Mindfulness Classes With Oli Doyle

Another 13 minutes of present moment adventures from Mindfulness Plain & Simple.

"Peace and Harmony are naturally occuring, they happen without our efforts." Oli Doyle, Mindfulness Plain & Simple.

Because our inner state seems so turbulent, us humans tend to think that peace is something to aim at, not something we have available now. But underneath that turbulence, there is harmony right now, the only question is whether we notice it or not.

And of course, the difference between noticing peace or being lost in turbulence, is our relationship to those thoughts that keep coming and going.

Today, come join me in the inner peace that has always been there.

"Unconditional happiness means exactly what it says, no longer putting conditions on our happiness. It also means opening our minds to the possibility that we can be happy now, without anything in our lives needing to change." Oli Doyle, Mindfulness Plain & Simple.

What are you putting in the way of your happiness right now?

"The essence of mindfulness is to be totally in the moment with openness and interest instead of getting lost in the judgements of the mind. Living in the present brings freedom from pain through freedom from time, as suffering cannot be created without referring to the past and the future." Oli Doyle, Mindfulness Plain & Simple.

You can find this peace this instant, simply by looking at the world a little differently.

Today, as we continue our series based on my book Mindfulness Plain & Simple, we begin to explore mindfulness in action by asking the question:

"What is life like when you don't believe what you think?"

Join me today for 15 minutes of peaceful, joyful mindfulness practice, starting with the breath and journeying through this wonderful moment.

When I was 5 years old, I discovered a brilliant solution to the problem of emotions; just block out the ones you don't like.

This worked, except when it didn't. And when it didn't, the results were pretty poor. Lost tempers, broken windows and embarrassing outbursts were a sure sign that what goes down must come up!

17 years later, I discovered a new way; make friends with what arises, even if you don't like it. This was tough to start with (but only for the first 3 years or so!), but after that, emotions became my friends, and now they rarely create problems in my life.

Today I would like to take you through the process I used to get there.

What role do thoughts play in your life?

"Thoughts come up one after another until we are exhausted and we need to sleep. Then, when we wake up, the running commentary picks right up where it left off. This is why we can't seem to 'get away from it all' when we go on holiday because we are actually taking 'it' with us!" Oli Doyle

It's like this for most people; thought after thought from dawn 'till dusk. Watch their faces as they walk down he street and it's clear; they are not there, they're somewhere else, stressed out about what was or what might be when they could be enjoying the sunshine.

So what are these things we call 'thoughts' and how should we deal with them? In today's podcast we explore how thinking too much blocks happiness, and more importantly, what you can do about it.

Welcome to the second part of this special series based on my book, Mindfulness Plain & Simple.

Self Image:

Right now, my mind is telling a story, and if I trace them back, every story is connected to what I think about myself.

Once upon a time, I spent much energy and effort trying to make them good stories, trying to reframe the bad ones, and trying to affirmation myself to a positive self image. It was exhausting.

There are 2 problems with trying to cultivate good self-esteem:

1) It's a lot of work.

2) It's completely unnecessary.

Today, come and explore the alternative - living free of thinking in the present moment.

Welcome to this 10 part series based on my book Mindfulness Plain & Simple.

Over the next 10 days we will explore why human beings have so much trouble being happy, as well as discovering how to untangle this suffering and find peace right now.

Let's begin with a quote from chapter 1:

"It is not what happens to us that causes our suffering. Our suffering is caused by believing the stories our minds tell us about what happens to us."

Indeed, the only suffering comes from inside, as does peace and happiness. The mind is so hypnotic that it seems as if the outside world dictates our inner experience, but in reality the reverse is true.

When you learn to step from the world of thinking to the here and now, life becomes free and easy, today I invite you to begin this journey.