Today is the day!!!

The moment we’ve all been waiting for!!!

For the past two days we’ve talked about a lot of happiness and I hope you’ve enjoyed it.

In today’s episode I talk about the deepest, most sustainable level of happiness that comes from having a sense of purpose and meaning in your life:

But, as I explain in the video, the purpose and meaning don’t have to be some grandiose actions.

In fact, it’s even more effective to use the hundreds of micro-moments we have as opportunities to practice compassion, gratitude, and kindness every day.

If you have any questions about this episode, or would just like to chat generally, I invite you to book a no-cost phone consultation with me by clicking here:

https://calendly.com/artburns/45-min-coaching-session

Also, if you’re interested in a guided meditation Saturday morning at 9:00 am MST, click here to register for a great one:

https://www.meetup.com/learning-to-surf-talks-on-buddhism-meditation-mindfulness/events/gggcgsyccgbfb/

Finally, to support the work I do, click here to become a patron:

https://www.patreon.com/artburns

As we dig deeper into our natural state of happiness, this second level really relies on flexibility.

This second level of happiness is based on a sense of stability and grounding in the world around us and the feeling that we are on pace with our goals and integrity.

But this doesn’t mean that only people who fulfill lifelong goals can be happy!

In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

This level of happiness is more about adjusting and redefining our goals as we make our way through life.

In today’s episode, I illustrate this through the story of an imaginary law student who realizes that the road to becoming the lawyer they’d always wanted to be comes with a price that is too high:

So it’s really more about adjusting the goals to match our lives.

You might be thinking that this means we should abandon our goals so we won’t find ourselves out of pace with them.

But nothing could be further from the truth!

Goals are very healthy.

It’s all about awareness of these goals and what they truly mean to us.

Like Plato and Socrates said: “An unexamined life is a life not worth living.”

If you have any questions about this topic, or about either of the two programs I mentioned in today’s episode, please click here to book a no-cost phone consultation:

https://calendly.com/artburns/45-min-coaching-session

And if you’re interested in joining our group meditation and discussion this evening, click here:

https://www.meetup.com/learning-to-surf-talks-on-buddhism-meditation-mindfulness/events/vhrtfsyccfbpc/

The latest Learning to Surf podcast can be found here:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/learning-to-surf-talks-on-buddhism-dharma-riding-waves/id1512499997

And if you’re interested in becoming a Patron of my show, click here:

https://www.patreon.com/artburns

Happiness is a skill.

Does that statement surprise you?

I know I used to think it was the opposite: that happiness was a matter of circumstances aligning in a certain way. And they rarely aligned in that certain way for me!

But the reality is that happiness is a simple skill that can be cultivated, from the inside, through practice.

In today’s episode, I go into the first layer of happiness and how you can cultivate it:

https://youtu.be/HHS-ynqIMOo

But I also clearly state that negative emotions should never be denied, even as we work to cultivate positive emotions that will lead to our happiness.

If this is at all unclear to you, or if you’d like to learn more about a new program I’m about to launch, called How to be Happy for No Reason, then click here to book a no-cost phone consultation:

https://calendly.com/artburns/45-min-coaching-session

And if you’d like to check out my new podcast, Learning to Surf, here it is:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/learning-to-surf-ep-1-adam-art-hour-compassion-love/id1512499997?i=1000508643601

And if you’d like to become a patron and support my work, click here:

If you’re interested in becoming a patron of my work, please click here:

https://www.patreon.com/artburns

Most of the time, people come to the work of mindfulness, meditation, and compassion in order to address something in their life that needs ‘fixing’.

For some, it’s about excelling in business...

For others, it’s about managing anger and rage…

Or it's about being happy…

Or healing old wounds…

Or many, many other reasons!!!

But the thing is that this work doesn’t have to be about improving or fixing. (Even though healing and fixing happen through this work, for sure!)

Today, I share a personal story about how awareness alone - for no specific need or purpose - can open us to the richness and fullness of life as it happens around us.

I also talk in today’s video about two different courses I’m offering in the near future, on top of the coaching I currently offer. If you’re interested but maybe want to make sure you’re getting into the right one, consider booking a free phone consultation here so I can help:

https://calendly.com/artburns/45-min-coaching-session

Wow! We’ve covered a lot this week!

In today’s episode, I talk more about those ANTs and how recognizing them in the state of flow that comes from a playful and curious approach can help us to reframe some of the urgency we feel:

Remembering that the ANTs are happening without our consent or our participation allows us to step back and question the vivid and detailed stories our thoughts create.

This dis-identification of our thoughts - seeing them as phenomena of the body and not who we are - gives way to a deeper understanding of the urgency we put on many experiences.

More importantly, it allows us to discern between what is truly urgent and what is not.

If you’d like to learn more about these practices, or the two upcoming programs I mentioned in today’s episode, please click this link to schedule a complimentary coaching session with me:

https://calendly.com/artburns/45-min-coaching-session

Also, if you’re interested in a guided meditation tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 9:00 am MST, click here to register for a great one:

https://www.meetup.com/learning-to-surf-talks-on-buddhism-meditation-mindfulness/events/sfjpfsyccfbrb/

And here’s where you can find my new podcast, Learning to Surf:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/learning-to-surf-talks-on-buddhism-dharma-riding-waves/id1512499997

And if you’re interested in becoming a patron of this work, you can join here:

https://www.patreon.com/artburns

Of course, there are no actual insects running around your brain!

Have you ever heard of Automatic Negative Thoughts?

Each day, the average human has 65,000 +/- thoughts.

Each day contains 86,400 seconds.

So even spending one second per thought would render you completely out of time for anything else!

For this reason, the brain automates about 95% of those 65,000 thoughts that rush through your brain every day.

And depending on what is going on for you, emotionally, at any given moment, a sometimes vast majority of these automatic thoughts become negative as part of your innate survival mechanism.

In today’s episode, I go deep into the ANTs and how they work:

As I mentioned in the episode, if you or a loved one is struggling this week, in the wake of the violent events that have happened in our country, please reach out to me.

I have some practices that you can use immediately to help you cope with this difficulty and minimize the suffering you may be experiencing.

So feel free to email me at [email protected].

Or, we could set up a time for a 45 minute chat that might help you in a much deeper way:

https://calendly.com/artburns/45-min-coaching-session

So many times, when we look at our work or other important endeavors, we become tense and fearful from the seriousness of it all.

And this fear and tension get our minds to create stories that we believe.

As we believe these stories of the ‘worst-case-scenario’, the stress levels rise and we become less effective at whatever it is we’re trying to do!

In today’s episode, I talk about how we can employ simple curiosity to reverse all these negative impacts:

Curiosity is opening and exciting.

It is a basic form of mindfulness itself!

And when we bring curiosity in and embrace our experience through this open and exciting mind, so many of our feelings change as we let go of the stories that cause all the stress in our bodies.

I invite you to try it!

And if you need help, consider booking a free phone consultation with me by clicking here:

https://calendly.com/artburns/45-min-coaching-session

To register for tonight’s free guided meditation and discussion, click here:

https://www.meetup.com/learning-to-surf-talks-on-buddhism-meditation-mindfulness/events/276652871/

And here’s where you can find my new podcast, Learning to Surf:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/learning-to-surf-talks-on-buddhism-dharma-riding-waves/id1512499997

If you’re interested in becoming a patron of my work, please click here:

https://www.patreon.com/artburns

It is with heaviness in my heart that I record this episode about lightness of heart.

I know, that sounds really weird!

But in today’s episode I talk about how bringing a measure of playfulness into our mindfulness practice can be very helpful:

A lot of people come to mindfulness practice because of very serious issues in their lives.

For some, it’s health concerns…

For others, it’s family issues…

And for still others, it’s performance at work that they wish to improve through these practices.

Interestingly, it seems that the more ‘Serious’ someone is about these practices, the more difficulty they have incorporating the practices into their lives.

So I invite you, in dedication of the fragility of this impermanent human experience, to bring playfulness into your daily practice.

And once you are able to be playful in your practice, see if you become a bit more playful in your life.

Any time I bring up the concept of acceptance for the first time with someone, I am met with rolling eyes.

Most people believe that by accepting things the way they are, it means we can never improve our lives in any way.

And when we apply this concept to ourselves, well it seems outright ludicrous to most people!

But the truth is that it is only through acceptance - of our circumstances or of ourselves - that we can ever hope to change anything at all.

In today’s episode, I explain all this and more:

Ultimately, all we can ever control is ourselves.

And when we embrace this concept, it opens us up to the change we desire.

And when we change ourselves, we see the world around us - and everyone in it! - change in beautiful ways.

If you’d like to learn more about this, or about the two new group coaching programs I’m starting soon, please click this link to schedule a free session with me:

https://calendly.com/artburns/45-min-coaching-session

And to register for tomorrow’s free guided meditation and discussion, click here:

https://www.meetup.com/learning-to-surf-talks-on-buddhism-meditation-mindfulness/events/276652871/

And here’s where you can find my new podcast, Learning to Surf:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/learning-to-surf-talks-on-buddhism-dharma-riding-waves/id1512499997

If you’re interested in becoming a patron of my work, please click here:

https://www.patreon.com/artburns

Early this week, we talked about the benefit of compassion; later we talked about the value of intention.

Well, today I want to talk about what happens when these two beneficial dynamics meet.

In today’s episode, I illustrate this through another story from one of the people with whom  I’m lucky to get to work:

When we practice compassion and intention on a daily basis, through simple and brief exercises, these qualities become a natural emotional response to our experiences.

In other words, you can develop the skill of intention and compassion to the point that they become completely automatic for you.

When we reach this point, the health benefits to your body, your mind, and your spirit are immense!

And it all really does happen with just a little practice every day.

If you’d like to learn more about these practices, how they work and how to implement them into your life, please click this link to schedule a complimentary coaching session with me:

https://calendly.com/artburns/45-min-coaching-session

Also, if you’re interested in a guided meditation tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 9:00 am MST, click here to register for a great one:

https://www.meetup.com/learning-to-surf-talks-on-buddhism-meditation-mindfulness/events/sfjpfsyccfbrb/

And here’s where you can find my new podcast, Learning to Surf:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/learning-to-surf-talks-on-buddhism-dharma-riding-waves/id1512499997

And if you’re interested in becoming a patron of this work, you can join here:

https://www.patreon.com/artburns