#mindfulness

"We have a right to decide how we want our bodies to look and feel, but unfortunately we do not exercise these rights. Instead, we tend to drift along, victims of our own ignorance of the fact that we can have what we want, if we are willing to take that first step toward developing the self-discipline to govern our thoughts."

"Everything is created twice, first in the mind and then in reality."

"True happiness, we are told, consists in getting out of one's self; but the point is not only to get out - you must stay out; and to stay out you must have some absorbing errand."

"One doesn't have to be religious to lead a moral life or attain wisdom."

"When we teach a child patience we offer them the gift of a dignified life."

"The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it. (21)"

"In the end, just three things matter:How well we have livedHow well we have lovedHow well we have learned to let go"

"Our culture encourages us to plan every moment and fill our schedules with one activity and obligation after the next, with no time to just be. But the human body and mind require downtime to rejuvenate. I have found my greatest moments of joy and peace just sitting in silence, and then I take that joy and peace with me out into the world."

"Treat everyone you meet as if they were you."

"Yoga practice can make us more and more sensitive to subtler and subtler sensations in the body. Paying attention to and staying with finer and finer sensations within the body is one of the surest ways to steady the wandering mind. (39)"

"Mind is a flexible mirror, adjust it, to see a better world."

"Vipassana meditation is an ongoing creative purification process. Observation of the moment-to-moment experience cleanses the mental layers, one after another."

"Don't believe everything you think. Thoughts are just that - thoughts."

"Meditation is essentially training our attention so that we can be more aware— not only of our own inner workings but also of what’s happening around us in the here & now."

"There are two types of seeds in the mind: those that create anger, fear, frustration, jealousy, hatred and those that create love, compassion, equanimity and joy. Spirituality is germination and sprouting of the second group and transforming the first group."

"Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life."

"Learn to say no to demands, requests, invitations, and activities that leave you with no time for yourself. Until I learned to say no, and mean it, I was always overloaded by stress. You may feel guilty and selfish at first for guarding your down- time, but you’ll soon find that you are a much nicer, more present, more productive person in each instance you do choose to say yes."

"Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretence."

"Mindfulness, also called wise attention, helps us see what we’re adding to our experiences, not only during meditation sessions but also elsewhere."

"We may be living past and future lives at the same time we are living this one."