My New Years resolution is to train my mind which has always been unruly and jumps about like a flea here and there instead of being serene and peaceful.
With this is mind ( no pun intended) I have been advised to study the work of Eckart Tolle the mind guru .
His latest book is The New Earth
Has anyone here read it / heard of him ?
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Yes, I used to watch him on youtube all the time. I just heard someone talk about him tonight on another youtube video. People generally talk about his book, The Power of Now. Iāve read a bit of it. It all sounds good, but for me, it lacks clear instructions on how to operationalize.
It sounds like a great idea to be present. Itās a lot easier said than done.
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Iād never heard of Eckhart Tolle till now
I watched about 30 seconds of each of a couple of his videos on YouTube and thought -
AHA! What we have here is a champion bullshitter, straight out of Pseuds Corner
I also looked up āThe Power of Nowā on Amazon Books
A lot of people thought it was wonderful, but there were less favourable reviews as well, such as
Unbelievably boringā¦repetitiveā¦patronisingā¦ a pile of toshā¦ unstructured useless drivel
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Yes Iāve heard of him, but canāt remember much about him now as it was a very long time ago.
Muddy, Iāve got to get off to the vets now, but will send you a link later with some talks to listen to that might help relax you.
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It does sound interesting and I agree, we often torture and stress ourselves in our own minds. Thank you, Iāll have a read and watch
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I see thereās another book, āPracticing the Power of Nowā which gives more instructions on techniques
Yes. His work to me seemed to revolve around what he called his spiritual awakening so wasnāt for me. I tend to focus my mind via puzzles and found the GCHQ puzzle books 1 & 2 in small doses to be excellent. Some are very convoluted so focused concentration is required to solve each and every one.
Iām a big sucker for a every self-improvement fad but then I hear my Grannyās voice in my headā¦ā¦
āYou need a good kick up the bum, girlā
and I think sheās right, that probably is what I need to get going!
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I practice mindfulness Muddy It has helped me so much over the years . I only live in one day at a time as yesterday is gone and tomorrow isnāt here so for me it helps me live more in the moment . It really does help to do meditation even if itās just sitting quietly and focus on your breath .
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What exactly is mindfulness?
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I have mind buzz
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For me, mindfulness is paying full attention to whatever you are doing at the moment, and nothing else.
Just. That. Task.
Not thinking ahead, or worrying about things you should have/would have/could have done.
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Jumps about like a Daily Mail web page.
Have a look at the work of French psychologist. Ćmile CouĆ©. His mantra of every day in every way, I get better & better, is a great starting point.
When I worked as a hypnotist. We always taught self hypnosis & expected clients to practice it every day as part of their treatment. During the years I worked, I never had a single failure, nor did anyone I worked with.
We would give people 3 sessions only & exercises to perform between them & failure to do the exercises were painfully obvious & resulted in us dropping clients who failed to help themselves, with no cost to them. We only charged where we did what we said we would over the 3 sessions.
The daily self meditation exercises included a Ćmile CouĆ© sentence & as much as anything else, that was what made us able to achieve what we did. Regular daily focusing on a meaningful sentence that focuses the subconscious on what you are doing, is very powerful.
Gee, would you explain to me how you see the difference between self-hypnosis, and meditation please?
I found the following advice appealed to me, too.
Experiencing Self-Rule Through Meditation
" Practicing meditation helps us to reach our goals of self change, because during meditation we link our soul self with the Supreme Energy (God), who fills us with power. The more mentally powerful we become through meditation, the more confident we are with the ability to respect our self more. We become more stable in our own self, we are able to control our reactions a bit better and we wait. We donāt suppress the self. Rather, we wait, observe, clarify and then control our reactions.
We donāt want to be ruled by our negative emotions. We still meet them, acknowledge them, try to understand them and dissolve them. We cannot pretend that they are not there, but we are no longer a slave to them. As we follow our spiritual path more closely, we learn that we donāt want to damage ourself, nor do we want to damage others. We become a little more careful. Sometimes we know what is the right thing to do, but still we are not able to control our reactions, or act correctly. We know, understand, agree but still canāt do the right thing. Then we are filled with guilt and regret, having done the wrong thing. We lose our self-respect. What can we do then? Where do we find the strength to change? Spiritual knowledge shows us the way as to what is right and what is wrong and in silence through meditative practice, we are able to find the strength to be able to put this knowledge and our basic values as well as our conscience (inner voice) into practical karma and thus bring about change."
Yes, quite deep perhaps, but if the problems are deep, youāve got to dig deep to find and deal with them.
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Yes 
Itās a lot easier said than done
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āPracticing the Power of Nowā by Eckhart Tolle.
āA collection of simple meditations and exercises helps readers heighten their consciousness of the present and live in the moment ā¦ā 
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I belonged to a Quabbalistic Lodge for many years & practised daily meditation. And for me meditation is about shutting out the outer world & body & achieving a state that allows the mind to go beyond its normal daily bounds. In meditational terms the human mind is capable of achieving amazing things.
With self hypnosis the aim is focus the mind on an outer achievement, within the bounds of everyday life.
A childhood, older friend, was someone who had learnt Yoga & meditation whilst living in India. She was a PE teacher & wife of a priest & saw both Yoga & meditation as part of building a better inner self.
Someone I knew in Lodge also learnt in India & was a Bishop when I knew him. He saw meditation as part of maintaining our inner temple & often quoted Annie Besant of the Theosophists Society, who told a student. āYou donāt meditate with your eyebrows.ā Meaning you do not force the relaxation, you relax the inner to relax the outer. For me self hypnosis is the opposite of that. You relax the outer & then actively use the inner.
For me self hypnosis is directed wakened dream time. It is you seeking to commune with your subconscious. It is one way & unsubtle.
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I found this video recently. I enjoy listening to it through headphones, and matching my breath to the chanting. Inhaleā¦holdā¦exhaleā¦
Its a long one but I only do about 20 mins, half an hour. Its really grounding and relaxingā¦
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I think my experience as an engineer probably helped. You have to concentrated single mindedly when there is a serious issue.