Brainstorming

CURIOUS SELF: “What is brainstorming? How to have a good brainstorming session? What is the importance of brainstorming in our lives? How often should I brainstorm?”

Many a times new ideas will arise in our mind. Imagination and creativity will operate at its peak levels. Inner callings will speak to us. We may get some signs from the universe. New unexpected doors will open up randomly. We may meet someone by serendipity. Many of these moments are low energy intensity and its effects might probably go away the next day. We may never ponder over it again or give it a second thought. The hustle and bustle of life will get us busy and the opportunity of exploration of something new and exciting will be lost forever. Maybe a few months later we might re-visit it again. Probably let it go or pass by again. What happened here? The unknown had power over us. The uncertainty and risk associated with exploration of something new made us to ignore something vital. The feelings of possible failures or rejections become an unseen barrier.

During my undergraduate study one of the professors taught us how to brainstorm. He took a black-board duster and asked all the students to come up with ideas for which we could put this duster to use. In the first couple of minutes we came up with about 5 or 10 simple ideas, however at the end of the class we had brainstormed about 100 practical applications for the duster. The process for us was not to evaluate any of the ideas and not to refute any other ideas. Just keep building on the ideas without evaluation, analysis or speculating possible outcomes of failure. It was a different experience and a new way of exploring things uninhibitedly. Because normally the moment we get an idea or something new arrives into our lives we naturally tend to evaluate its feasibility of success. That’s how we have been trained from childhood. The analytical thinking of the mind takes over very quickly even before a through brainstorm has been accomplished. 

Let’s distinguish between brainstorming and being stuck with something that has gone into an infinite loop inside our mind. If we are struggling with something, trying to fix something, trying to avoid a situation, trying to plot against someone, trying to escape our responsibilities, trying to take a short-cut in life, trying to impress someone, trying to get ahead before our time, then it’s not brainstorming. Also, if we are casually discussing something with our friends or thinking out loud it’s probably not brainstorming either. Needless to say, if we blindly accept or get influenced by what the media, society, speakers, gurus, experts, groups, organizations and religions tell us then it’s not brainstorming. Criticizing someone else’s ideas is also counter-productive to our own brainstorming skills. We may disagree with someone and communicate our disagreement to them gently. However, refraining ourselves from being critical is wise. Another thing we have to keep in mind is to not use brainstorming or over-analyzing a particular situation as an excuse for not taking appropriate action. Sometimes taking action is a form of brainstorming in itself and acts as a building block in the process. It’s always good to write down our ideas or voice record our thoughts, so that we can keep a log for future references. In groups settings, we can set aside time for brainstorming with no prior defined agenda, just a half hour slot to brainstorm. If our group is getting too off-course then we can create a high level intention for the brainstorming session.

Finally, the most important thing is to accept and embrace the output of our brainstorm. If it takes us to new and beautiful destinations then we give ourselves credit for it. If it makes us worse off than we were before, then we have to learn to forgive ourselves for taking the risk. If we realize that we need more time then we allow ourselves to be patient, relaxed and give ourselves a break and get to it tomorrow. In life, all we have is our mind, our intentions and our ability to put our mind and intentions to good use. And of course we should keep doing the things we love to do. The process of Meditation is like brainstorming with our Higher Self. When we relax our minds we get many many great ideas and solutions occur to us very easily. The more we practice our Meditation Routine, the more we are willing to understand other peoples perspectives and we can create win-win situations in our lives.

HIGHER SELF: “I love brainstorming with my team at work on different solutions to be more effective. We build on each others ideas and our creativity is at it's best during our brainstorming sessions. We start with 15 min Silent Meditation before our brainstorming session, so that our minds are relaxed and centered. I also brainstorm with one of my very good friends on health and wellness. We encourage each other to maintain a balanced healthy diet and exercise regularly. We support each other and hold each other accountable towards are Physical Well-being. I love brainstorming with my parents on Social Work initiatives and we create many projects that benefit orphan children and help the underprivileged. Meditation and Brainstorming are complimentary and regular practice helps with creating balance with Physical Well-Being, Emotional Well-Being, Financial Well-Being and Spiritual Well-Being. We Love Meditation.”

Being Locked Out

I was sitting on my couch relaxing and then I suddenly heard my next door neighbor knocking on his door, calling out loudly for his wife. It went on for a few minutes and then I stepped outside to see what was going on. He said he forgot his keys and his wife was indoors, but for some reason she was not opening the door. I suggested for him to go to the club house security and get himself the spare set of emergency keys, to allow himself inside his house, rather than being locked out. Apparently he did not want to do that and started knocking at his door again. Then I offered him my chair, to sit down in the passage way, while he waited for his wife to open the door. He smiled, became very happy and thanked me for the chair. He was silent for a while, so after 10 minutes I peeped out of my door peephole to spy on him. He was still sitting on the chair, he looked very bored and restless, seemed like he had given himself a self-inflicted punishment, nevertheless, he waited for about 20 more minutes, finally he gave up on waiting and decided to accept my suggestion. He knocked at my door, returned my chair and went to get help from the club house security officer.

Now, how often does something similar happen to us. I would say being locked out happens to all of us, sometime or another. Not out of the house I mean, but out of the things that are important to us. We get locked out of a friendship, we get locked out of a relationship, we get locked out of a job promotion, we get locked out of our family, we get locked out of a healthy habit, we get locked out of our spiritual growth, we get locked out of our business, we get locked out of our luck, we get locked out of being loved and so on so forth. And generally what is our response to that, we keep knocking at the door, keep waiting, get bored and restless and in many cases eventually start to develop resentment, anger and hatred towards the world and those around us. Sometime luckily we may find a friend or neighbor to lend a helping hand or a chair to rest for a while, but that does not quite guarantee for the door to open, does it?

Needless to say, when being locked out, the best thing to do, is to seek help from those in position to make a difference. So, how to ensure that the help we are receiving is genuine and will work? The first thing to check is, if the person providing us the help is doing that for everyone else too, or just making an exception for us. If they are making an exception especially for us, is that because we are their trusted loved one and have developed a strong friendship with them from before, or are they looking to exploit our situation. Of course, when we are locked out, there is not much time to evaluate everything that may seem promising to change our situation, however, doing the proper due diligence is prudent, as it has been said many a times before, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.

The next thing to do, is to make sure that we actually follow the directions on what has been recommended to us. Often times, if the recommendation does not make sense or does not feel comfortable, then it is either completely ignored or performed incorrectly. Most likely, we will still be locked out and when that happens, the initial trust towards the process is abandoned, and the familiar knocking at the door is resumed, in the hopes of the door getting opened up on it's own. At times, the door might just open up and the case is closed, however, the next time we get locked out, the expectation will be to keep knocking at the door vehemently, until it opens on its own and this time the outcome might be a very long and painful wait.

Instead, once we get the keys to the door, then no matter how many times we get locked out, we can get ourselves back in effortlessly and at will. No door will dictate our emotional state of being and we will have the freedom to be on either side of the door, on our terms and timetable. Let us use the occasion of being locked out to find ourselves the keys and develop the skills we need in order to have power in our own hands. The abilities we develop while being locked out will be with us forever and no one will be able to take that away from us. Look at being locked out, as an opportunity to learn, explore and master areas of our life that we are struggling with and let go of all the inner resistance. Meditation helps in finding the keys and solutions to open all doors. Let us practice daily Meditation Routine to become the master key of our own life. We Love Meditation.

Our Different Selves

Today we start our journey together towards creating our future that is abundant, fulfilling and precious. Every day is a new beginning and gives us the opportunity to start afresh our life in the most optimistic possible fashion. In order to make our life fulfilling we have to learn how to create balance and well-being in four core areas of our life. When our Physical Well-Being, Emotional Well-Being, Financial Well-Being and Spiritual Well-Being reaches a state of balance and harmony, it is then that we achieve inner fulfillment, inner peace and inner joy. With all the information and resources available to us in abundance we have to wonder why we are still struggling to create what we know to be desirable and move away from what we know to be undesirable. As we keep exploring ourselves we find that many things hold us back and we have to find antidotes and solutions to overcome our limitations. As we continue our inner struggle to best express and implement our ideas we find that there are many obstacles in our path and we have to learn how to leap over our hurdles. As we focus on gaining a deeper understanding of various aspects of our life we undergo the process of self-discovery. We will now set the highest intention of being the best that we can be. Our focus must be to hone our skills in all areas of our life so that we can create and maintain our overall well-being. In order to develop new skills we have to first understand our inner dialog and who we are being with respect to specific topics, events, people and organizations. And as we understand ourselves more deeply we finally reach to a point where we have to make our choices and never to look back again. Choice is the point where we begin to define who we are. We choose who we are to be. We become who we are because of our choices. This is our greatest gift and we are all responsible for all the choices we make in our life. So let us choose wisely and let us become the best version of who we can be. Let us design our path to reach to the destination of ultimate fulfillment.

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HIGHER SELF: The eternal quest for the meaning and purpose of our life always strives to reach the state of balance and harmony among the four core areas of our life. Some of us call it enlightenment, some of us call it nirvana, some of us call it freedom, some of us call it divine grace, some of us call it bliss and some of us call it being one with the universe. We feel great when we are flowing in the direction of abundance and prosperity. We feel amazing when our passion and actions are in alignment while we stride towards our goals and vision. We feel great when our manifestations are effortless and all seems to be happening automatically. We feel connected with everyone and all become part of our family, while we look for ways to contribute towards the great good of all. We create new ideas for abundance, prosperity and success. We set new goals and regularly achieve our milestones. We learn to open ourselves to embrace positive feelings of compassion, gratitude and belongingness. We call this high state of being our HIGHER SELF.

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WEAKER SELF: In our day to day life we have many responsibilities and several goals that keep us busy. Many of us have mastered several aspects of our life. Some of us are wealthy, some of us are highly educated, some of us are very healthy and some of us have amazing relationships. However, if we are unfulfilled in any one area of our life then we feel something is missing and there is a constant inner struggle to reach our Higher Self. This state of un-fulfillment can be due to negative thought patterns, lack of correct knowledge, our current lifestyle choices, unhealthy patters of behavior or less practice of right techniques. This state can also be caused because of unrealistic expectation, unhealthy food habits, stressful job environment, addictions towards tobacco, drugs or alcohol, financial worries, negative attitude towards life or lack of proper exercise and physical activities. We call this lower state of being our WEAKER SELF.

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CURIOUS SELF: Many times we have questions about how things work. Just like children we too are always interested in new discoveries and ways of enhancing our existing ways of doing things. We ask questions, we brainstorm and we debate. Sometimes we argue and fight over our points-of-view. We are always inquisitive about new ideas. We also encourage others to learn new things. Discovering new answers to existing questions and finding innovative answers to complex questions is all part of our curious nature. The more curious we are, the more we learn about life and about ourselves. Sooner or later all our questions get answered and we move on to new and more difficult questions. This state of curiosity ensures our continuous growth and the evolution of our species. We call this state of being our CURIOUS SELF.

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LIGHTER SELF: Humor allows us to feel great even when we are under tremendous stress. Imagine we all are in attendance at a spiritual retreat. Some of us are seeking self-discovery while some of us are trying to forget what we have discovered about ourselves. Everyone is meditating and busy attempting to let go of their past failures and regrets. It’s time to share our individual experiences. One old lady in her eighties starts to share. “I was a faithful and devoted wife to my husband for about 60 long years. We got married in our early twenties. My beloved husband passed away last week leaving me all alone to live out the rest of my life in solitude. During our Letting-Go Meditation I realized that I do not miss my husband at all. This letting go of the past stuff is quite powerful indeed. I think I will start dating again. Next time my grand-daughter goes for one of those speed dating events I will join her. I am wondering if I should also sign-up for the love and intimacy courses.” Then one elderly gentleman in his eighties responds. “I too got married when we were in our twenties. My wife is not very spiritual. She only likes to smoke pot and loves to complain all the time. I did not divorce her because I truly believed in my heart that one day she would choose good habits. During our Self-Discovery Meditation I realized I have been wasting my precious time over a lost cause. This self-discovery stuff is quite powerful indeed. Will you go out with me if I dumped my wife tonight? We can sign-up for the love and intimacy courses together and get the couples discount along with the senior citizen discount.” Being easy going and taking things lightly helps us in enjoying our life even when things around us seem tough. Let us get serious about lightening up and having fun. We call this state of being our LIGHTER SELF.

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ROMANTIC SELF: No matter what anyone says, everyone on this planet wants to be in love. Many of us have experienced break-ups, divorces, disagreements, fights, emotional stress, anger, loss of a loved one, betrayal, separations, cheating, manipulation or loss of faith. All the pain is real and healing in needed to recover. These things could happen again. However, we all still want to be in love and find true intimacy. Many of us have demanding jobs, travel for work, family responsibility, health concerns, financial burdens, tough circumstances, lack of opportunity, etc. All this takes away our energy, leaves us tried and stressful, makes us feel that we are at the effect of life and sometimes makes us want to quit and give up. However, we all still want to be in love and find true intimacy. Many of us are addicted to smoking, gambling, pornography, alcohol, over-eating, sugar, medications, drugs, adultery, television, electronic devices, online websites, etc. It is challenging to break these addictions in order to create healthy Love Relationships. However, we all still want to be in love and find true intimacy. Creating the opportunity for love to enter into our life is one of the most important skills to learn. We call this state of being our ROMANTIC SELF.

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CURRENT SELF: We are all working towards our ideal lifestyle. Where we are today is our current state of being that includes the cumulative sum of all our existing skills sets and ways of doing things. Our habits are caused by repetitions of what we do in order to accomplish our tasks. As we learn new skills our current lifestyle enhances, creating improved opportunities in our life. And as we get accustomed to mastering our new skills to the point it becomes easy and second nature to us, our current state of being reaches to a new higher level. Our current state of being is always under transformation as we learn new things, meet new people and take on new projects. We call this state of being our CURRENT SELF.

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TRANSFORMING SELF: Where we are today in our life is the cumulative results of all our past actions, thoughts, feelings, accomplishments and desires. Our purpose and mission in life is to build real life practical skills in order to create the necessary balance and harmony needed to overcome our inner struggles and achieve our Higher Self. As we learn new skills we get stronger and confident, our awareness increases and we get more clarity about life. Everyone has a different path nevertheless our destination is the same. We all want to experience the best that life has to offer us and we want to be the best possible version of who we can be. Once we reach our Higher Self then life becomes easy and manifesting our desires becomes effortless. We indeed become one with the universe and start to live our life with fulfillment. The process of enhancing our Weaker Self in order for our Current Self to reach to our Higher Self is the transformation that all of us must undergo in order to create an amazing life worth living. This is how we can live our life with fulfillment and abundant joy. We call this state of being our TRANSFORMING SELF.

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MISERABLE SELF: Sometimes we feel disappointed that we were unable to achieve our goals. Sometimes our investment decisions cause us financial losses making us feel anger and fear. Sometime we feel regret over doing something that caused our loved ones pain and suffering. Sometimes we feel anguish over losing a loved one in a tragic accident. Sometimes we feel helpless to change our life circumstances and have to endure abuse from others. Sometimes we feel ashamed of our lack of accomplishments. Sometimes we are embarrassed about our overweight body. Sometimes we feel anxious when we are uncertain about the future. Sometimes we are waiting for someone to acknowledge us and we only get rejection. Sometimes we get deeply heart-broken after a Love Relationship breaks up. All of this makes us feel heavy inside and causes us to lose interest in things we enjoyed before. We feel we have tried everything and are at the mercy of our circumstances. We feel miserable, unhappy and depressed. We call this state of being our MISERABLE SELF.

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FRUSTRATED SELF: When things don’t go our way and our actions start to back-fire on us, when someone we care for very much does not appreciate our affection, when we are expecting something to happen and there are delays, when something is not getting done exactly the way we want it to happen, when we are anxiously waiting for an important phone call, when we are unable to reach our goals due to unforeseen hurdles, when we exercise regularly yet are unable to lose weight, when our flight gets delayed or canceled or when we are patiently teaching yet our students forget the basics. All of this causes us to feel very annoyed and frustrated. We call this state of being our FRUSTRATED SELF.

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ASSERTIVE SELF: When we are easily able to express our ideas and our feelings at work and in our relationships it feels very good. Being able to express our opinions diplomatically and professionally during conflict with other team-members in a constructive fashion is an important skill to hone. Being able to decline requests that are not in alignment with our goals and setting healthy boundaries is important towards being efficient and productive. We have to learn to be clear and specific when expressing our needs and goals since everyone is busy with their own tasks. We call this state of being our ASSERTIVE SELF.

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Meditation is Fun

WEAKER-SELF: “I am unable to reach a state of thoughtlessness and so I don’ think I am meditating the right way. I am too young for meditation. I can’t sit still for even a few minutes. I tired meditation and it’s very boring. I don’t see the point in doing nothing and just being quite. I don’t have time for meditation. I get distracted easily. I have more important things to do in my life. I have never done meditation before. I will meditate after retirement. I want to enjoy my life now.”

In order to live happy and fulfilled lives we must understand how to create Spiritual Well-Being within us and around us. The first step is to empty our minds by regular Meditation Practice and reach to a point where limited beliefs that hold us back are more visible to us. These are called blind-spots or auto-responses or weaker-self. Meditation increases our awareness of everything that goes on inside us and we become more aware of our surroundings, our bodies, our thoughts and our feelings. Once we identify one blind-spot we have to look for an antidote or solution to neutralize it. Let me share one of my Spiritual blind-spots and how I neutralized it. My weaker-self used to say “Meditation is boring and unproductive.” When I initially read about Meditation and attended a few courses on Meditation, even though I felt good, I did not regularly practice Meditation and sometimes skipped the Meditation Sessions due to laziness. I really could not find a Meditation Technique that resonated with me and made me feel that I was doing something productive. I had to work on this blind-spot to reach to where I am today. I created my own easy to follow Meditation Format and also taught one of my friends how to lead the Meditation Sessions. Basically we play online Meditation Music and in the beginning of the Meditation Session we have a few scripted lines that are generic and easy to remember. Thus, I made Meditation fun and I feel I can teach anyone the scripted lines and they can lead Meditation Sessions too, so now I feel it is productive. I re-framed my weaker-self into my Higher-Self “Meditation is fun and I can teach anyone how to Meditate.” As we relax our mind more by Meditation and setting healthy reasonable goals for ourselves we begin to re-frame our blind-spots and weaker-self into our Higher-Self and start seeing positive results in our lives. We become more accepting of what is going on around us and this gives us power to create change and influence outcomes that are in the best interest of the human race. Our mind expands and we learn our role in the evolution process and our contributions become more meaningful. As we discover our purpose we also learn why other people's purpose may on the surface seem against the best interest of the human race, but infact, it is part of the entire cycle of evolution. As I taught Meditation I heard several objections from my friends. I soon realized that many of my friends had several misconceptions about Meditation and have yet to realize the value of having more control over their thoughts and feelings. I created some solutions for these objections and will share them with you.

HIGHER-SELF: “Time is equal for all of us. When we are clear about our priorities and set correct expectations with others then we are in control of our time. There are mainly two kinds of activities, time spent towards our goals and time spent towards relaxing and rejuvenating. So to increase efficiency, find plenty of ways to relax and rejuvenate and continuously learn new skills towards achieving our goals. Soon we all will have more time on our hands and we can teach others how to Meditate. Meditation is for all ages. Learning something new is kind of a Meditation. Relaxing with friends and family is kind of a Meditation. Going for a comedy movie is kind of a Meditation. Eating mindfully is kind of a Meditation. Basically any activity that is done with presence of mind is Meditation. Also, any activity that is relaxing and makes us feel good is Meditation. So whatever age we are, as long as we are more aware and happier we are in a state of Meditation. Meditation is being happy, productive and balanced. Meditation is the highly recommended way in which to relax, connect with our higher selves and grow spiritually. Finding a Meditation Group can help us with new Meditation Ideas and Techniques. Start with 5-10 min daily Meditation, gradually increasing to 30 min. Meditation is very powerful and guarantees spiritual fulfillment. We Love Meditation.”

Meditation Videos

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Types of Meditation Techniques - This video describes different types of Meditation Techniques:

            (1) Guided Meditation Techniques

            (2) Contemplation Meditation Techniques

            (3) Silent Meditation Techniques

            (4) Transcendental Meditation Techniques

            (5) Gratitude Meditation Techniques

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Too Busy For Meditation - This video highlights three main reasons why Beginner Meditation Practitioners may feel they are too busy to make time for their regular Meditation Practice.

            (1) Setting High Goals / Complicated Terms

            (2) Yet to Experience the Long Term Benefits

            (3) Still finding the right Meditation Routine and Rhythm

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Why do you need a Meditation Coach? - This video highlights some of the reasons why you need a Meditation Coach and how to recognize you have found the Right Meditation Coach for yourself.

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Fresh Air Transformation Meditation - This video describes Fresh Air Transformation Meditation and how we can help out with:

            (1) Quit Smoking

            (2) Air Pollution

            (3) Clean Fresh Air Intentions

            (4) Re-cycling

            (5) Atmosphere Cleanliness

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Excitement Meditation - This video describes how to focus more on Excitement during the Meditation Session if someone experiences the feeling of Boredom during Meditation.

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