Leonard Ng

When Meditation Hurts

by // Leave a Comment

lightning
Image by Brandon Morgan.

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.

More on that today.

[Read more…]

Meditation for People Who Can’t Empty Their Minds

by // Leave a Comment

snail
Image by Aaron Burden.

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…]

Don’t Force Things, Flow with Them (Part 1)

by // Leave a Comment

mountain clouds
Image by Sergei Akulich.
A Cautionary Tale

Mencius (a Chinese philosopher) once told the following story:

Once there was a man from Song who, concerned that his seedlings weren’t growing, decided to pull them upward.

Worn out, he returned home and said to his family: “Today I’m exhausted — I’ve been helping the seedlings to grow!”

His son hurried out to have a look, and of course the seedlings had withered.

The Folly of Forced Deadlines

Inexperienced people often set deadlines they can never achieve. They say:

“I’m going to pack on 10kg of muscle this year.”

“I’m going to finish writing a novel in 3 months.”

“I’m going to make half a million dollars by December.”

Is it possible to accomplish all these things? Yes.

Are you likely to complete them, in good order and on schedule, if you’ve never done so before? No.

Why?

Because you can’t set reasonable deadlines until you’ve gained enough experience to know how long, under your own unique circumstances, you will take to achieve your goals.

[Read more…]

Why I Sleep So Much, And Why You Should Too

by // Leave a Comment

sleeping cat
Image by Inge Wallumrod.
A Surprising Revelation

People often react with surprise when I tell them how much I sleep.

They wonder how I find time for everything in my life while still sleeping as much as I do.

And they also know that I can often be found awake at any hour of the day or night.

So how much do I sleep? The “surprising” answer: an average of 7-8 hours a day.

Matching Your Life’s Rhythms

Modern life often requires us to stay up late, whether because of major deadlines or because of major partying.

And forcing yourself to go to bed at the same time every night requires a level of regimentation that few of us are prepared to put up with.

That kind of strictness also fails to take into account the varying energy expenditures of each day. Some days we push ourselves harder, and so we need more rest. Other days we take it easy, and so we need less rest.

Trying to go to bed when you’re not ready to do so will only result in you lying awake for an hour or more, unable to get to sleep. And forcing yourself to stay awake after your mind and body have had enough will compromise the quality of your mental and physical performance.

Neither of these situations is ideal.

Instead, we need to become more aware and respectful of the unique rhythms of our individual lives, and then match our sleep patterns to those rhythms.

[Read more…]

The Five Elements: A Systematic Approach to Holistic Living

by // Leave a Comment

coloured journals
Image by Liz Weston.
A Comprehensive Approach to Personal Growth

Modern life is a pretty complicated bagful of kittens.

On the one hand, we’ve come to believe that there’s more to life than making money, having fun, raising a family, and staying out of trouble (or getting into trouble, if that’s what you prefer).

But on the other hand, there’s so much going on in life that we hardly know where to begin.

We might want to get every part of our lives running happily along and playing nicely together… but there just seems to be so much to consider. We have noble dreams of balance and fulfilment and harmony, but how can we keep track of it all?

That’s where five-element theory comes in. It’s a system I use to ensure that my days are meaningfully spent, and it works, too.

Basically, this is an old concept which uses the five classical elements as shorthand for the various aspects of life: Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Void (or as I prefer to call it, Whitespace). Put together, these five cover just about every aspect of human growth and personal development.

If you’re anything like me, this approach will give you a framework that can help you shape your life more wisely and effectively than you ever thought possible.

Let’s get to it.

[Read more…]