Leonard Ng

When Meditation Hurts

18.12.2016 by leonard ng // Leave a Comment

If you’ve read my previous entry you know the benefits of meditation: inner peace, deeper calm, greater joy, and enhanced asskicking.

So why aren’t you doing it?

I know all your reasons, because sometimes they’re my reasons too: Not enough time. Too tired. Can’t find a quiet space. Keep getting interrupted. Not in the mood.

But there’s another reason too, which seldom gets talked about:

If you’re completely new to the practice, meditation can make you feel worse about yourself, not better.

Meditation for People Who Can’t Empty Their Minds

08.12.2016 by leonard ng // Leave a Comment

People talk to me about meditation a lot.

But what they say generally falls into two categories. The first is a question: How do you do it? And the second is a statement: I can’t do it.

Today I’m going to address both of these concerns. But first let’s consider a couple of more fundamental questions:

Why meditate at all?

And what exactly is meditation, anyway?

Why Meditate?

You’ve probably heard about some of the benefits meditation brings: inner peace, deeper calm, fewer worries, reduced stress.

All of these benefits are real. Meditation stabilizes my emotions and clarifies my thoughts. It helps to make me a calmer, happier, wiser person, and my life is better as a result of it.

But to me the greatest advantage of meditation is probably the one least talked about:

Meditation makes you significantly more effective at kicking ass.

[Read more…]

How I Fall Asleep Quickly (And a Note on Lucid Dreaming)

25.11.2016 by leonard ng // Leave a Comment

Do you have trouble falling asleep every night?

Because I don’t.

I live by the simple Zen maxim “When hungry, eat. When tired, sleep.” In this I differ from most people, who eat when society says they should eat and sleep when society says they should sleep.

Instead of flowing with their natural energy and impulses, they try to force things into an artificially preset schedule. As a result most people end up frustrated, overweight, and bleary-eyed, while I’m fulfilled, well-rested, and in the best shape of my life.

Sometimes, though, it does take me a few minutes longer to fall asleep after I’ve gone to bed. So here’s the technique I’ve devised to deal with that situation.

It works for me, and hopefully it’ll work for you too.

[Read more…]

Five Ways to Find Meaning at Work

19.11.2016 by leonard ng // Leave a Comment

“Choose a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

Bullshit.

Work is work, even when it’s work you love.

Effort is required. Dedication is required. Some sort of consistent time commitment is required. You need to be willing to deal with hard things.

Any less and I wouldn’t hire you.

[Read more…]

Don’t Force Things, Flow with Them (Part 3)

09.11.2016 by leonard ng // Leave a Comment

Surfer at Sunrise — Image by Frank McKenna.

A Rhythmic World

Life on our planet is all about rhythm.

Everything oscillates: inbreath and outbreath, high tide and low tide, day and night, waking and sleeping.

Our hearts beat in rhythm. That’s what keeps us alive.

Rhythm is made up of rise and fall, activity and rest. Often we think only in terms of activity, measuring our days by what we’ve done; but rest is what shapes our actions and makes them meaningful, just as the pauses between notes allow us to make sense of music.

The same applies to our own energy.

Four Kinds of Energy

Energy is about much more than physical tiredness. Generally speaking we have four kinds of energy: physical energy, emotional energy, mental energy, and willpower.

[Read more…]