Opting Out Of The Media Mind Game, An Excerpt From The NY Times Best-Seller Think Like A Monk By Jay Shetty – CBS Sacramento
Posted: September 28, 2020 at 11:58 pm
Photo Courtesy of Simon & Schuster
We are all searching for ways to reduce stress and find peace, especially in a year as challenging as this one. Few people understand how to do that quite like Jay Shetty, a social media superstar and host of the #1 podcast On Purpose, who distills the timeless wisdom he learned as a monk into practical steps anyone can take every day to live a less anxious, more meaningful life. In this special excerpt from his new book Think Like a Monk(available now from Simon & Schuster, a ViacomCBS company), Shetty shares three ways to opt out of the media mind game and create space for reflection.
As a monk, I learned early on that our values are influenced by whatever absorbs our minds. We are not our minds, but the mind is the vehicle by which we decide what is important in our hearts. The movies we watch, the music we hear, the books we read, the TV shows we binge, the people we follow online and offline. Whats on your news feed is feeding your mind. The more we are absorbed in celebrity gossip, images of success, violent video games, and troubling news, the more our values are tainted with envy, judgment, competition, and discontent.
Observing and evaluating are key to thinking like a monk, and they begin with space and stillness. For monks, the first step in filtering the noise of external influences is a material letting go. I had three stints visiting the ashram, graduated college, then officially became a monk. After a couple months of training at the Bhaktivedanta Manor, a temple in the countryside north of London, I headed to India, arriving at the village ashram in the beginning of September 2010. I exchanged my relatively stylish clothes for two robes (one to wear and one to wash). I forfeited my fairly slick haircut for . . . no hair; our heads were shaved. And I was deprived of almost all opportunities to check myself outthe ashram contained no mirrors except the one I would later be shown in the storeroom. So we monks were prevented from obsessing over our appearance, ate a simple diet that rarely varied, slept on thin mats laid on the floor, and the only music we heard was the chants and bells that punctuated our meditations and rituals. We didnt watch movies or TV shows, and we received limited news and email on shared desktop computers in a communal area.
Nothing took the place of these distractions except space, stillness, and silence. When we tune out the opinions, expectations, and obligations of the world around us, we begin to hear ourselves. In that silence I began to recognize the difference between outside noise and my own voice. I could clear away the dust of others to see my core beliefs.
I promised you I wouldnt ask you to shave your head and don robes, but how, in the modern world, can we give ourselves the space, silence, and stillness to build awareness? Most of us dont sit down and think about our values. We dont like to be alone with our own thoughts. Our inclination is to avoid silence, to try to fill our heads, to keep moving. In a series of studies, researchers from the University of Virginia and Harvard asked participants to spend just six to fifteen minutes alone in a room with no smartphone, no writing instruments, and nothing to read. The researchers then let them listen to music or use their phones. Participants not only preferred their phones and music, many of them even chose to zap themselves with an electric shock rather than be alone with their thoughts. If you go to a networking event every day and have to tell people what you do for a living, its hard to step away from that reduction of who you are. If you watch Real Housewives every night, you start to think that throwing glasses of wine in your friends faces is routine behavior. When we fill up our lives and leave ourselves no room to reflect, those distractions become our values by default.
We cant address our thoughts and explore our minds when were preoccupied. Nor does just sitting in your home teach you anything. There are three ways I suggest you actively create space for reflection. First, on a daily basis I recommend you sit down to reflect on how the day went and what emotions youre feeling. Second, once a month you can approximate the change that I found at the ashram by going someplace youve never been before to explore yourself in a different environment. This can be anything from visiting a park or library youve never been to before to taking a trip. Finally, get involved in something thats meaningful to youa hobby, a charity, a political cause.
Discover ways to train your mind for peace and purpose every day in Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty.
Want more? Listen to this clip from the audiobook edition of Think Like A Monk, read by the author.
Read the original here:
- Israeli gymnasts win gold, bronze medals at European Championships - The Times of Israel - December 17th, 2020
- Ashram system schools to be set up in 20 districts of UP - United News of India - December 17th, 2020
- Ashram system schools to be set up in 20 districts of UP : Tribal Museum in Lucknow - United News of India - December 17th, 2020
- Exclusive! 'Ashram' actor Aaditi Pohankar: Explore the power inside you, then nobody can stop you from fu - Times of India - December 17th, 2020
- For I Was Thirsty & You Gave Me Something to Drink! Churches Provide Drinking Water Facility - Mangalorean.com - December 17th, 2020
- Gandhi Pokhrel, The Unsung Freedom Fighter Who Pioneered Swadeshi In Sikkim - The Better India - December 17th, 2020
- Will Swami Shivanand, other eco-champions' drive to clean Ganga ever succeed? - COUNTERVIEW - December 17th, 2020
- 10 songs that bring back great travel memories: Jennifer Lucy Allans playlist - The Guardian - December 17th, 2020
- 'Ama Pathaagaara' An Initiative To Re-Ignite Library Movement In Odisha - Kalinga TV - December 17th, 2020
- Reviving the heritage and history of Chhattisgarh - Mid-day - December 17th, 2020
- Chandan Roy Sanyal On Insider Vs Outsider Debate: No Insider Would Have Played The Roles That I Did - Koimoi - December 17th, 2020
- Osho and his controversial life: All you need to know about Acharya Rajneesh - Times of India - December 17th, 2020
- Now 97 percent of the people in Chhattisgarh have food security under Universal PDS Scheme - Odisha Diary - December 17th, 2020
- Song of the Hills - Outlook India - December 17th, 2020
- When Bobby Deol Had Spilt The Beans On Getting Replaced By News Faces; Actor Had Revealed Getting Into Alcohol Addiction During Bad Phase - SpotboyE - December 17th, 2020
- Is Ashram based on true story? Heres the truth behind the series - Republic World - November 30th, 2020
- Mentally upset woman reunited with kin after 8 months - The Tribune India - November 30th, 2020
- 2 Covid deaths in CDPO office, Jalandhar ashram on toes - The Tribune India - November 30th, 2020
- Anupria Goenka shares her experience of working in MX Player web series Ashram: Chapter 2 - Mumbai Live - November 30th, 2020
- Separating the Art From the Artist: Yoga Edition - Book Riot - November 30th, 2020
- Promoting Rural Tourism: Badanavalu Khadi Centre to be developed on the lines of Sabarmati Ashram - Star of Mysore - October 1st, 2020
- Bihar elections: BJP alliance will win with thumping majority, says Fadnavis - Mint - October 1st, 2020
- IT-savvy Indian youth urged to help elderly with e-Census - The Star Online - October 1st, 2020
- Winners announced for 2020 Better Photography Magazine Photo of the Year competition - PhotoReview.com.au - October 1st, 2020
- 'Goblets Are Full to the Brim But the Tavern is Empty' - The Citizen - October 1st, 2020
- BJPs Uma Bharti, Covid-19 positive, admitted to AIIMS Rishikesh. She gives 3 reasons - Hindustan Times - October 1st, 2020
- Alwar news: Businessman's father's eye light went away, then Kalyugi sons tortured and pulled out of the house - Pledge Times - October 1st, 2020
- Delhi ashram became infamous, a woman gets raped in the name of 'Guruji' - News Track English - September 28th, 2020
- Will lockdown wipe out lifestyles built over 30 years?.. - Greatandhra.com - September 28th, 2020
- India got independence due to these 5 movements of Mahatma Gandhi - News Track English - September 28th, 2020
- I want to leave behind a legacy of good cinema. - Bhumi Pednekar - Filmfare - September 28th, 2020
- HC order to allow publication of book on Asaram case is victory of free speech, says HarperCollins - Scroll.in - September 28th, 2020
- Coronavirus in Mumbai: Latest list of COVID-19 containment zones from Colaba in SoBo to Borivali in West and Mulund in East issued by BMC - Free Press... - September 28th, 2020
- Tantra: From Enlightenment to Revolution review shock and awe - The Guardian - September 28th, 2020
- My Transformative Time With the Beatles in India - The Daily Beast - September 7th, 2020
- Book to explore life and times of Osho aide Sheela - Devdiscourse - September 7th, 2020
- Does Aashram Season 2 Exist? Know The Whole Truth: Season 2 Plot, Expectations, The Road Ahead, And Where ... - Bullet News - September 7th, 2020
- Asaram bragged about political connection during arrest, recounts IPS officer in new book - Deccan Herald - September 7th, 2020
- Sadhus living in Jharkhand threatened with Palghar-like consequences by goons - Times Now - September 7th, 2020
- A principled principal - The Tribune India - September 7th, 2020
- Only 2500 isolation beds readied in Kathmandu Valley - Khabarhub - September 7th, 2020
- Five Holistic Getaways to Restore Health & Wellness this Fall - Barron's - September 7th, 2020
- To All The Girl Gangs Out There, Check Out These Five Destinations in India For Your Next Trip Post Pandemic - India.com - September 7th, 2020
- Woman raped, confined for over 1 year in Gujarat ashram; accused blackmailed by 'NGO workers' - Times Now - June 30th, 2020
- 10-year-old pushes mom and sister on wheelchair for 350 km - The New Indian Express - June 30th, 2020
- Shock treatment, exorcism, psychotropic drugs: behind conversion therapy for queers - The Hindu - June 30th, 2020
- Sevagram Ashram president withdraws resignation after appeal by several Gandhians - The Indian Express - June 17th, 2020
- A bobbitised godman and a constantly changing story - Times of India - June 17th, 2020
- Badly-hit India will only hit virus peak in November, experts warn, as train carriages become wards - Telegraph.co.uk - June 17th, 2020
- Yogini Ekadashi 2020: Date, Timing of puja and the significance of this vrat - World Wire - June 17th, 2020
- Radhika Apte Is On Cloud Nine As She Announces Her English Film Libert: A Call To Spy; To Be Released By IFC Films - SpotboyE - June 17th, 2020
- Title insurance is broken. Heres how this $623M startup hopes to rebuild it - The Real Deal - June 17th, 2020
- Sevagram Ashram chief removed over allegations of being Godsewadi, he strongly denies it - The Indian Express - June 2nd, 2020
- Father dead; future of 2 kids gutted in fire - Ahmedabad Mirror - June 2nd, 2020
- No admission of tribal students in English schools this year - Outlook India - June 2nd, 2020
- Yogi who claimed to have survived without food, water for 76 years dies - The Tribune India - June 2nd, 2020
- Pentecost Tongues of Fire - The Free Weekly - June 2nd, 2020
- Rajasthan: Sadhu accused of rape commits suicide, declares himself innocent and a victim of blackmail in video message - OpIndia - June 2nd, 2020
- Guiding Light: Others are a mirror - Free Press Journal - June 2nd, 2020
- Uttarakhand News: Gayatri Puja With Social Distancing From 9 AM Today in All Households to Fight COVID-19 - India.com - June 2nd, 2020
- Mangaluru: Thirteen-day novena begins in preparation for annual feast of St Anthony - Daijiworld.com - June 2nd, 2020
- Global Social Connect webinar on COVID reaches out to Indians across the borders to US, Malaysia, Singapore & Canada - India Education Diary - June 2nd, 2020
- Akal Ashram Colony residents rue shortage of drinking water - The Tribune India - May 8th, 2020
- Netizens mark birth anniversary of Tagore with online performances - The Hindu - May 8th, 2020
- 83-Year-Old Hotelier Maps Lord Ram's Exile Itinerary on Atlas to Pass Time in Lockdown - News18 - May 8th, 2020
- How will the 'new normal' look like for two gyms? - Sports Interactive Network Philippines - May 8th, 2020
- Prasar Bharati to telecast Bengaluru play - The Hindu - May 8th, 2020
- Ash immersion in Haridwar begins after govts nod to rituals for the dead - Hindustan Times - May 8th, 2020
- Poet and the Pandemic - The Statesman - May 8th, 2020
- Where Indias government has failed in the pandemic, its people have stepped in - The Guardian - May 8th, 2020
- How troublesome are these Sadhus, just burn and kill them: Mob in Haryanas Mewat attacks Mahant Ramdas of Muktidham Ashram - OpIndia - May 1st, 2020
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla Is Balanced To Allow You To 'Play The Content You Want' - PlayStation Universe - May 1st, 2020
- Noted author Kundanika Kapadia dies at 93 - The Indian Express - May 1st, 2020
- These rare pics of Irrfan Khan with wife Sutapa at Badanwal Gandhi Ashram bring forth his humble and unseen... - Zee News - May 1st, 2020
- Bandcamp Recs: Escapist Tunes and Mood-Lifting Grooves to Melt Away the Blues - KQED - May 1st, 2020
- Where is Real Marigold Hotel 2020 filmed? - The Sun - May 1st, 2020
- Chinmayanand case: HC rejects law students allegations of bias, harassment against SIT - The New Indian Express - May 1st, 2020
- Vinod Khannas 3rd Death Anniversary: The Actor Cleaned Toilets, Did Dishes At Oshos US Ashram After Walking Away From Films - SpotboyE - May 1st, 2020
- I pleaded for my life but they continued to attack me, Sadhu in Punjab mercilessly beaten, Rs 50,000 stolen as he lay bleeding - OpIndia - April 25th, 2020
- Foreign tourists found self-isolating in Indian cave - CNN - April 25th, 2020