The stress and strain of constantly being connected can sometimes take your life -- and your well-being -- off course. GPS For The Soul can help you find your way back to balance.
GPS Guides are our way of showing you what has relieved others' stress in the hopes that you will be able to identify solutions that work for you. We all have de-stressing "secret weapons" that we pull out in times of tension or anxiety, whether they be photos that relax us or make us smile, songs that bring us back to our heart, quotes or poems that create a feeling of harmony, or meditative exercises that help us find a sense of silence and calm. We encourage you to look at the GPS Guide below, visit our other GPS Guides here, and share with us your own personal tips for finding peace, balance and tranquility.
Tools that can help you unplug and recharge:
4:6 Breathing. This technique is recommended by Kelly McGonigal in her book The Willpower Instinct as a master technique to cultivate willpower. Breathe in through your nose to a count of four, exhale through your nose to a count of six. Do this for one minute to calm your mind and empower your decision making ability!
Gratitude. Gratitude is the way to cultivate happiness. Write down five things you are grateful for at least once a week -- a guaranteed way to feel happier over time!
The Equanimity Game. Are your off balance? How quickly can you get back IN balance? Go for a walk, breath slowly, make sure you have eaten nutritious food. Whatever it takes, calm your mind and regain your equanimity!
Start one thing, stop one thing. What is the one practice that you know would benefit your life? Is it exercise, mediation, or eating better? Would NOW be a good time to start? On the flip side, what is one thing you know would benefit your life if you stopped; ie obsessively checking the news (or Facebook or...), inactivity, eating quick and dirty food, or negatively ruminating on problems in your life. How about stopping those NOW, and recommitting to ending the behavior every time you catch yourself backsliding?
Brian C. Johnson's GPS Guide
Brian Johnson is the Philosopher + CEO of en*theos -- a company he created with his wife, Alexandra. Brian has a video series called "Optimal Living 101," created PhilosophersNotes, wrote a little book called A Philosopher's Notes, has a monthly "Big Ideas" column in Experience Life magazine and was featured in the documentary Finding Joe. In his past lives, Brian raised $8 million to finance the creation of eteamz + Zaadz after graduating Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA (where he studied Psychology + Business).
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