The menstrual cycle significantly impacts a woman's health, influencing not just reproductive health but all aspects. Hormonal fluctuations across the month can affect everything from mood to metabolism.

The Importance Of Menstrual Cycle

The menstrual cycle typically lasts between 23 to 35 days and involves four main hormones: estrogen, progesterone, LH, and FSH. These hormones fluctuate across the month, affecting the body in various ways. The menstrual cycle is divided into two phases: the follicular phase (first half) and the luteal phase (second half), with ovulation in between. Each phase has different hormonal levels affecting the body differently.

Menstrual cycle

Menstruation, or the period, is when hormone levels are low. Estrogen and progesterone are at their lowest during this period, and it typically lasts five to seven days.
Symptoms may include bloating, cramps, irritability, tearfulness, and gut-related issues like looser stools and nausea. This is due to a sharp drop in progesterone and an increase in inflammatory markers.

Menstruation (Beginning of the Cycle)

Hormone levels rise after menstruation, leading to what is often referred to as the best week for most women, or the 'spring' of the menstrual cycle. Known for the 'ovulation glow', better mood, increased motivation and strength, this phase also presents a decrease in appetite. Unlike the next phase with heightened metabolism and cravings, this time is usually symptom-free and overall positive.

The 'Spring' of the menstrual cycle

After ovulation, we enter the luteal phase, during which the previously low progesterone levels start to increase. This hormonal change triggers an increase in body temperature by about half a degree. Although this may seem insignificant, it can disrupt our sleep cycle, leading to feelings of grogginess and irritability. This change may also affect performance at work or during exercise. Additionally, we tend to retain more fluid during this phase, making hydration more challenging. Therefore, it's crucial to ensure you're consuming enough fluids during this time.

Luteal Phase

During the hormonal decline phase, many women experience premenstrual symptoms. Over 90% of women experience these symptoms to varying degrees. However, a smaller percentage, about 20 to 40 percent, experience premenstrual syndrome. This is a more severe condition where the symptoms are so debilitating that they interfere with day-to-day quality of life. This pattern typically emerges one to two weeks before the next period, usually a week before, and should end or improve when the period starts.

Premenstrual Symptoms

Typically, a girl will begin her first menstrual cycle during puberty, which can vary between the ages of 9 to 12. Menopause, on the other hand, usually occurs in the 40s or 50s. In the UK, the average age for menopause is 51. Menopause is a natural biological process that marks the end of a woman's menstrual cycles. It is diagnosed after a woman has gone 12 months without a menstrual period. This transition period is due to decreased production of estrogen and progesterone in the ovaries.

The First And The Last Menstrual Cycles

Estrogen is a powerful hormone that influences various aspects of health, not just in women, but also in men. While estrogen and progesterone are often considered female sex hormones due to their high levels in women, they are also present in men. During menopause, there is a decline in estrogen, leading to an increase in cardiovascular and bone health issues. This is due to estrogen's role in the dilation and expansion of our arteries. A decrease in estrogen can cause a sharp increase in blood pressure, thereby raising the risk of diseases like heart disease.

Estrogen

Cardiovascular fitness benefits are apparent during the high hormone phase of the cycle, preceding ovulation. Research indicates that female athletes prefer to perform just after their period, in the high estrogen phase. This period is associated with higher muscle building potential, improved mood, increased motivation, and slight enhancements in strength and endurance.

High Estrogen Phase

A subset of women experience premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a severe form of PMS associated with significant mood disturbances that can interfere with daily life. Symptoms usually appear one to two weeks before the next menstrual cycle and should improve or disappear by the start of the next period. If the symptoms persist, it's likely not cyclical and could be indicative of another mood disorder. The prevailing hypothesis is that women with PMDD are more sensitive to the drop in hormones that occurs before menstruation, hence feeling more affected by it.

PMDD

Cycle syncing, aligning lifestyle choices with the phases of your menstrual cycle, can help optimize well-being and reduce symptoms. It's about tailoring your lifestyle to your menstrual cycle's phases. Different hormonal phases trigger varying needs in our bodies, such as sleep, nutrition, and mood changes. Some compare the menstrual cycle to seasons, with menstruation as winter, the period just before ovulation as spring, followed by summer, then autumn, and back again. By adjusting our nutrition during these phases, we can optimize our well-being and performance, and reduce symptoms.

Seasons

Menstruation is an inflammatory response due to the process of shedding. An anti-inflammatory diet, rich in colorful fruits, vegetables, high fiber grains, legumes, omega-3 foods like oily fish, flax seeds, walnuts, and various herbs and spices, can support our bodies and moderate the immune response. This dietary shift should ideally commence just before menstruation begins (about 1 week before the menstruation). A Mediterranean diet, especially rich in leafy greens and berries, is beneficial during the menstrual cycle. It can alleviate symptoms like cramps and positively impact health.

An anti-inflammatory diet

Staying hydrated and avoiding stimulants like caffeine, as well as fried or fatty foods, can help. During menstruation, it's also advisable to avoid caffeinated beverages, fizzy drinks, and spicy or fatty foods which can stimulate the gut.

Staying hydrated

It's well known that there is a powerful connection between our gut and our brain, as well as our gut and our immune system, among other systems. Therefore, it's logical to presume a link between our menstrual health and gut health. We know that a significant portion of estrogen is metabolized in the gut. Hence, it's crucial to optimize our gut health throughout our menstrual cycle.

Gut Health And Menstrual Cycle

Due to the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in pre-menopausal women, it is essential to increase your iron intake. Iron can be sourced from animal-based foods such as meat and fish, as well as plant-based foods like whole grains, legumes, leafy greens, nuts, and seeds. There's evidence that adding vitamin C to plant-based iron can enhance absorption. For instance, squeezing lemon juice on hummus, which is made from chickpeas and a source of iron, may boost the absorption of iron.

Iron Deficiency

Regular physical activity can actually alleviate menstrual symptoms and lighten your period. Low-intensity exercises, particularly yoga, have been found beneficial in managing menstrual symptoms and Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS). This is likely due to the mind-body connection established during yoga, which incorporates breath work along with physical movements. The key is to engage in activities that feel good to you, as all movement counts.

Regular physical activity

We often observe sleep disturbances after ovulation and during the pre-menstrual period. An increase in body temperature occurs after ovulation, remaining elevated until the next period, which can affect the amount and quality of sleep. All stages of sleep, whether it's light sleep, deep sleep, or REM sleep, are vital and offer different benefits. During the luteal phase, there's evidence of reduced REM sleep, often referred to as dream sleep. According to Matthew Walker, REM sleep is like "emotional first aid", playing a crucial role in our emotional well-being.

Sleep Disturbances

During the menstrual cycle, there is a high inflammatory phase associated with menstruation and a lower white cell count. These white cells are crucial for fighting off pathogens, viruses, and other potential threats to our body. Therefore, there's a possibility that you might be more susceptible to colds and flus during this time. This further emphasizes the importance of consuming more leafy greens, healthy fruits, and vegetables.

Menstruation and a lower white cell count

Much of our existing medical research is based on the male body. Only in the last one or two decades has there been a substantial effort to include females in medical studies.Previously, it was assumed that women were simply smaller men, and data could be extrapolated to them. However, as discussed throughout this episode, women differ significantly in terms of hormonal profiles, physiology, metabolism, and even anatomy. Thus, it's crucial to account for these differences in our research.

Medical research

Tracking the menstrual cycle is an essential first step for all women. It's not only practical for understanding fertility and predicting your next period, but also for knowing your individual normal cycle length, which varies among women. Some may have 28-day cycles, while others may have 30 or 31-day cycles.Beyond simply tracking menstruation and ovulation, document cravings, sleep patterns, energy levels, and mood. This helps adapt your nutrition and training to your body's needs throughout your cycle. If you notice poor sleep during a phase, adjust your routine accordingly.

The essence of cycle syncing

The content discusses how hormones orchestrate the menstrual cycle, affecting metabolism and health. It highlights the importance of understanding one's cycle, symptom tracking, and lifestyle adjustments.

How much do you know about menstrual cycles? Half of you will be a lot more informed than the other half. The menstrual cycle holds great significance in a woman's life, impacting various aspects of her body with over 90% of all women experiencing premenstrual symptoms. However, misconceptions and limited understanding still surround its effects, leaving many women in the dark about their own bodies.

Today, we’re joined by Hazel Wallace. She’s a medical doctor, nutritionist and author of The Female Factor. Here to give us an education on the menstrual cycle. 

Dr Hazel Wallace shares with us how the cycle affects almost every aspect of the body, from heart health and sleep to metabolism and even whether there’s scientific evidence behind ‘cycle syncing’.

Whether you’ve had a menstrual cycle or not, you’ll learn a lot during this episode. If you want to uncover the right foods for your body, head to joinZOE.com/podcast and get 10% off your personalized nutrition program.

Timecodes:
00:00 Introduction
00:36 Quick fire questions
03:49 What is the menstrual cycle?
05:42 What is the luteal phase?
06:54 When does the menstrual cycle begin?
07:43 How regular are menstrual cycles - Do they change over time?
08:29 What is actually happening during the menstrual cycle?
09:41 What role does oestrogen have in hormonal changes?
10:48 How does the menstrual cycle affect performance in athletes
12:05 How does the menstrual cycle affect women?
16:30 Are cravings real? Why do they happen?
18:21 What is PMS and what do people experience?
20:11 Is there much research behind PMS?
21:40 What is PMDD?
23:16 How do you identify PMDD?
26:17 What is cycle syncing?
27:43 What role does nutrition have in reducing symptoms during the cycle
30:22 Can regular exercise improve symptoms?
33:52 How is sleep impacted by the menstrual cycle?
37:41 How does this impact our immune system?
38:56 Why is there such little research into this area?
41:13 How has the exclusion of women in research impacted us?
44:14 Menstrual cycle tracking - what is it and how can you do it?
46:31 How can tracking help?
47:26 What diet can help symptoms?
49:31 How does the menstrual cycle affect the microbiome?
52:07 How can intermittent fasting affect the menstrual cycle?
54:59 Summary
58:00 Goodbyes
58:11 Outro

Mentioned in today’s episode:
The Effects of Menstrual Cycle Phase on Exercise Performance in Eumenorrheic Women https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32661839/

Hazel’s book is available to buy here

Follow Hazel: https://twitter.com/Thefoodmedic
Follow ZOE on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoe/

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How to "Hack" Your Menstrual Cycle With Diet, Exercise, & Sleep

When we are worrying about the past or rushing our mind into the future, there is a lack of presence where our body and our mind are in two different places. We may physically be here, but our minds have traveled somewhere completely different.Anxiety is a persistent and excessive worry that makes us lose all rational perspectives and makes us expect the worst.So, here are some ways to reduce anxiety.

Feelings Of Anxiety

When we end up taking steps towards improving a situation that makes us feel anxious, it actually helps us feel like we are part of the solution. It helps us feel like we are part of making that situation better.

1. Take action

Lemon essential oil is known to uplift our mood and create a more cheerful atmosphere around us.Bergamot essential oil is used not only to relieve anxiety but also to take our body into a deep relaxation mode. It's often used for people who suffer from panic attacks or panic disorders.Some of the good brands that make essential oil blends specifically for stress are Doterra and Sage.Blends specifically for stress are called “Stress Relief” and "Serenity.”Put it on your pressure points—on your wrists, on your temples, and on your neck—so that you can smell those oils while taking deep breaths.

2. Essential oils

There's a connection between our mind and our body.If we were able to take control of our breath, we'd be able to control our emotions and our emotional response.Simple, deep belly breathing helps trigger our relaxation response in our body. It also lowers blood pressure and heart rate.Scientifically, it's been shown that when we are taking deep breaths, we can't feel anxious at the same time.

3. Breathing

One of the great meditations for anxiety relief is scanning your entire body. It is known as Body Scan meditation or Yoga Nidra.You can find some of the great ones on the following YouTube channels: "Ally Boothroyd" and "Caroline McCready Meditation."It takes you through scanning your entire body from head to toes.A lot of the time, when we're anxious, we're trying to figure out how to control our mind, but sometimes we're holding so much pressure in our physical body that we need to let go of that first before our mind feels like it's okay.

4. Meditation

Anulom Vilom is a breathing exercise, or pranayama, practiced to improve focus and calm the mind in yoga.It involves breathing through the left and right nostrils in an alternate manner: first, we inhale completely from the left nostril while closing the right one, then close the left nostril and exhale through the right nostril. Breathing in this alternate process is then reversed and repeated.

5. Anulom Vilom

Tapping is also known as the EFT emotional freedom technique. You're tapping the meridian points on your body.There are 12 meridian points in your body, and you're going through each of those points gently tapping them, usually seven times in each area.Tapping helps release any energy that's stagnant in those parts of the body and helps the energy flow freely.You can also set an intention before you start; it can be just a simple phrase, an affirmation, something that's very specific to your situation, or something that brings you calm. While you're tapping, repeat the phrase constantly.

6. Tapping

Abhyanga means self-massage. It is an Ayurvedic ritual where you apply oil, ideally warm oil, and massage it all over your body.By doing it every day, it helps to lubricate our nervous system because the oils that we put on our skin are absorbed into our body.If you don't have time to do it all over your body, you can simply massage your head, the top of your head, and the base of your feet. If you do it in the evening, it will help you sleep well at night and reduce the intensity of the anxiety you are feeling.

7. Abhyanga

Teas like chamomile, passion flower, and peppermint are especially good for anxiety relief.Chamomile is known for improving sleep. It helps relax and soothe the body, which is perfect in times of anxiety.A study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania found that participants who were diagnosed with anxiety and took an eight-week course of chamomile pills experienced a reduction in anxiety compared to those who did not take the pills.

8. Herbs and Teas

From an Ayurvedic perspective, anxiety is an accumulation of the mobile, dry, and airy qualities that build up in the nervous system. These qualities are associated with the Vata dosha. When Vata becomes imbalanced, it can lead to feelings of restlessness and anxiety.The doshas are believed to be the three fundamental energies that govern our physical and mental well-being.In Ayurveda, it says that like increases like and opposites balance, which means that we need to eat foods that invoke the opposite qualities of light, mobile, and airy, which means we need grounding and moist foods.

9. Vata dosha

The belly is often referred to as our second brain because it contains over 95% of the serotonin receptors throughout our body.It's recommended to increase your magnesium intake if you are feeling anxious. Magnesium-rich foods include nuts and seeds, leafy greens, legumes, and whole grains.Low levels of antioxidants in the body have also been associated with anxiety, so incorporating foods with high levels of antioxidants, such as berries, apples, prunes, broccoli, beets, and spices like ginger and turmeric, into your diet is beneficial.

10. Magnesium

Low levels of vitamin D have also been found to be associated with higher levels of anxiety.Low levels of vitamin D are not great for your joints and are also linked to depression.

11. Vitamin D

Get yourself into a hot bath, a steam room, or a jacuzzi.Science has shown that being in a state of warmth or having more warmth around you allows our muscles to relax, so choose a warm bath in the evenings before you go to sleep.Having warmth in your body increases the production of serotonin, and the more happy hormones we have in our body, the less anxious we're going to be.

12. Warmth

Science has repeatedly proven that spending time in nature improves our health. It can lower blood pressure, reduce heart rate, and regulate the production of cortisol, which is the stress hormone in our body.Being in nature connects us back to our source. So when feeling anxious, take a walk in nature.In Japan, there is a practice called "forest bathing", which involves experiencing nature through all five senses. So whether it's seeing something, smelling the flowers, hearing the birds, or basking in the natural light, embrace it.

13. Spending More Time in Nature

You can speak to yourself in a mirror, write in a journal, or talk to a friend. You should learn what works best for you when expressing your emotions. Because if you don't release them, they will remain within you and potentially manifest as negative thoughts or feelings that may cause your heart to race or make you feel on edge.Opening up to yourself is the first step towards understanding your feelings, and talking to someone else about it can help you realize that you are not alone.You can use an Emotion Wheel to help yourself figure out the emotions you are feeling.

14. Expressing Your Feelings

Adaptogens are herbs that help us deal with the ups and downs of life.Research has shown that adaptogens can help us combat fatigue, enhance our mental performance, and relieve stress.One of the great ones for stress relief is Ashwagandha. It helps build natural resistance and immunity to our daily stresses while also promoting self-confidence, positive thinking, and feelings of fulfillment.You can get Ashwagandha pills, but also in powder form, and just add it to a warm glass of milk in the evening before you go to sleep.

15. Adaptogens

Sometimes anxiety comes from just having too much on our minds, so the way that you can handle that is by making a checklist. It can help free up your mind and allow you to focus on the task at hand.You can write it down in the notes on your phone or scribble it onto a piece of paper. The point is to take the thoughts out of your mind and onto something tangible.Constantly trying to remember something puts too much pressure on your mind.

16. Checklist

In Sanskrit, impressions are called samskaras, which means that every single thing that comes in through our five senses leaves impressions in our minds (subconscious minds). An impressions journal encourages you to write down every single thing that you find is coming through your senses (hearing, sight, taste, smell, touch, or whatever you are allowing into you). You can ask yourself, "If I'm feeling like this, what in my day triggered that?" and see what sense it's come through. Then you can decide whether this is something you don't need in your life if it's triggering a stress response.

17. Impressions Journal

Sound vibrations through our bodies are so powerful. Meditation music can help move this energy through our body—anything stagnant, anything that is stubborn and not wanting to leave.Movement, music, and sound vibrations can really help blast it out of our system.Even if you don't want to listen to meditation music, you can put on a song that takes you back to a happy moment in life. So, put it on loud, sing the lyrics, and dance!

18. Music

If you are experiencing a lot of anxiety that is impacting your physical, mental, and emotional well-being, consider seeing a therapist.There is a lot of stigma in some countries surrounding therapy, but it is simply a way to express your thoughts and emotions to someone who is both trusted and capable of helping you navigate your life in a way that doesn't trigger you or resolve the issues you are facing.

19. Therapy

In this video, Radhi provides 19 interesting tips and techniques on how to manage and reduce anxiety.

The first 1,000 people to use this link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: https://skl.sh/radhidevlukiashetty07211

Hey buttercups, this is something i've been working on a lot lately especially since the pandemic. I really have tried and tested all these tips and wanted to share it with you all in hope that it can help you in some way! Would love to hear your experiences and journey with anxiety and let me know if you try any of these and how it goes xxx 

Website: www.radhidevlukia.co

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Hey!! I'm Radhi and WELCOMEEEE to my channel! 🥰

I share plant based recipes with influence from all parts of my life; India where my roots are, Africa where my parents were born and raised, UK which is where I was born and raised and now USA where I live! I love merging cultures and flavors from all parts of my life to create flavorful, vibrant dishes! 

Ultimately I launched this channel to really share all the things I learn and experience throughout my life that bring me joy, help me evolve and nourish my mind, body & soul too! OH AND ALSO to spread the power of spices around the worldddd!!!

I hope my videos bring just as much meaning and depth to your life! 

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How To Deal With Anxiety

Acute crises and dysfunction always precede or coincide with any evolutionary advancement or gain in consciousness.

Who am I then? The one who sees that. The awareness that is prior to thought, the space in which the thought—or the emotion or sense perception—happens....heaven is not a location but refers to the inner realm of consciousness.

The ego isn’t wrong; it’s just unconscious.When you observe the ego in yourself, you are beginning to go beyond it. Don’t take the ego too seriously. When you detect egoic behavior in yourself, smile. At times you may even laugh.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,” Jesus said, “for theirs will be the kingdom of heaven.” What does “poor in spirit” mean? No inner baggage, no identifications. Not with things, nor with any mental concepts that have a sense of self in them. And what is the “kingdom of heaven”? The simple but profound joy of Being that is there when you let go of identifications and so become “poor in spirit.”

There are people who have renounced all possessions but have a bigger ego than some millionaires. If you take away one kind of identification, the ego will quickly find another. It ultimately doesn’t mind what it identifies with as long as it has an identity. As we shall see later, making yourself right and others wrong is one of the principal egoic mind patterns, one of the main forms of unconsciousness.

Sometimes you may not know that you are attached to something, which is to say, identified, until you lose it or there is the threat of loss. If you then become upset, anxious, and so on, it means you are attached. If you are aware that you are identified with a thing, the identification is no longer total. “I am the awareness that is aware that there is attachment.” That’s the beginning of the transformation of consciousness.

Ego is a conglomeration of recurring thought forms and conditioned mental-emotional patterns that are invested with a sense of I, a sense of self.Ego arises when your sense of Beingness, of “I Am,” which is formless consciousness, gets mixed up with form.

When you know you are dreaming, you are awake within the dream.That’s the peace of God. The ultimate truth of who you are is not I am this or I am that, but I Am.

Yielding means inner acceptance of what is. You are open to life. Resistance is an inner contraction, a hardening of the shell of the ego. You are closed. Whatever action you take in a state of inner resistance (which we could also call negativity) will create more outer resistance, and the universe will not be on your side; life will not be helpful.If the shutters are closed, the sunlight cannot come in. When you yield internally, when you surrender, a new dimension of consciousness opens up.

Instead of overlooking unconsciousness in others, you make it into their identity. Who is doing that? The ego within you.

Nonreaction to the ego in others is one of the most effective ways not only of going beyond ego in yourself but also of dissolving the collective human ego. But you can only be in a state of nonreaction if you can recognize someone’s behavior as coming from the ego, as being an expression of the collective human dysfunction.At times, you may have to take practical steps to protect yourself from deeply unconscious people. This you can do without making them into enemies.

The moment you become aware of the ego in you, it is strictly speaking no longer the ego, but just an old, conditioned mind-pattern. Ego implies unawareness. Awareness and ego cannot coexist.

If you do, become aware of the grievance both on the level of thought as well as emotion, that is to say, be aware of the thoughts that keep it alive, and feel the emotion that is the body’s response to those thoughts. Don’t try to let go of the grievance. Trying to let go, to forgive, does not work. Forgiveness happens naturally when you see that it has no purpose other than to strengthen a false sense of self, to keep the ego in place. The seeing is freeing.

Thought can at best point to the truth, but it never is the truth. That’s why Buddhists say “The finger pointing to the moon is not the moon.”

The Truth is inseparable from who you are. Yes, you are the Truth. If you look for it elsewhere, you will be deceived every time. The very Being that you are is Truth. Jesus tried to convey that when he said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.

Anything that you resent and strongly react to in another is also in you. But it is no more than a form of ego, and as such, it is completely impersonal. It has nothing to do with who that person is, nor has it anything to do with who you are.

...but beware of making it your mission to “eradicate evil,” as you are likely to turn into the very thing you are fighting against. Fighting unconsciousness will draw you into unconsciousness yourself.Unconsciousness, dysfunctional egoic behavior, can never be defeated by attacking it. Even if you defeat your opponent, the unconsciousness will simply have moved into you, or the opponent reappears in a new disguise. Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists.

War is a mind-set, and all action that comes out of such a mind-set will either strengthen the enemy, the perceived evil, or, if the war is won, will create a new enemy, a new evil equal to and often worse than the one that was defeated.

Once you see the ego for what it is, it becomes much easier to remain nonreactive toward it. You don’t take it personally anymore. There is no complaining, blaming, accusing, or making wrong. Nobody is wrong. It is the ego in someone, that’s all. Compassion arises when you recognize that all are suffering from the same sickness of the mind, some more acutely than others.What is its fuel? Reactivity. The ego thrives on it.

Whatever behavior the ego manifests, the hidden motivating force is always the same: the need to stand out, be special, be in control; the need for power, for attention, for more. And, of course, the need to feel a sense of separation, that is to say, the need for opposition, enemies.

The underlying emotion that governs all the activity of the ego is fear. The fear of being nobody, the fear of nonexistence, the fear of death. All its activities are ultimately designed to eliminate this fear, but the most the ego can ever do is to cover it up temporarily with an intimate relationship, a new possession, or winning at this or that. Illusion will never satisfy you. Only the truth of who you are, if realized, will set you free.

Once you realize and accept that all structures (forms) are unstable, even the seemingly solid material ones, peace arises within you. This is because the recognition of the impermanence of all forms awakens you to the dimension of the formless within yourself, that which is beyond death. Jesus called it “eternal life.” The recognition of the false is already the arising of the real.

A genuine relationship is one that is not dominated by the ego with its image-making and self-seeking. In a genuine relationship, there is an outward flow of open, alert attention toward the other person in which there is no wanting whatsoever. That alert attention is Presence. And so, the three predominant states of egoic relationships are: wanting, thwarted wanting (anger, resentment, blaming, complaining), and indifference.

A shy person who is afraid of the attention of others is not free of ego, but has an ambivalent ego that both wants and fears attention from others. The fear is that the attention may take the form of disapproval or criticism. Shyness often goes with a self-concept that is predominately negative, the belief of being inadequate. Any conceptual sense of self—seeing myself as this or that—is ego. Whenever you feel superior or inferior to anyone, that’s the ego.

Don’t say, “I’m unhappy.” Unhappiness has nothing to do with who you are. Say: “There is unhappiness in me.” Then investigate it. A situation you find yourself in may have something to do with it. Action may be required to change the situation or remove yourself from it. If there is nothing you can do, face what is and say, “Well, right now, this is how it is. I can either accept it, or make myself miserable.”

It is enough for you to recognize that it is the ego in them, that it is not who they are. Egoic patterns, even long-standing ones, sometimes dissolve almost miraculously when you don’t oppose them internally. Opposition only gives them renewed strength.

“If you think you are so enlightened,” Ram Dass said, “go and spend a week with your parents.” That is good advice. The relationship with your parents is not only the primordial relationship that sets the tone for all subsequent relationships, it is also a good test for your degree of Presence.

As long as you resist suffering, it is a slow process because the resistance creates more ego to burn up. When you accept suffering, however, there is an acceleration of that process which is brought about by the fact that you suffer consciously.In the midst of conscious suffering, there is already the transmutation. The fire of suffering becomes the light of consciousness.

In fact, doing is never enough if you neglect Being. The ego knows nothing of Being but believes you will eventually be saved by doing. If you are in the grip of the ego, you believe that by doing more and more you will eventually accumulate enough “doings” to make yourself feel complete at some point in the future. You won’t. You will only lose yourself in doing.

Human alone is never enough, no matter how hard you try or what you achieve. Then there is Being. It is found in the still, alert presence of Consciousness itself, the Consciousness that you are. Human is form. Being is formless. Human and Being are not separate but interwoven.

You may love your child, but your love will be human only, that is to say, conditional, possessive, intermittent. Only beyond form, in Being, are you equal, and only when you find the formless dimension in yourself can there be true love in that relationship. The Presence that you are, the timeless I Am, recognizes itself in another, and the other, the child in this case, feels loved, that is to say, recognized. To love is to recognize yourself in another.

So love is the recognition of oneness in the world of duality. This is the birth of God into the world of form. Love makes the world less worldly, less dense, more transparent to the divine dimension, the light of consciousness itself.

To do whatever is required of you in any situation without it becoming a role that you identify with is an essential lesson in the art of living that each one of us is here to learn. You become most powerful in whatever you do if the action is performed for its own sake rather than as a means to protect, enhance, or conform to your role identity.

You are most powerful, most effective, when you are completely yourself. But don’t try to be yourself. That’s another role. It’s called “natural, spontaneous me.” As soon as you are trying to be this or that, you are playing a role. “Just be yourself” is good advice, but it can also be misleading.

If the egoic earth drama has any purpose at all, it is an indirect one: It creates more and more suffering on the planet, and suffering, although largely ego-created, is in the end also ego-destructive. It is the fire in which the ego burns itself up.

In form, you are and will always be inferior to some, superior to others. In essence, you are neither inferior nor superior to anyone. True self-esteem and true humility arise out of that realization. In the eyes of the ego, self-esteem and humility are contradictory. In truth, they are one and the same. Whenever you interact with people, don’t be there primarily as a function or a role, but as a field of conscious Presence.

Cleverness pursues its own little aims. Intelligence sees the larger whole in which all things are connected.

The ego creates separation, and separation creates suffering.

There are three words that convey the secret of the art of living, the secret of all success and happiness: One With Life. Being one with life is being one with Now. You then realize that you don’t live your life, but life lives you.

To become free of the ego is not really a big job but a very small one. All you need to do is be aware of your thoughts and emotions—as they happen. This is not really a “doing,” but an alert “seeing.”

Cooperation is alien to the ego, except when there is a secondary motive. The ego doesn’t know that the more you include others, the more smoothly things flow and the more easily things come to you.

A collective ego manifests the same characteristics as the personal ego, such as the need for conflict and enemies, the need for more, the need to be right against others who are wrong, and so on. Sooner or later, the collective will come into conflict with other collectives, because it unconsciously seeks conflict and it needs opposition to define its boundary and thus its identity.A collective ego is usually more unconscious than the individuals that make up that ego.

Most people are at the mercy of that voice; they are possessed by thought, by the mind. And since the mind is conditioned by the past, you are then forced to reenact the past again and again. The Eastern term for this is karma.

Positive emotions generated by the ego already contain within themselves their opposite into which they can quickly turn. Here are some examples: What the ego calls love is possessiveness and addictive clinging that can turn into hate within a second. Anticipation about an upcoming event, which is the ego’s overvaluation of future, easily turns into its opposite—letdown or disappointment—when the event is over or doesn’t fulfill the ego’s expectations.

...choosing not to feel it is indeed the only option for the child at that time. Unfortunately, that early defense mechanism usually remains in place when the child becomes an adult. The emotion still lives in him or her unrecognized and manifests indirectly, for example, as anxiety, anger, outbursts of violence, a mood, or even as a physical illness. In some cases, it interferes with or sabotages every intimate relationship.

People with heavy pain-bodies usually have a better chance to awaken spiritually than those with a relatively light one. Whereas some of them do remain trapped in their heavy pain-bodies, many others reach a point where they cannot live with their unhappiness any longer, and so their motivation to awaken becomes strong. Christ can be seen as the archetypal human, embodying both the pain and the possibility of transcendence.

The person who is talking and making promises, however, is not the entity that commits the violence, and so you can be sure that it will happen again and again unless he becomes present, recognizes the pain-body within himself, and thus disidentifies from it. In some cases, counseling can help him do that. Most pain-bodies want to both inflict and suffer pain, but some are predominately either perpetrators or victims.

Why do violent films attract such large audiences? There is an entire industry, a large part of which fuels the human addiction to unhappiness. People obviously watch those films because they want to feel bad. What is it in humans that loves to feel bad and calls it good? The pain-body, of course. A large part of the entertainment industry caters to it. So, in addition to reactivity, negative thinking, and personal drama, the pain-body also renews itself vicariously through the cinema and television screen.

The pain-body in most cases does not dissolve immediately, but once you have severed the link between it and your thinking, the pain-body begins to lose energy. Your thinking ceases to be clouded by emotion; your present perceptions are no longer distorted by the past. The energy that was trapped in the pain-body then changes its vibrational frequency and is transmuted into Presence. In this way, the pain-body becomes fuel for consciousness. This is why many of the wisest, most enlightened men and women on our planet once had a heavy pain-body.

Does this mean that people are not responsible for what they do when possessed by the pain-body? My answer is: How can they be? How can you be responsible when you are unconscious, when you don’t know what you are doing?

"All I’m asking is that you find out whether it is possible for you to allow those feelings to be there. In other words, and this may sound strange, if you don’t mind being unhappy, what happens to the unhappiness? Don’t you want to find out?”She said, “This is weird. I’m still unhappy, but now there is space around it. It seems to matter less.” This was the first time I heard somebody put it like that: There is space around my unhappiness. That space, of course, comes when there is inner acceptance of whatever you are experiencing in the present moment.

While the child is having a pain-body attack, there isn’t much you can do except to stay present so that you are not drawn into an emotional reaction. The child’s pain-body would only feed on it. Pain-bodies can be extremely dramatic. Don’t buy into the drama. Don’t take it too seriously. If the pain-body was triggered by thwarted wanting, don’t give in now to its demands. Otherwise, the child will learn: “The more unhappy I become, the more likely I am to get what I want.”

Not all unhappiness is of the pain-body. Some of it is new unhappiness, created whenever you are out of alignment with the present moment, when the Now is denied in one way or another.

It requires a high degree of Presence to avoid reacting when confronted by someone with such an active pain-body. If you are able to stay present, it sometimes happens that your Presence enables the other person to disidentify from his or her own pain-body and thus experience the miracle of a sudden awakening.

A woman who in childhood was physically abused by her father may find that her pain-body becomes easily activated in any close relationship with a man. Alternatively, the emotion that makes up her pain-body may draw her to a man whose pain-body is similar to that of her father. Her pain-body may feel a magnetic pull to someone who it senses will give it more of the same pain. That pain is sometimes misinterpreted as falling in love.

When you recognize your own pain-body as it arises, you will also quickly learn what the most common triggers are that activate it, whether it be situations or certain things other people do or say. When those triggers occur, you will immediately see them for what they are and enter a heightened state of alertness.

If you are with your partner at the time, you may tell him or her: “What you just said (or did) triggered my pain-body.” Have an agreement with your partner that whenever either of you says or does something that triggers the other person’s pain-body, you will immediately mention it. In this way, the pain-body can no longer renew itself through drama in the relationship and instead of pulling you into unconsciousness, will help you become fully present.

Accepting means you allow yourself to feel whatever it is you are feeling at that moment. It is part of the is-ness of the Now. You can’t argue with what is. Well, you can, but if you do, you suffer. Through allowing, you become what you are: vast, spacious. You become whole.

Knowing yourself deeply has nothing to do with whatever ideas are floating around in your mind. Knowing yourself is to be rooted in Being, instead of lost in your mind.

If peace mattered to you more than anything else and if you truly knew yourself to be spirit rather than a little me, you would remain nonreactive and absolutely alert when confronted with challenging people or situations. You would immediately accept the situation and thus become one with it rather than separate yourself from it. Then, out of your alertness, would come a response. Who you are (consciousness), not who you think you are (a small me), would be responding. It would be powerful and effective and would turn no person or situation into an enemy.

The more limited, the more narrowly egoic the view of yourself, the more you will see, focus on, and react to the egoic limitations, the unconsciousness in others. Their “faults” or what you perceive as their faults become to you their identity. This means you will see only the ego in them and thus strengthen the ego in yourself. Instead of looking “through” the ego in others, you are looking “at” the ego. Who is looking at the ego? The ego in you.

Try this for a couple of weeks and see how it changes your reality: Whatever you think people are withholding from you—praise, appreciation, assistance, loving care, and so on—give it to them. You don’t have it? Just act as if you had it, and it will come. Then, soon after you start giving, you will start receiving. You cannot receive what you don’t give. Outflow determines inflow. Whatever you think the world is withholding from you, you already have, but unless you allow it to flow out, you won’t even know that you have it.

Abundance comes only to those who already have it. It sounds almost unfair, but of course it isn’t. It is a universal law. Both abundance and scarcity are inner states that manifest as your reality. Jesus puts it like this: “For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Behind the sometimes seemingly random or even chaotic succession of events in our lives as well as in the world lies concealed the unfolding of a higher order and purpose. This is beautifully expressed in the Zen saying “The snow falls, each flake in its appropriate place.” The deeper interconnectedness of all things and events implies that the mental labels of “good” and “bad” are ultimately illusory. They always imply a limited perspective and so are true only relatively and temporarily.

To be in alignment with what is means to be in a relationship of inner nonresistance with what happens. It means not to label it mentally as good or bad, but to let it be.Does this mean you can no longer take action to bring about change in your life? On the contrary. When the basis for your actions is inner alignment with the present moment, your actions become empowered by the intelligence of Life itself.

Time is what the ego lives on. The stronger the ego, the more time takes over your life. Almost every thought you think is then concerned with past or future, and your sense of self depends on the past for your identity and on the future for its fulfillment. Fear, anxiety, expectation, regret, guilt, anger are the dysfunctions of the time-bound state of consciousness.There are three ways in which the ego will treat the present moment: as a means to an end, as an obstacle, or as an enemy.

Time is the horizontal dimension of life, the surface layer of reality. Then there is the vertical dimension of depth, accessible to you only through the portal of the present moment. When you bring an inner yes to the form the Now takes, that very form becomes a doorway into the formless. The separation between the world and God dissolves.

The joy of Being, which is the only true happiness, cannot come to you through any form, possession, achievement, person, or event—through anything that happens. That joy cannot come to you—ever. It emanates from the formless dimension within you, from consciousness itself and thus is one with who you are.

If you are content with being nobody in particular, content not to stand out, you align yourself with the power of the universe. What looks like weakness to the ego is in fact the only true strength. This spiritual truth is diametrically opposed to the values of our contemporary culture and the way it conditions people to behave. Instead of trying to be a mountain, teaches the ancient Tao Te Ching, “Be the valley of the universe.” In this way, you are restored to wholeness and so “all things will come to you.”

“It means ‘Buddha,’” he said. “Why are there two characters rather than one?” I asked. “One,” he explained, means ‘man.’ The other means ‘no.’ And the two together means ‘Buddha.’” I stood there in awe. The character for Buddha already contained the whole teaching of the Buddha, and for those who have eyes to see, the secret of life. Here are the two dimensions that make up reality, thingness and no-thingness, form and the denial of form, which is the recognition that form is not who you are.

When you are no longer totally identified with forms, consciousnessbecomes freed from its imprisonment in form. This freedom is the arising of inner space. It comes as a stillness, a subtle peace deep within you, even in the face of something seemingly bad. This, too, will pass. Suddenly, there is space around the event. There is also space around the emotional highs and lows, even around pain. And above all, there is space between your thoughts. And from that space emanates a peace that is not “of this world,” because this world is form, and the peace is space. This is the peace of God.

These are some of my favorite excerpts and quotes from the book!

The 10th anniversary edition of A New Earth with a new preface by Eckhart Tolle. With his bestselling spiritual guide The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle inspired millions of readers to discover the freedom and joy of a life lived “in the now.” In A New Earth, Tolle expands on these powerful ideas to show how transcending our ego-based state of consciousness is not only essential to personal happiness, but also the key to ending conflict and suffering throughout the world. Tolle describes how our attachment to the ego creates the dysfunction that leads to anger, jealousy, and unhappiness, and shows readers how to awaken to a new state of consciousness and follow the path to a truly fulfilling existence. Illuminating, enlightening, and uplifting, A New Earth is a profoundly spiritual manifesto for a better way of life—and for building a better world.

philosophy

Philosophy

religionandspirituality

Religion & Spirituality

meditation

Meditation

Eckhart Tolle is a teacher, author, and entrepreneur. He is a German-born resident of Canada best known as the author of The Power of Now and A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. Tolle does not identify with any specific religion, but he has been influenced by multiple spiritual works.

Eckhart Tolle

A New Earth

The idea is to split up life into a bunch of different components. And then we’ll rate our satisfaction with those different areas of life.Start by drawing a circle, and then split it up into three segments.These three segments are for your work, health, and relationships.

The Wheel of Life

Now you need to split up each of the thirds into three segments each.Within health, you have three things: body, mind, and soul.Relationships: family, romance, friendsWork: mission, money, growth

10 areas of life

Now, you need to rate, on a scale from 0 to 10, how aligned/satisfied you feel in each of these different areas of your life.Alignment: when my actions in the here and now are consistent with where I want to be.If you are doing it with pen and paper, then you can color in the wheel of life based on what your numbers are. So if you got 10 out of 10, you would fully color that particular segment of the wheel. If you got a five, you would half-color it in, etc.

Rate each area

After you are done with your wheel, add one final category: JOY.How aligned do you feel with your actions in the here and now based on where you want to be and the amount of joy you are experiencing in your life?

The whole point of this exercise is to help make this year the best year. If we were able to get to a point where we were 10 out of 10 across all these different areas, that would mean:<ol><li>We are doing the things that are most meaningful to us and making progress towards them.</li><li>We are in balance with all the different areas of our life.</li><li>And we are also enjoying the journey along the way. Especially if we have 10 out of 10 in the JOY category as well.</li></ol>

The whole point of this exercise

We have now created a clear sense of where we are right now.Then we can get a sense of where we would like to be. And when you have a sense of where you are now and where you want to be, that is what creates GOALS.Now, it is worth highlighting or circling the areas (two or three areas). ⇒ what is the one that really stands out to you as needing some amount of work?After taking this inventory, you can start taking action towards remedying certain of these areas.

Goals

A lot of studies show that people who set goals perform better, are more productive, and feel happier with life.Also, studies show that people who write their goals down are more likely to achieve them than people who don’t.In each area of your life, ask yourself: What would I like to be celebrating 12 months from now? You can start with the tree/two areas that you circled, or you can do it for all the different areas on your wheel.

12-month celebration

In this video, Ali shares three great methods (Wheel of Life, 12-Month Celebration, and Ideal Week) that will help you move more towards making sure that this coming year is the best year of your life in terms of meaningfulness, balance, and enjoyability. I wish you a wonderful and fulfilling New Year! :)

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Over the past few years I've thought a lot about how to do annual planning, and I think this is one of the best systems out there. A simple 3 step process. I hope it helps you do more of what matters to you in 2024. Enjoy! 

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If we haven’t yet before - Hey 👋 I’m Ali, a doctor-turned-entrepreneur and I’ve somehow become the world’s most followed productivity expert. Through my videos here on this channel, my podcast Deep Dive and writing, I share evidence-based strategies and tools to help you be more productive and build a life you love.

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⌚️Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
0:43 - The Wheel of Life
7:06 - 12 Month Celebration
14:00 - Ideal Week Method

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