The Tea Master Who Was Mistaken For A Samurai — A Short Story About Calming The Mind
Excerpt: A powerful short story of a tea master who gets mistaken for a samurai and how he remains calm even in the midst of certain death.
Read More »The Tea Master Who Was Mistaken For A Samurai — A Short Story About Calming The Mind
“If we want and need desperately to sleep, we are less likely to fall asleep. If we absolutely must give the best talk possible at some conference, we become hyper-anxious about the result, and the performance suffers. If we desperately need to find an intimate partner or make friends, we are more likely to push them away. If instead we relax and focus on other things, we are more likely to fall asleep or give a great talk or charm people. The most pleasurable things in life occur as a result of something not directly intended and expected.”
Robert Greene, The Daily Laws (Page 19)
“The mind must be given relaxation—it will rise improved and sharper after a good break. Just as rich fields must not be forced—for they will quickly lose their fertility if never given a break—so constant work on the anvil will fracture the force of the mind. But it regains its powers if it is set free and relaxed for a while. Constant work gives rise to a certain kind of dullness and feebleness in the rational soul.”
Seneca, On Tranquility Of Mind, The Daily Stoic (Page 381)
Chögyam Trungpa Quote on Managing Desire and Being Able To Afford To Relax
“When there is no desire to satisfy yourself, there is no aggression or speed… Because there is no rush to achieve, you can afford to relax. Because you can afford to relax, you can afford to keep company with yourself, you can afford to make love with yourself, to be friends with yourself.”
Chögyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, via Sunbeams (Page 3)
Beyond the Quote (Day 372)
If you feel like you can’t afford to relax, you should reevaluate what it is exactly that you’re trying to afford. Hustle culture has us working from the minute we get up until the minute we go to bed—and leaves many of us feeling like we STILL didn’t do enough. We stress about the things we didn’t finish, the things we have yet to start, and how we’re going to close the gap between where we are and where we want to be—so that we can finally… relax.
Read More »Chögyam Trungpa Quote on Managing Desire and Being Able To Afford To RelaxQuote on Making Your Wants Want You and How Relaxing Helps Make That Happen
“Don’t chase, don’t beg, don’t stress, don’t be desperate, just relax. When you relax it will come to you. Make your wants, want you.”
Unknown
Beyond the Quote (291/365)
What happens when you relax? You release. You let go of held tension both in the body and the mind. Or, maybe better said, in the mind and then in the body. For, the body is but a puppet of the mind. And in order for the mind to relax what needs to happen? Well, you have to ease your mind away from the regrets of the past and the anxieties of the future and connect to the now. How else can you be truly relaxed if you’re preoccupied thinking and worrying about the past and future? It is only when you are utterly present that you can be truly relaxed. Isn’t it so?
Read More »Quote on Making Your Wants Want You and How Relaxing Helps Make That Happen“Recreation doesn’t just mean enjoying yourself. It literally means re-creating yourself. It’s almost a way of taking yourself apart and putting yourself back together again so that you feel better and function better. And so that you’ve worked out some of the glitches in your system.”
Mira Kirshenbaum, The Gift of a Year (Page 88)
“It’s easy to get started giving yourself the gift of a year. You start by giving yourself the gift of empty bits of time. Can you give yourself one whole Saturday or Sunday every week free from commitments? Can you give yourself half an hour just for you every morning or evening? Can you steal half an hour from work every day? Can you get your boss/husband/boyfriend/mother/kids/friends to cut you some slack?”
Mira Kirshenbaum, The Gift of a Year (Page 34)
“There should be no sense of struggle or any risk of failure with the gift of a year. You’re doing something you’ve been wanting to do for a long time. It’s about pleasure, indulgence, self-care, nurturing yourself, giving to yourself. It’s about seizing the day for yourself so you can do something you’ve long wanted to do. It’s not about making something happen. It’s about letting something happen. It’s not about pushing. It’s about stopping pushing.”
Mira Kirshenbaum, The Gift of a Year (Page 25)
The Gift of a Year [Book]
Book Overview: Whether you think of it as a treat or a lifesaver, if you give yourself the gift of a year, it will change your life. This book will show you how to give yourself the gift of a year, piece by piece, step by step. As one woman put it, “Nothing could be simpler. For one year you do something that makes you feel great about yourself and your life.” If you’d like guidance, you’ll get everything you need here. If you need help seeing what you want to do with your special year, you’ll get that. If you need help seeing why you’re entitled to give yourself an entire year, you’ll get that. And if you need help with practical issues, like how to find time or ensure you get everything you want from your year, you’ll get that, too. This is a book about women and how we live our lives today. How we really feel about ourselves. How the way we live can drain the ‘you’ from your life, and how important it is to take care of yourself and to fill your life with more of what truly matters to you.
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Post(s) Inspired by this Book:
- 25 Replenishing Quotes from The Gift Of A Year on Rest, Recovery, and Self Care
- 10 Dream Discovering Questions For Women [Excerpt]
- Mira Kirshenbaum Quote on Retreating Back So That You Can Keep Moving Forward in Life (Beyond the Quote 258/365)
- Mira Kirshenbaum Quote on Self-Care and How Important It Is To Give To Yourself (Beyond the Quote 230/365)
