Reading Corner

Links related to the weekly posts.

 

By Posted on Posted in Meditation, Presence, Reading, Relationships, Successful Relating No Comments Tagged with

In our blog this week, we wrote about two important ways you can strengthen your relationship — breathing and presence. We’ve found some great articles on these topics.

Conscious Breathing: A Simple Way to Work Through Emotional Pain and Be Present in Your Life “I never gave much thought to my breath unless I was submerged under water for long periods without any. Today I rely on it for more than the obvious function of keeping me alive. Breathing has become my biggest tool and best friend. It has become a foundation for living with conscious presence and awareness.”

Being present in relationship – Why does it matter so much? “What does presence mean in a relationship, and why does it matter so much? I will sometimes hear a client lament that their partner does not feel “present” in the relationship. This feeling of lack, so acutely felt by one person, can be a complete mystery to their partner. I’ll have someone tell me in session, ‘My partner says I’m not present in our relationship… I have no idea what they mean.’ Here’s the short answer…”

9 Practical Ways To Be More Present In Your Life “I once worked with a man (who I will call Tom) who lived in San Francisco. Tom would wake up in the morning to his ringing iPhone alarm, roll over, and immediately check his text messages, his Instagram, and then his two email accounts (in that order)…. Tom hired me to help him get to the bottom of his increasingly painful and challenging situation. For some unknown reason, he had a perpetually twitching left eye, chronic tension headaches, and had a panic attack anywhere from 1-5 times on an average week. It didn’t take long to decipher that Tom was suffering from a total lack of engaging in being a human.”

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By Posted on Posted in Presence, Reading, Relationships, Successful Relating 1 Comment

Happy New Year and Happy New Decade! This week we wrote about how to plan for the future and be in the present. Here is some advice from others on that subject.

How to Juggle Planning for the Future vs. Enjoying the Present “For those of us living “typical” modern lives, planning for the future and enjoying the present seem to be eternally in conflict with one another. How do we juggle our various responsibilities, and everything that comes with planning for the future, and still prioritize enjoying our life in the present?”

5 Reasons to Live in the Moment and Stop Planning Too Much “I believe we tend to spend so much time replaying past moments or planning too much for the future, that we miss out on the great moments that are unveiling right before use. So often we fail to stop and smell the roses. We don’t take the time to enjoy the present moment. This is sad because we have no idea how many more moments we will be fortunate to experience.”

The Art of Now: Six Steps to Living in the Moment “Life unfolds in the present. But so often, we let the present slip away, allowing time to rush past unobserved and unseized, and squandering the precious seconds of our lives as we worry about the future and ruminate about what’s past. “We’re living in a world that contributes in a major way to mental fragmentation, disintegration, distraction, decoherence,” says Buddhist scholar B. Alan Wallace. We’re always doing something, and we allow little time to practice stillness and calm.”

By Posted on Posted in Peace, Reading, Relationships, Successful Relating No Comments

In this week’s blog and the season of desire for peace on earth, we wrote about how to spread peace through your relationship. Here are some words of wisdom about this very important subject.

A Human Approach to World Peace “The premise behind this idea of universal responsibility is the simple fact that, in general terms, all others’ desires are the same as mine. Every being wants happiness and does not want suffering. If we, as intelligent human beings, do not accept this fact, there will be more and more suffering on this planet. If we adopt a self-centred approach to life and constantly try to use others for our own self-interest, we may gain temporary benefits, but in the long run we will not succeed in achieving even personal happiness, and world peace will be completely out of the question.”

13 Practical Steps to Inner Peace “In a culture that venerates busyness and constant stimulation, you have to make peace a priority if you want to reap the benefits. Finding inner peace is more about being than doing. It’s about leaning toward rather than struggling against. It’s about being fully present and focused on the task at hand.”

World peace “World peace, or peace on Earth, is the concept of an ideal state of happiness, freedom and peace within and among all people and nations on Planet Earth. This idea of world nonviolence is one motivation for people and nations to willingly cooperate, either voluntarily or by virtue of a system of governance that has this objective. Different cultures, religions, philosophies and organisations have varying concepts on how such a state would come about.”

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This week, we wrote about why neediness is bad for your relationship. These articles discuss ways to tackle neediness in your relationship.

Who Wants to Be Needy? Six Solutions “In this post, we’ll look at the impact of clinginess and what you can do about it. For this purpose, you’ll need to understand the genesis of dependency issues in an otherwise healthy man or woman. Plus, we’ll examine what it’s like to be clung to. A lot can be done on both sides to make the relationship hum again.”

8 Signs You’re Way Too Emotionally Needy (And How To Fix It) “It’s OK to reach out and ask for help… sometimes. And that’s okay. It’s when you find that you are emotionally needy that takes a toll on relationships and has consequences. Yet, being overly emotionally needy — too demanding, clingy, annoying, fragile — can spell disaster. And that’s why this relationship advice is especially important for couples.”

What Does It Really Mean to Be Needy? “We hear the word “needy” thrown around in conversation all the time. Usually it’s brought up with contempt. Ughhh, she’s so needy. She calls all the time, and wants to know where I am. It’s ridiculous. His neediness is just too much. He wants to spend every single moment together. The details of the conversations might be different. But that doesn’t matter. The message is the same: Needy is not something we want to be. Needy is one of the worst things we can be in a relationship. In our society, neediness is seen as an undesirable trait, a character flaw. But it’s none of these things.”

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By Posted on Posted in Core Values, Love, Reading, Relationships, Successful Relating No Comments

In this week’s blog, we wrote about why core values are so important in your relationship. Here is a selection of articles sharing their views on this topic.

Are Relationships Workable When You Have Clashing Values? “I remember a few years ago I was in a relationship with a woman whom I loved deeply. The passion and feelings were there. They were strong. Yet, the relationship never felt right. In terms of our values, we were mismatched. While my heart was in it, my head was trying to pull me away. Our emotional connection was fierce, but we did not connect in some of the crucial areas of alignment.”

13 Things That Are More Important In A Relationship Than Looks Or Money Good article if you’re able to ignore the annoying GIFs “Money can’t buy you love, and, for that matter, neither can smokin’ hot looks or an amazing job or any kind of outside material at all. We all know this, but what are the things that are more important than looks in a relationship. I enlisted a troop of relationship experts, psychotherapists, dating counselors, a life coach and a clinical hypnotherapist to tell me what they hold to be much more vital in relationships than the way a person looks or the number on their bank statement, and their answers were striking.”

Why shared values are more important than shared interests “If you have shared values, regardless of your interests, your relationship has a good chance of success. On the other hand, if you have no shared values but lots of common interests, you might have a great time together for a while but when it comes to making decisions about marriage, children and careers, you could find that you lack the strong foundations that move you forward.”