When I first came across Metta (loving-kindness) meditation, it seemed very... woo? wishy-washy?

I looked it up on YT, and it basically involved cultivating loving emotions towards yourself and others

"Yeah, this doesn't really look like meditation, seems forced and artificial" It did not fit my preconceived notions of what "meditation" should be like. So I dismissed it.

A couple of years later, I saw John Vervaeke discuss Metta in his brilliant lecture series. And it woke me up to what Metta is actually about.

https://twitter.com/kunaaaaaal/status/1331680840229683201

Understanding Anger (𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍)

Anger is a misunderstood emotion. Society often paints it in a negative light. And there's a sense of shame attached to feeling angry.

But there are no wrong emotions. Every emotion provides us valuable information and guidance. [1/13] Anger is our body's adaptive mechanism to make us aware and respond to an unmet need.

The need could be concrete — like a promotion, a relationship, or more money. Or it could be abstract — like the need to be understood, or the need to be respected.

Doing Nothing (𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍) — On building a better relationship with your self Trust is one of the fundamental prerequisites for love.

So if we're striving for self-love, we first need to be able to trust ourselves. And trust is built on truth.

We are all narcissists — A (𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍) on overcoming the need for external validation "Don't worry about what other people think" is useless advice (well-intended though).

Try this — don't think of a pink rhinoceros. Were you successful?

How Meditation Alters the Brain (𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍)

Here's how meditation changes the brain — structurally and functionally For a long time, I dismissed meditation as spiritual woo-woo.

How could closing your eyes and focusing on your breathe or thoughts or whatever make any difference?

To my "rational" (and ignorant) mind, it made no sense.

How to Hack Willpower (𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍)

We know what we need to do to get where we want to.

We know the things that we need to avoid and cut out.

But when it comes to making things happen, we often fail to follow-through and give in to our temptations. We fail to win these battles because in that moment we lack the required willpower to overcome the resistance.

Imagine what your life would look like if you had the ability to avoid all distractions and check off everything on your to-do list.

Why Exercise? — The Neurobiological Benefits of Exercise

How working out can make you happier, smarter, driven, and focused.

(𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍) 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞

Let’s start with what you already know — exercise makes you feel good. Why?

The standard answer is endorphins. They kill off any pain or stress and produce a feeling of euphoria.

However, endorphins are only a small part of the picture.

The broader impact of this change on society would be interesting.

I'd highly recommend reading Tao Te Ching. It will help you appreciate the beauty of this cultural shift.

Some loose thoughts follow. <thread>

https://twitter.com/fortelabs/status/1297619990699417600

I'm personally going through this shift and it has been cathartic.

My previous frame was very achievement-oriented.

I used to think that it was important to have a strong self-narrative.. a strong why... a story that motivates you.

How to Win Arguments (𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍) I used to spend a lot of time arguing with people.

About anything and everything. Offline and online.

It gave me a rush. I wasted a lot of time and energy doing it. And often acted like an asshole.

𝗧𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗲

Realize that you are constantly being conditioned by society.

We don’t construct our beliefs out of thin air. We consciously or unconsciously adopt them from our environment.

(cont...) And in this digital environment, we bombard ourselves with information round the clock. Drowning out our own inner voice.

There are powerful forces out there trying to manipulate how you think and what you believe.

You gotta protect your individuality.

We know we could be doing and achieving and experiencing so much more.

𝙎𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙤 𝙬𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩?

(continued...) There are people out there with worse genetics and worse circumstances, accomplishing things you dream of.

What are they doing differently? How do their minds operate?

𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟

We like to stay in our own little bubbles. Where our thoughts and beliefs go unchallenged.

Unless some event or new environment gives us a strong reality check.

(cont...) Say, for instance, you believe that you’re really smart.

Then one day you move to a new city and the people around you turn out to be far smarter than you.

And you realize that you were never as smart as you believed.

Threads you might find intriguing:

https://twitter.com/kunaaaaaal/status/1172528853945901057

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗕𝗶𝗮𝘀 (Thread)

Have you wondered why news coverage is predominantly negative?

Have you noticed that we dwell on the unpleasant and traumatic events much more than pleasant ones? We tend to remember that one negative comment or insult more clearly than the other hundreds of compliments.

We replay arguments in our head, overthinking what we should have said.

We vividly remember our mistakes and embarrassing moments. Even if they happened ages ago.

Managed to create a makeshift system. For all non-essential content consumption and curiosities.

Sharing my ideas and @NotionHQ template below.

<Nerd thread>

https://twitter.com/kunaaaaaal/status/1251513285628706816

I have a central database for all the content I want to consume. (Articles, Books, Podcasts, Videos, Documentaries, etc.)

If I come across anything interesting or if someone recommends anything — it goes to this database first.

𝐎𝐧 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 [Thread]

Looking back, one of the things that has had the biggest impact on my life is writing.

It is a habit I developed unintentionally.

I was lucky to get access to the internet very early in my childhood. (Thanks dad) And I spent countless hours of my life engaging in pointless debates with strangers on the internet.

Pretty much every topic under the sun. Not really proud of it.

But it forced me to learn how to write and articulate my thoughts like nothing else.

𝙊𝙣 𝙃𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨

The idea of higher consciousness might sound a little woo-woo.

The term is almost always used in spiritual contexts, often by pretentious mystics or posers.

But higher consciousness has inherently nothing to do with spirituality. Let's talk about it in purely rational and scientific terms.

As humans, we spend most of our life in states of lower consciousness.

Our primary concern is our own self — our survival, our relationships, our successes or failures.

Are you familiar with the concept of herding / herd mentality?

It's when people people follow and copy what others are doing instead of making their own decisions.

I'm sure you see it a lot around you.

You do it too.

In a different way.

<Thread> Here's a simple example of herding. (Poetic that we are discussing herding during these times lol)

Imagine if you're out to eat and see a couple of people queueing up outside a food joint.

"This must be a good place", you think to yourself and join them in the line.

“I don’t know what I was thinking!”

We say things we didn’t mean to. Do things that we know we’d regret. Make stupid purchases. Act aggressively in the heat of the moment. Eat mindlessly.

Almost as if we lose control of our own minds. Why? Our brain has gone through millions of years of evolution.

Although we have evolved into brilliant conscious, creative beings… there are parts of our brain that are very primitive and animalistic in nature.

Our primal instincts heavily influence our behavior.

#CoronaVirus

Been reading up on similar outbreaks in history. Here are some highlights from my research.

We have not seen anything like this in our history.

<Thread> "It is estimated that 11–21% of the then global population (of about 6.8 billion), or around 700–1400 million people contracted the illness — more in absolute terms than the Spanish flu pandemic."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_… (Swine Flu / H1N1)

Contd.

To fix your procrastination problem...

The first thing you need to do is have strong and specific intentions.

It's easier to procrastinate when you only have a vague idea of what you gotta do.

It's also easy to procrastinate when you're trying to achieve 10 different things. Focus on 2 or 3 things. The things that are most important to you. Keep them at the top of your mind.

Everything else should be noise.

Find your north star(s). Don't lose sight of it.

So that you can re-orient yourself every time you stumble.