I’m not sure if there is any photo that can depict real, true happiness.
Happiness is just a feeling, an amazing one at that.
The most a photo can do is invoke feelings of happiness.
So think of me as your photo, and I’ll be sure to invoke happiness into your life as long as you’ll let me.
Visit my blog for more works, and media of mine!
How ya goin?
My name is Olivia, but you can call me Liv.
I am least comfortable in a bathing suit.
So, here is a picture of me in one.
This year I took a chance on me.
I closed my eyes and dreamt of myself in Australia.
In February, I start school at the University of Queensland.
My true happiness will come when I close my eyes and no longer dream of myself anywhere else.
Until then, I will keep going to where my dreams take me.
8 years ago, we were children. Young teens with dreams, where love was strong and nothing else mattered. We lived for the moment and thought we were immortal. Anastasiya Guzchenko the perfectionist in her own eyes and in mine, the girl that tackles her dreams with respect, the girl that once wanted to become a doctor but followed her heart and is going to become the best dentist on the planet because of how perfect she is with everything she does. For 8 years, you haven’t complained about much not even when cancer fought us with flaming hands. You are such an inspiration to your sisters, my sisters, my family. Thank you for allowing the people around you to believe again. I love you baby.
At 13, I made my first life-changing decision. I picked up a self-help book.
As an awkward teenager, I had developed low self-esteem, constantly having to struggle while going through the motions of the day to feel better about myself when I looked at girls who were prettier, smarter, confident. I wanted to be confident too. A curious look into a book on how to be a happy teen found me poring through the pages of it that same night, pledging to myself that I had had enough of feeling sorry for myself.
It seemed simple enough. Read the book, learn the techniques and voila, I’d be a happy teen! I’d be confident, comfortable, noticed, at long last. How hard could it possibly be?
It took me six years to get me to the point of happiness that my younger self had only dreamed of once upon a weekend night’s revelation. Sometimes, I still struggle with feeling good about myself.
But that’s the secret: believe them when they tell you that happiness is an attitude. Happiness is something you strive for every day of your life until finally, you wake up one glorious morning and its become a part of you.
Happiness is having a bad day and realising that it’s not you, and that the sun will shine again tomorrow. Happiness is understanding that it’s natural to be jealous and envious of those who seem to have it all, but not letting those feelings consume you because hey; your blessings are abundant when you stop to turn behind and remember them. Happiness is knowing that it’s alright to be sad, but also knowing that the pain will pass and new chapters will unfold. Happiness is beginning a day with disappointment, and ending it with a lesson. Happiness is many days, weeks, and years of understanding that life goes on, and so will you.
Happiness is many little things, beginning with the process of understanding the little things that make up your life: everyday.
Reduce stress, anxiety, and negative emotions, cool yourself down when your temper flares, and sharpen your concentration skills.
How do you cultivate mindfulness? One way is to meditate. A basic method is to focus your attention on your own breathing—a practice simply called “mindful breathing.” After setting aside time to practice mindful breathing, you’ll find it easier to focus attention on your breath in your daily life—an important skill to help you deal with stress, anxiety, and negative emotions, cool yourself down when your temper flares, and sharpen your ability to concentrate.
Why we meditate
Meditation is all about freedom. Only a fraction of the world’s population is formally imprisoned, but the entire human race is imprisoned in the body and the earth itself. None are free from the inevitability of sickness, age, and death, however free of them they may be at the moment. The human condition is subject to innumerable limitations. Who really controls his life fully, attains all his goals, and knows no setbacks of any kind? No one.
Our real self, the spirit, is ever perfect and free. But we have forgotten that. So we identify with our present experience of bondage and consequently suffer in countless ways. Our situation is like someone who is asleep and dreaming that he is being tortured and beaten. In reality he is not being touched at all; yet he is experiencing very real pain and fear. He need not placate, overpower, or escape his torturers. He needs only to wake up. Meditation is the way of self-awakening, the way to freedom from suffering and limitation.
Meditation is the way of remembrance and restoration. A person suffering from amnesia has not ceased to be who he really is, but he needs to regain his memory. The memory block from which we suffer is the condition of the various levels on which we presently function, especially the mind. It is also a matter of the dislocation of our consciousness from its natural center.
Meditation is the process of re-centering our awareness in the principle of pure consciousness which is our essential being. We have lost awareness of our true Self through awareness of external objects, and become habituated–even addicted–to objective consciousness. Rather than disperse our consciousness through objects that draw us outward, away from the center of our being, we can take an object that will have the opposite effect, present it to the mind, and reverse our consciousness. That object is the breath, which is the meeting place of body, mind, and spirit.
I strongly recommend the class named “Learn the Peaceful Practice of Breath Meditation.” A lovely, calming short class with a very effective guided meditation set to beautiful music! I love how the instructor emphasizes that there is no right or wrong way to meditate. Looking forward to doing this meditation again and again!
Exclusive BayArt offer:
GET THE DEAL NOW! Take as many premium classes over 30 free days! Unlock access to thousands of Premium classes.
This article introduces the mandala, a sophisticated tool used in Buddhist meditation practices.
I’ve been experimenting on my own, but the class named “Drawing Mandalas (Easy, Fun, & Creative Art to De-Stress Yourself)” gave me some basic guidelines that will greatly improve my results. Kate’s instruction gives you just enough info to start creating mandalas but leaves the creativity up to you. she’s great!
Exclusive BayArt offer:
GET THE DEAL NOW! Take as many premium classes over 30 free days! Unlock access to thousands of Premium classes.
Imagery is a form of meditation, and meditation is a great tool for healing, restoring and enlightening our bodies.
A mandala (Sanskrit: मण्डल, lit, circle) is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the universe.[1] In common use, “mandala” has become a generic term for any diagram, chart or geometric pattern that represents the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically; a microcosm of the universe. From Wikipedia
The mandala appears to us in all aspects of life, the Earth, the Sun, the Moon and more obviously the circles of life encompassing friends, family and communities.
Mandalas are circular designs symbolizing the notion that life is never ending. Many mandalas have spiritual significance to an individual or group of individuals. The Hindus were one of the first people to use a mandala as a spiritual tool, but the mandalas most individuals are familiar with, are ones made by Buddhists.
Mandalas are used for meditation purposes allowing the individual meditating to become one with the universe. There are not many who are able to achieve this state of mind from just studying a mandala. The symbolism behind the creation of a mandala can have significant meaning for many individuals whether they are Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, Pagan or of any other religious orientation.
Mandalas can be created by individuals to symbolize their journeys through life. Mandalas can also tell a story of where an individual has been. In some cases they will reveal the individual’s path in life. Groups can create mandalas that will reveal what they should be doing in order to grow and develop as a group.
Before receiving any teaching – tantric or general – from a Buddhist teacher, the students offer a mandala of request, while a mandala of thanksgiving is offered at the end. Here, the mandala represents a perfect universe full of precious objects. Because the students value the teaching more than anything else in the world, offering the mandala signifies their willingness to give anything and everything to receive it.
Mandalas are used in various Buddhist practices to represent not just the universe, but also the numerous facets of the Buddhist path. While Tibetan monks continue to construct beautiful sand mandalas at venues across the world to raise awareness of the Tibetan situation, it’s important not to view them as merely an exotic form of art. Mandalas are a sophisticated meditation tool that constitutes a central role in both general and advanced tantra practice, and that helps to further us on our path to enlightenment.
In Buddhist mandala, the circles represent levels of the cosmos, and the squares generally depict earthly levels. The levels may have gates, which lead into the centre of the mandala. The mandala is used as an external expression to help find the universe within. Often, the mandala incorporates symbols or physical representations of the Buddha to show the transition of the spiritual journey
In Buddhist art, complex drawings or paintings are made which represent various levels of existence. These are often very colourful and full of symbols, and are often displayed on special occasions. Creation of a sand mandala was a very special ceremony in Tibet and rarely viewed by outsiders.
Carl Jung described a mandala as “a representation of the unconscious self”. He spent years creating mandala paintings and sketches that he felt depicted representations of his inner self. His book, simply called “Red Book” is a compilation of these expressions, offering us a glimpse into the unification of opposites within his own existence. It is within the unconscious that the soul and spirit resides. Kellog (1967) researched and documented children from as young as two years of age progress from drawing squiggles to circles without any teaching or intervention from adults. They spontaneously create suns, flowers, mandalas and heads with arms and legs radiating from these circles. It can be determined that the suggestion of drawing mandalas becomes crucial for the development of the child’s self is of a sound basis.
Creating Mandalas Helps…
When you create your own mandala, think of it as an echo of your soul. Drawing and coloring a mandala can be a highly enriching personal experience in which you look inside yourself and find the shapes, colors and patterns to represent anything from your current state of mind to your most deeply-desired wish for yourself, for a loved one, or for humanity.
You can design a mandala to symbolize a state of mind that you would like to achieve. Mandalas are great tools for meditation and increasing self-awareness. Many different cultures around the world use mandalas in their spiritual practices.
The best thing about designing your own mandals is that you have the freedom to choose whatever shapes and colors that you feel express your sense of self and your view of reality. Your mandala is yours, and you have the freedom to use your creativity to create a mandala drawing that is uniquely you.
Once you know the basic steps of how to draw a mandala, you can try now new designs and new colors each time you draw a new mandala.
I enjoyed this class. Kate Friedman has an unhurried, mellow energy that is especially complimentary to the subject. The techniques she shows are so simple anyone can learn them quickly, yet they create beautifully complex patterns. I have not yet used creating a mandala as meditation but after seeing this class I will definitely give it a try. I recommend this class to all ages and skill levels.
Do you think you have a dirty mind? No, no offense there, just another way to assess your creativity. It seems that the more creative the mind is, the dirtier can be. Maybe, you have a very creative mind that can connect almost everything into something dirty. Or maybe, you have a very practical way […]
The post How Dirty Is Your Mind Really? appeared first on BayArt.
from BayArt http://ift.tt/2e7pmLu
via IFTTT
Dear readers, ” Is Cosmetic Surgery Worth the Risk?” Rebecca Ganzak reports about the high cost and dangers of cosmetic surgery. What’s unique about her article is the increasing rate of teenagers ( boys and girls) under the age of 18 getting corrective surgery. Ganzak provides information about how parents are contributing to this trend […]
The post Dying to be Perfect appeared first on BayArt.
from BayArt http://ift.tt/2eho7pv
via IFTTT
Name calling, finger-pointing, what happened way back when, your spouse shady past, I will, you won’t, your bad, I’m good, lets play a game of show and tell, smart, dumb, rude, polite, pretend, fake, family values, no values, …………… This sums up what the Presidential election had been like. We the people deserve to be […]
The post We The People appeared first on BayArt.
from BayArt http://ift.tt/2deKfF5
via IFTTT
Dear readers, Please bear with me, this post is a little longer than I am accustomed to writing, I believe that what I have to share will be beneficial to someone. A few weeks ago I was invited to Sunday dinner at the home of the Evans family (family of five, three girls plus mom […]
The post The Good Old Days appeared first on BayArt.
from BayArt http://ift.tt/2eiRNne
via IFTTT
Positivity Now 