The Answer is Inside!

This month we invite you to connect to the rich inner wisdom of your body, mind, and spirit . . .

Begin by taking the Dosha Quiz to identify your mind-body type; join davidji for a guided meditation; practice a powerful technique to let go of food cravings; awaken your intuition through chakra-opening yoga; and watch our new video about our upcoming Journey into Healing workshop, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, and David Simon weave their messages together. In his letter, Deepak discusses how discovering and embracing your shadow can help you reclaim your hidden power, while David Simon writes about the journey to the heart and shares a special guided meditation on love.

We wish you a wonderful month filled with peace, self-acceptance, joy, and love.

In gratitude,
The Chopra Center Staff

We feature new quizzes Monthly in our Agni Newsletter, to sign up please click here!

To read tips on how you can better manage your time, click here.

For more quizzes, words from Deepak, and more, please visit our Agni Newsletter Archive.

The spiritual master answered, “In the heart of every human being there are two goddesses: Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth, is generous and beautiful. If you worship her, she may bestow you with treasures and riches, but she is capricious and may also withdraw her support without warning. The other goddess is Saraswati, the Goddess of Wisdom. If you venerate Saraswati and dedicate yourself to attaining wisdom, Lakshmi will become jealous and pay more attention to you. The more you seek wisdom, the more fervently Lakshmi will chase you, showering you with wealth and abundance.”

While many people spend their lives pursuing Lakshmi – money, fancy homes, luxury cars, and other symbols of wealth – true abundance isn’t about getting your ego’s wish list met in a timely manner; it’s knowing that who you really are is pure consciousness, pure potentiality. Your sense of self expands beyond your identification with the ego mind and physical body and you awaken to your essential spiritual nature. In this state of expanded awareness, you let go of limiting beliefs and fears, allowing the infinite field of intelligence to fulfill your needs and desires with effortless ease.

In our present economic climate, the mass hypnosis of fear and scarcity can be almost irresistible. Instead of depleting your mental energies with worry, focus on cultivating spiritual wealth, enthusiasm, and your desire to fulfill your potential. How do you do this? By meditating, connecting to your true nature, seeking wisdom, and practicing what I refer to as The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. These are the universal laws of consciousness that govern every creative process – from the birth of a baby to the birth of a galaxy. When you align yourself in harmony with these cosmic laws, you become the abundance that is inherent in life.

Abundance can arrive in the form of friendships, wisdom, money, creative expression, good health, loving relationships, mental energy and enthusiasm, peace of mind, and in infinite other ways. But however wealth manifests, the point is that these effects are the spontaneous outgrowths of inner spiritual awakening; they are not sought after for their own sake. Money, achievements, accolades – all of these are byproducts of life’s true gift: the unfolding of your inner divinity.

Love,
Deepak

Learn how to Create True Abundance at the SynchroDestiny Workshop

SynchroDestiny is the Chopra Center’s premier self-empowerment workshop, where Deepak teaches participants how to harness the power of intention, coincidence, and awareness to fulfill their greatest dreams and life purpose. Click here to register or learn more about the upcoming SynchroDestiny workshop taking place this June in Taos, New Mexico.

1) The wisdom of dharma comes from within, and is best accessed by listening to your inner voice.
Set aside an hour when you will not be disturbed and spend some time doing some kind of meditative activity to quiet your mind. Now journal your response to the following questions:

• What do I do well?
• What work do I dream about doing that I can enjoy?
• What will it take to make the transition from my current work to work that is meaningful for me?
• How can I contribute my unique gifts to the work I am doing now?

After you complete this exercise, stay alert to new ideas and possibilities . . . clues from the universe that will help guide you to your highest purpose. Continue to meditate, ideally two times a day for about 30 minutes, allowing your mind to become increasingly receptive to creative insights that will help you discover your dharma. You may want to return to the questions above and write down new ideas that occur to you in the next few days.

2) Make the Most of Your Present Situation.
The transition to a new job can take a while, so consider what you can do to increase your wellbeing in your current situation.

Your physical environment: Look at your workplace as you would look at your home. What can you do to make it more nourishing? The same work performed in a setting where the sounds, sights, and smells are uplifting can be much more gratifying than when carried out in a less nurturing space.

Your relationships: You can create heaven or hell through your relationships with your coworkers No matter what your interactions with them have been like until now, you have the opportunity to change things by doing something different.

Learn the skills of conscious communication and see if you can connect with the petty tyrant or martyr in your office on a person-to-person level rather than jousting role to role. Even if you don’t have your dream job yet, you can use your current situation to practice living dharmically.

3) Cultivate an attitude of appreciation and celebration.
Take a piece of paper and write down all the things you are grateful for in your life. Start with the daily things that make life easier – toothpaste, hot water, ATM machines – and progress to more essential items such as clean clothes, healthy food, and a warm place to sleep. Now consider all the good things that have happened to you during your life. Finally, reflect on the people you’ve loved in the past or love in the present. Spend a few moments reviewing the gifts you’ve received throughout your life.  Make a commitment to find at least one thing to be grateful for each day.

If you want to do an advanced level of gratitude practice, consider the difficult experiences or relationships you have had and consider the gifts that even those challenging times have given you. For example, losing a job may have pushed you to finally pursue the work you really want to do. Growing up with an abusive parent may have spurred your desire to create loving relationships with your own children.

In Ayurveda, the expression of your highest purpose in life is known as your dharma. When you’re in your dharma, you don’t think about what you’d rather be doing. Time seems to stand still and you experience an effortless flow of material, emotional, and spiritual abundance. You’re doing exactly what you find most fulfilling, and at the same time you’re providing value to everyone affected by your actions.

Check back tomorrow when we post an article on how to cultivate your true dharma.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Many scientific studies, including research by renowned psychologists Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough, have found that people who consciously focus on gratitude experience greater emotional wellbeing and physical health than those who don’t. In comparison with control groups, those who cultivated a grateful outlook:

* Felt better about their lives as a whole
* Experienced greater levels of joy and happiness
* Felt optimistic about the future
* Got sick less often
* Exercised more regularly
* Had more energy, enthusiasm, determination, and focus
* Made greater progress toward achieving important personal goals
* Slept better and awoke feeling refreshed
* Felt stronger during trying times
* Enjoyed closer family ties
* Were more likely to help others and offer emotional support
* Experienced fewer symptoms of stress

Tips for Cultivating Gratitude

That gratitude is a decision doesn’t imply that choosing it is always easy or effortless; most of us have a tendency to take things for granted. At a deeper level, we may resist gratitude because it runs counter to an ingrained need to believe that we are self-sufficient and that our good fortune is our own doing.
Yet we are interdependent, and grace is an unmistakable force in our lives. When you begin to focus on gratitude, any fears will melt away as you appreciate the countless ways in which the universe supports you in every moment. Here are a few practices for you to “jump-start” your gratitude habit.

1. Keep a Gratitude Journal
Each day list at least 5 things for which you are grateful. Challenge yourself by not repeating items from the previous days, for this will make you look more deeply at all the “little” things that enhance your life and give you joy . . . waking in a warm bed; your favorite song; a phone call from a friend; the ability to touch, see, or hear; electricity; the beating of your heart; a hug.

You can write in your journal just before bed, when you wake up in the morning or just before you meditate. The time of day isn’t important; what is important is that you consistently take a few moments to consciously focus your mind on your blessings. Commit to keeping a journal for a month. What we put our attention on expands in our life. By offering gratitude for all the goodness we experience, we’re inviting the universe to give us more and more of what we want.

2. Write a Thank You Letter
Make a list of at least 5 people who have had a profound impact on your life. Choose one and write a thank you letter expressing gratitude for all the gifts you’ve received from that person. If possible, deliver your gratitude letter in person.

In studies of people who have practiced this form of gratitude, the results have been amazing. Often the recipient of the letter had no idea what an impact he or she had had on another person and were deeply touched by the expression of such authentic gratitude.

While we may often thank people verbally, the written word can often be even more powerful because someone has taken the time to write their appreciation. A letter can also be re-read and treasured, creating joy and love that will continue to ripple out into the universe.

3. Take a Gratitude Walk
This is a particularly useful practice when you’re feeling down or filled with stress and worry. Set aside 20 minutes (or longer if you can) and walk in your neighborhood, through a park, around your office, or somewhere in nature. Pay attention to your senses – everything you’re seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, and maybe even tasting – and see how many things you can find to feel grateful for. This is a powerful way to shift your mood and open to the flow of abundance that always surrounds you.

Find these tips and more in the just-released December Agni Newsletter.

This month’s issue also features:

• Our Holiday Gift
• Try our recipe for Cranberry Bliss Balls!
• Is Time on Your Side?    Take our Quiz to Find Out . . .
• Letters from Deepak and David
• And much more!

Read Agni here

To read and post comments, click here!

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

Get Back To Your Dharma: Action Steps
1) The wisdom of dharma comes from within, and is best accessed by listening to your inner voice. Set aside an hour when you will not be disturbed and spend some time doing some kind of meditative activity to quiet your mind. Now journal your response to the following questions:

• What do I do well?
• What work do I dream about doing that I can enjoy?
• What will it take to make the transition from my current work to work that is meaningful for me?
• How can I contribute my unique gifts to the work I am doing now?

After you complete this exercise, stay alert to new ideas and possibilities . . . clues from the universe that will help guide you to your highest purpose. Continue to meditate, ideally two times a day for about 30 minutes, allowing your mind to become increasingly receptive to creative insights that will help you discover your dharma. You may want to return to the questions above and write down new ideas that occur to you in the next few days.

2) Make the Most of Your Present Situation. The transition to a new job can take a while, so consider what you can do to increase your wellbeing in your current situation.

• Your physical environment: Look at your workplace as you would look at your home. What can you do to make it more nourishing? The same work performed in a setting where the sounds, sights, and smells are uplifting can be much more gratifying than when carried out in a less nurturing space.

• Your relationships: You can create heaven or hell through your relationships with your coworkers No matter what your interactions with them have been like until now, you have the opportunity to change things by doing something different.

Learn the skills of conscious communication and see if you can connect with the petty tyrant or martyr in your office on a person-to-person level rather than jousting role to role. Even if you don’t have your dream job yet, you can use your current situation to practice living dharmically.

3) Cultivate an attitude of appreciation and celebration. Take a piece of paper and write down all the things you are grateful for in your life. Start with the daily things that make life easier – toothpaste, hot water, ATM machines – and progress to more essential items such as clean clothes, healthy food, and a warm place to sleep. Now consider all the good things that have happened to you during your life. Finally, reflect on the people you’ve loved in the past or love in the present. Spend a few moments reviewing the gifts you’ve received throughout your life. Make a commitment to find at least one thing to be grateful for each day.

If you want to do an advanced level of gratitude practice, consider the difficult experiences or relationships you have had and consider the gifts that even those challenging times have given you. For example, losing a job may have pushed you to finally pursue the work you really want to do. Growing up with an abusive parent may have spurred your desire to create loving relationships with your own children.

To read and post comments, click here!