyers, and judges looked. Their complexions were an unhealthy beige-ish grey color. Their eyes were dull and milky white, not shiny and clear. I connected the dots and figured that whatever happened to these people would probably happen to all of us who chose to follow in their footsteps and establish our law practices. That scared  me and it influenced my decision to not practice law after graduation. 

I found yoga stretching and breathing as an antidote to my toxic form of Americanitis. After spending all day working at a desk my back would ache and my eyes would burn. I noticed numbness developing in my left hand from typing and writing. 

Yoga changed all that. The stretching and breathing practice felt like self-massage. It resolved my back and wrist pain. I also received unexpected mental and emotional benefits. I could focus sharper and longer. My negative emotions were more temperate. While preparing for and taking the three day California Bar Exam, I felt very little stress. 


After the Bar Exam I reflected and realized that yoga improves my mind similar to how exercise and nutrition betters my body. I also theorized that there might be information on how to develop and potentially master all the aspects of my being. That led me to study yoga, diet and exercise with new vigor and to search for other ideas on pursuing and attaining a state of total health and happiness. 

My research revealed a thread of knowledge beginning with oral history and scriptures from ancient times and running through to present day news. It passed through many cultures and continents with people weaving in the insights gained from their experiences in a broad variety of disciplines.

I had taken to calling this collection of information The PATHH. The acronym stands for The Pursuit of Attaining Total Health and Happiness.  

As my research began doubling-back on itself I felt confident that I had mapped a substantial part of a Universal Blueprint for Total Health & Happiness. The knowledge I had discovered and collected was based on characteristics common to us all, such as the design of the physical body and the architecture of the mind. The ways we implement it accounts for our differences. 


I recognized an immediate need for this information and felt obligated to share it. The internet is the perfect tool to do it. This website, www.pathh.com, is my initial effort to give you clear explanations and practical applications of the art and science of developing and mastering your body, mind and spirit. 

I hope you will use it to create the life you love so you love the life you live. 

BODY + MIND + SPIRIT = YOU
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