Simple practices can give immense benefit, but on condition that we are patient, consistent and, what is most important, that we do practise them. The biggest problem of simple practices is that most people read them but leave unpractised…
The practice I want to depict is also not difficult and bears a condition that you will practise it in a heartfelt way and give it enough of your strength, energy and time; i.e. feel its taste, rhythm and the world of this practice. Exactly this way there will be interchange and you will immensely benefit from the practice. You can do it mutely in your mind, but there would be much more effectively if you did this in writing. Then the practice would give you more benefit, strength, energy and optimism. The nature of the practice is: you would have to make a list of all things, thinking of which you are in bliss, feel pleasure, are happy or simply melt.
There can be anything. Simply sit down and write, for example: “1. I like fresh strawberries with whipped cream.” It would help if you visualized strawberries, their colour, smell and taste in your mouth…
It is not so important what you write. There can be oddest things, but necessarily those that give you pleasure, happiness or make you smile…
“I like rain in summer.” But maybe you like warm sand, maybe you enjoy the moment when you lie down and feel grass tickling your nose or feet; or maybe you like a little pup and its particular colour; there could be a lot of enjoyable things for you… Try to make such pleasure for yourself: simply make a list of things you like and which make your life enjoyable. Preferably, make the list on your computer, where you could renew it.
A good piece of advice would be to buy a thick notebook and make it so that the list would grow longer and longer. I dream of you putting additional sheets of paper into the notebook and it becoming extremely thick and impossibly bulging.
You can do one more thing: look through the notebook from time to time… I think there will appear more and more pleasant things if you look to the World through the things that make you happy, seem pleasant and that you love. We often cannot even imagine how many wonderful things we have experienced… We forget them but still they could serve us by becoming the base of our strength and trust in life. Coming back to your dear notes, you can imagine not only things: maybe you like a wonderful and tender sky-blue colour or smell of cadeor pine, jasmine or hay. There can also be something else, for instance, an uttered word, a name, your condition or a film.
Put down everything without any exclusion, everything what nourishes and supports your life…When you have such a list (even only its beginning), you can remember a thing, phrase or a moment and connect it with your breathing – simply breathe it over. That will give you new and unexpected strength.
