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Things that really make me happy Things that make me laugh Which helps me to forget the stress I am doing things that give me a reason to live…. listening just my inner voice rather than thinking about society and negative thoughts.

If you are a beginner in meditation and need some help, try listening to some guided mediations. With guided meditation, you can easily focus on what you want to do. there are many good podcast available on different podcast platform.

Cooking/baking when I do it once in a while. Gaming. Solving (people's) problems. Having good times with my girlfriend. Watching series or movies. Listening to good music.

This week's topic is "Stressful Communications: Interpersonal Mindfulness". As the different types of formal practices are discussed already in the earlier week, where you are also welcome to share this week's experiences with them, this weeks forum entry is about the informal practice, the communication calendar. As we practise applying the skills we are learning in this course to our everyday lives; we are cultivating our natural capacities to be more flexible and to recover more quickly during challenging interpersonal situations. As we grow our awareness of emotions, we may better understand the messages we are sending to others and receiving from others and the barriers to being with ourselves and others in heartfelt and authentic ways. “Once you can communicate with yourself, you’ll be able to communicate outwardly with more clarity.” Thich Nhat Hanh Psychological stress arises from the interaction between us and the world, so we need to take responsibility for our part in relationships with people who “cause us stress” By this, we mean taking responsibility for our perceptions, thoughts, emotions and behaviours. If we react unconsciously when we are having a problem with another person, just as with other forms of stress, this usually makes matters worse in the long run. One of the most useful insights was reading myself when I was about to shut down in a conversation. These days I feel my chest getting tighter, and I become aware that I am no longer listening with an open heart but that I start feeling attacked and I am putting my armour up which will not allow the conversation to come to a satisfying result as I do not hear the other person anymore. Depending on the situation I might take a deep breath and open up again, or I'll explain that I am closing up and need a pause, sometimes I'll excuse myself to the bathroom for a bit to reconsider. If I get to walk the dog for an hour through the forest that's best but that's not always possible. It can also be helpful to repeat what I understood that the other person said in my own words, so we are both sure to talk about the same thing. This shows the other person I am listening and gives us both a chance to be clear about what we are talking about to avoid misunderstandings and assumptions. Have you noticed any changes in how you are communicating with people since you started this course? What have you noticed?

Thanks for sharing your story with all the others too. Listening is nice and important, but the thing requiring the most courage is admitting to have a problem, to be weak and to need help. So that's what earns most of my respect. You can be the best listener in the world... If your friend didn't open up, there's been pretty much nothing you could have done about it. P.S. As a non native english speaker, I have to ask: What does it mean, to lose nearly 5 stone?

Hi Chloe just sent a friend request on FB my life and I am a mess currently would love to have a listening ear thanks in advance for opening up to talk with me.

For me it's music and yoga. Music is indeed the best way to relieve stress, and for me, listening to playlists from youtube is the best way to cope with anxiety and so on. But it's hard to find the right video, but with services like mp3 juice, it's easy to get everything on your phone and listen to it. So I don't have any problems finding the right music and coping with stress that way, so I think you can try it as well.

Playing and listening to music

If you want to talk about it, I'm listening.

I really find this week that it can be a very different experience when you sit down to a conversation with the sole intention of listening. I found that its a bit like the meditation, your mind can wander and you need to catch yourself and bring your mind back to listening mode. I'm guessing this will improve with practice similarly to the meditations.

Sooo true - you can be sitting there and thinking of the answers in your head that you have actually zoned out and now you are thinking about your own experiences!! Since doing the Mindfulness Course I have got better at listening, I mean really listening. It is bizarre how everything becomes habitual and how we just go through the motions. Sometimes when someone is talking they don't want you to figure out their life for them they just want you to listen. When you stop and listen you learn so much more about the person or the situation in front of you. You can only change yourself but you can listen to others. Really enjoying this course - thank you!

Sleep instantly by listening this... I have slept in just 5 minutes. Hope it works for you as well

Close your eyes and breath while listening to this, it works

A soothing music or a simple rain can help too. I usually love listening to this

well @Angechi sorry about what you are passing through. Honestly it happens a lot if you have spent with someone a long time. You kind of feel connected. But about the negative energy, it comes from you and not the men you meet out there. You are still holding your past. Though your mind says your over it but still your heart is sinking. You have to allow positive energy in yourself first. Learn to love yourself first before loving anyone else. So heal your inner self first, then the better will come to at last. I will give you a tip. Well as for me I have learned to rely on things that I love to avoid boredom. I love watching movies, cooking and listening to music so you can do too things that you love most and at the end of the day you will learn to explore more new things about yourself that you did not know. It really helps. Hopefully you'll heal soon.

Listening to music in my room

Often times we feel agitated and afraid of the thoughts we develop about others listening to world around us. Feeling distressed is like a daily schedule. It actually creates conflicts between your emotion and situation. We often fall for wrong decision while we are emotional and often go for unworthy promise in wrong situation. So point is we have to choose the right conflict we want to spend our brains into. kindly share your method of choosing THE RIGHT CONFLICT!

@BradyB It's good to read your replies, and I see that you are open to our feedback. That in itself is already a remarkable skill. Listening with an open heart is also one of the greatest gifts we can give. Regarding being a good person, no matter how hard we try to be good and do good, there are always moments where we won't live up to that - sometimes minor, sometimes spectacularly. Expecting never to fail might make it much harder to forgive ourselves and learn from the experience. Be kind to yourself. We are all human. Practices for Self-Compassion or the R.A.I.N. meditation are beneficial here.

I sit there at 3AM trying to figure out what's wrong, I see the stars ,I wanna be one of them soon and everyday and every second, I wanna be one of them. Depression hits me between my busy schedule, and it gives me heartaches, sometimes I can't breathe, and just wonder what's really wrong with my mind and heart. 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻- 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂-: Living has become the constant nightmare, I don't know what else to say. People say I'm just having hard days, But tell me how many hard days are there which I'll face. Again those things have started haunting. I'm drowning but there's no water, I'm burning but there's no fire, I'm getting buried but there's no land, I'm falling but there's no sky. I'm sitting with my family but there's no me, I'm breathing when I don't want to breathe, Why can't my heart stop its beating? I'm waking up in the morning when I want to sleep forever, I'm crying myself to sleep, I'm tired of trying so hard. I'm faking this smile when inside I'm breaking. I'm screaming but there's no one listening, I'm walking but there's no destination which I'm reaching, My eyes are seeking for help, But I see no one but people who listen to my pain and then clap 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 , 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗.

I’ve definitely noticed that my listening style has changed since starting this course about 7 weeks ago (I’m a week delayed), and then when I came across the Lili Powell article in the supplementary materials (https://www.mindful.org/can-we-talk/) I had a huge “a-ha” moment. I was sitting down to lunch with my step-daughter earlier this week, she is going through a tough time with a divorce, and as I was listening to her talk, even though there were probably 100 times I could have piped in with some piece of advice, or a story of my own, I waited. I listened, openly, and let her talk. I noticed I was sitting with my hands on the table, my feet firmly on the floor, and I just let her talk and talk and talk. And even though I didn’t say very much, she later told her father that it was one of the best conversations we’d ever had. We really connected in that moment. I felt the imaginary circle I had drawn around us - even though I hadn’t even read the Powell article until today. I “fully arrived” to that conversation. I understand the difference. I feel awakened somehow.

There is 3 main things I learned from past relationships: 1. I Everyone gives and receives loves in a different way. It is so helpful to know your own and your partner's love language to avoid misunderstandings and show appreciation. There are 5 different love languages: 1) Physical touch 2) Words of Affirmation 3) Gifts 4) Quality Time and 5) Acts of Services. 2. Boundaries are healthy! We need to feel happy and fulfilled to make our partner happy. Of course a healthy relationship is about making compromises, listening, and understanding - but never at the expense of your own needs. 3. Communication is key: Listen to understand, and not to respond. Don't take things personal and don't make assumptions! Remember that humans cannot read minds. Always be honest and open! Don't use words like "always" or "never". Instead of " You make...", say "I feel...". Pause before you speak.

The best moments of the day are getting up and having breakfast, enjoying listening to relaxing music, and afternoon outings.

Listening to mindfulness meditation

I have found that listening to audio books helps me pass the time. I know that it can get expensive but found a FREE month trial to Audible plus. Here is the link https://amzn.to/3u1Xrk1 Enjoy and stay safe!

I love listening to music.I try to everyday.It makes me feel happier.Ive noticed if I don't I start feeling depressed.Music also helps me relieve stress and keeps me calmer.