Shakti Sutriasa
Embodying Well-Being Part IV

We are now at the last pillar of well-being which is defined as purpose.

Purpose has had a resurgence of interest in the past few years, and I confess to have done my fair share of contemplation with it!

Most inquiries around purpose seem to focus on action, as in what you do, how you do it and then show up in the world. But underneath that is another layer, isn’t there? It’s the motivation behind the action.

Here’s what I mean. If you think you are here to be helpful, of service, then you will choose a job to illustrate that belief.

Embodying Well-Being Part IV
Shakti Sutriasa
Experiencing Well-Being Part III

We’re already at the 3rd pillar of well-being!

As a quick review, the first two are:

1.Awareness

-Meaning, the ability to be more present, tuned into your here and now as well as to your mind chatter.

From Dr Davidson directly:

“Awareness: A heightened, flexible attentiveness to one’s environment and internal cues such as bodily sensations, thoughts, and feelings.

Skills: Mindfulness, attention, self-awareness”

Experiencing Well-Being Part III
Shakti Sutriasa
Cultivating Well-Being Part II

How is your practice of awareness coming along?

Another way to think about awareness, is mindfulness. If you google that word alone, you’ll find loads of practices (in addition to the pause one I gave you) to support you in cultivating more awareness.

Today we’re exploring the 2nd pillar of well-being that Dr Richard Davidson identified with his neuroscience research.

Cultivating Well-Being Part II
Shakti Sutriasa
Cultivating Well-Being Part I

Have you heard of a neuroscientist named Richard Davidson?

He’s been doing research on the brain specifically related to mindfulness, meditation, and well- being for decades. And his research is fascinating!

One of his key findings is around the idea of well-being. Through extensive study, trials and research, he has identified what he calls 4 pillars of well-being.

The really exciting news is that these so-called pillars aren’t inherent qualities, or even simply acquired knowledge. They are qualities that each and every one of us can cultivate and apply every day of our lives! Wahoo!

Cultivating Well-Being Part I
Shakti Sutriasa
3 Ways to Manage the Rate of Change in the World

Have you experienced the past few months as intense, chaotic, and full of uncertainty?

Yes?

You’re not alone.

Some days feel like a tough slog. Like we’re moving through dense resistance. Which is all the more reason to embrace your spiritual practice and deepen into it. 

Many seers have spoken of this time we are in as an amplification, when everything is speeding up and gaining power. This is exactly why you have to choose your own sanity, clarity and peace.

Not only because the chaos is ever growing, but because the benefit of you doing your inner work is amplified during this time. In other words, you can use this time to fast track your liberation.

3 Ways to Manage the Rate of Change in the World

Becoming Self-Realized

Becoming Self-Realized

When I graduated from college, I was intent on saving the world from a climate disaster.

I’d taken classes on hydrology and fossil fuel use in my senior year that awakened me the impending doom on the horizon.

And despite the fact that I actually graduated with a degree in art history, I pestered my way into an internship at the Union of Concerned Scientists. There, we created and ran a nationwide symposium on global warming.

It was 1989.

Within a year, I was half a world away in Hong Kong, struggling to figure out how to continue doing environmental work when I lacked an engineering degree and my Cantonese was lousy.

Determined to make a “difference,” I began teaching.

What if Life Really Did Love You?

What if Life Really Did Love You?

It's true that some days are hard.

Maybe you want to bury your head under the pillow and not face life.

Maybe it all just feels like too much.

On days like that it can be way too challenging to remember that you really are the author of you life story.

I have those days too.

So, when we’re in one of those spaces, what helps?

Lately, I’ve been finding immense comfort in Louise Hays’ affirmations. This one in particular: “Life loves me.”

Here’s how I’ve been using it.

When I feel besieged by fear, overwhelmed by anxiety, gripped by scary what-ifs and doomsday scenarios, I say to myself: “yes, and life loves me.”

3 Ways to Deepen Into Autumn

3 Ways to Deepen Into Autumn

Can you believe that tomorrow is the first day of fall!?!

Where I live I’m definitely seeing evidence of this shift. The air is noticeably cooler, many of my flowering plants are beginning to die, and some deciduous trees are starting to change color.

As we enter into this new season, here are a few ways to deepen into the transition:

1. Reflection

4 Levels to Spiritually Awaken

4 Levels to Spiritually Awaken

At the beginning of the pandemic, I shared the 4 Stages of Spiritual Development that Michael Beckwith, the Minister of the mega church, Agape, in Los Angeles developed. If you aren’t familiar with his work, he’s a profound spiritual presence and a phenomenal speaker.

In a nut shell, these are his stages:

Stage 1- Victim Consciousness: Life is Happening to Me

In the victim place, we often wonder why things are happening to us, why we are being punished, or are experiencing suffering.

Here is where we fundamentally lack a sense of will, or even the belief that we can affect change. We feel helpless to control our life circumstances, believing that we are alone and apart from everyone including God/Universal Consciousness.

4 Ways to Tune Into Joy

4 Ways to Tune Into Joy

Did you know that HAPPINESS consistently ranks at or near the top of polls when people are asked about what they want in their lives?

Yet connecting to that feeling of contentment, to absolute joy can feel elusive. We know it’s there, we see others experiencing it, but we’re not…

So how do we access joy?

1. “Joy is here because you are here.” -Dr. Robert Holden

What this means is that we ACTUALLY carry joy. Whether we believe it or not, joy is our innate nature.

And in truth, we desperately want to be in that state all the time.

3 Ways to Transform Despair

3 Ways to Transform Despair

No matter how much “spiritual” work you do, or how long you’ve “been on the path” you’re gonna experience despair. It’s unavoidable because you have a body. And despair as an aspect of suffering, is part of the human experience.

The real question isn’t how do we avoid feeling despair, but how do we not allow ourselves to be oppressed by it?

Ignite Your Power Center

Ignite Your Power Center

Do you know anything about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)? Think acupuncture, and even by extension Tai Chi and Qi Gong.

Recently I learned about a cool TCM concept, dantian.

Dantian are power centers in our bodies, similar to chakras. There are only three, known as: upper, middle and lower.

The upper dantian (shen) is said to relate to spirit and intelligent consciousness. It is located on the body approximately where your 3rd eye is.

The middle dantian (qi/chi) is known as the home of universal energy and sits right around the heart chakra, in the center of your chest. This one is directly linked to the idea of life force.

A Path Into Compassion

A Path Into Compassion

Many years ago, I read the Dalai Lama’s autobiography, Freedom in Exile. In the book, he shares a Buddhist practice that helps foster bodhicitta, the idea of awakening your mind with wisdom and compassion in order to benefit (yourself) and all sentient beings.

Here’s the premise: you look upon every person you meet as if they could be your mother.

4 Ways to Improve Your Focus

4 Ways to Improve Your Focus

Every time I turn around, it seems that someone is lamenting their inability to focus!

Is that you, too?

Whether it’s pandemic haze, overwhelm, or the chaos that seems to be swirling all around, some days are a hard slog. I know.

So, what can you do to improve focus?

Here are 4 tips to help you improve your concentration & focus:

3 Ways to Embody the Present, Feel Happy & Be More Successful

3 Ways to Embody the Present, Feel Happy & Be More Successful

How many times have you heard that real power (feeling truly happy & successful) lies in the present moment?

Think about books, talks, spiritual leaders… The Power of Now. Return to Love. Be Here Now…

And while those phrases are helpful reminders, stepping fully into the moment can actually feel difficult and elusive.

Which is why I’m sharing my top 3 ways to embody the present, feel engaged, happy and experience greater success!

Affirmation Challenge in Honor of Louise Hay

Affirmation Challenge in Honor of Louise Hay

Louise Hay’s birthday is this month and she is considered the “Queen” of affirmations. She literally transformed her life by saying them. She overcame cancer, supported countless others and created a self-help empire.

Not only did she say affirmations, she lived them.

As you likely know, affirmations are positive statements. They are a powerful tool to control your thoughts and ultimately transform your life.

Because when you control your thoughts, not only do you feel happier and more successful, you also create a better future! Wahoo!

What's In Your Library?

What's In Your Library?

I heard the coolest saying recently.

It's from Senegal and is the polite way to refer to someone who has died. They say, “their library has burned.”

Those words made me think of my father who passed away in 2010. He had a wonderful mind and especially loved historic facts, classical music and details of New York City where he’d lived his entire life. Whenever I had to go someplace, I’d ask him how to get there and he’d instantly rattle off which highway, subway or bus to take. I think the public transit routes and roads were seared into his memory.

Can You Slow Down?

Can You Slow Down?

Okay, confession time.

I've been into books about mystics lately.

Maybe it's where my mind is, maybe it's the time we're in... but the other day, I read a passage from The Cloud of Unknowing, where the author was distinguishing between living a life of activity and a life of contemplation.

Those lines struck me.

I know we're trying to get beyond Covid, the economy has re-opened, yet in many ways, we are still being asked to have patience.