yogaEQ

The Gap Between Stimulus and Response

• There Is A The Gap
• All we are talking about is noticing the gap in between a stimulus and a response.
• There is a gap in between a stimulus and response
• You can choose what to do in this gap
• You can tune into your autonomic nervous system which isn’t usually noticeable as a reminder to yourself that you there is so much that slips under the surface of your radar.

What is Meditation?

• What is the ultimate goal of meditation? To notice your thoughts, not control them.
• The key point in spiritual teachings: awareness, consciousness.

Daily Practice

• I suggest deliberately practicing overcoming this gap every day.
• This is a daily practice of doing something that you don’t want to do. For me that’s a cold shower and talking with people. I talk to legit everyone nowadays. I force myself to. If a thought pops into my head about saying hello on an elevator, I don’t even think about it. Cold showers work the same too.

Learning to Control Reactions

• Learning to control reactions. I will interchange a lot of words hopefully triggering different ideas in your head. Desires. Impulses. Immediate gratification.

A couple of crunchy solutions that have worked for me:

• Every time I think a thought I don’t want to think I thank it and appreciate it for when it was useful for me. A previous version of myself may have found it useful
• blog idea: layers of information don’t mean anything. spiritual sayings for instant meant shit until it all just clicked. why is this? what can we do about it?

Two Questions

• Two Questions: What am I worried about and What can I do about it?

Perspective: Scale and Insignificance

• There are a few things that no matter are jaw dropping.
• How about the pure scale of the universe and the pure insignificance of literally everything we do. Contemplate that for a second and watch your worries be crushed into the smallest form like the sun could do to the earth at any moment. Or any star for that matter.
• The world doesn’t revolved [around you]

Freedom is my rationalist version of spirituality

• Acknowledging something greater than yourself.
• Something that fuels you.
• Some people its god.
• Some people its their kids.
• Some people its the greater humanity.
• Admitting that you are not the center of the universe and a practice to remind yourself of that.

A Spiritual Practice for Rationalists

• Meditation

Testing Your Practice With Family

• Ram Dass earlier, of a quote of his that I like, and I’m gonna paraphrase, I’m sure. But if you think you’re enlightened, go spend a week with your family.
• tim ferris: “Have a lot of triggers related to family members”
• one need not go home for more than a couple days to see