June 18th, 2019
You probably know adrenaline (also known as Adrenalin and Epinephrin) as the fight-or-flight hormone. When you are under stress, several hormones, most prominently cortisol and adrenaline suppress your body’s nonessential functions, while boosting your energy supplies. These powerful hormones communicate with the parts of your brain that control mood, fear, and motivation.
One of adrenaline’s positive effects is an enhanced ability to focus, while suppressing annoying bodily functions like sneezing and coughing. It enables you to be so in-the-moment that you are able to accomplish what you otherwise could not, without distraction by your own body. For example, you never see Broadway singers cough or sneeze — even during cold season. While they are performing, they have increased stress hormone levels, and therefore operate in a state of total focus.
Although you don’t want to over-use your body’s stress response system, feeling driven and passionate toward a mission, feeling an exhilarating sense of urgency, creates naturally induced adrenaline, which can go a long way in helping you to further your mission in life. Passion and purpose open up new strengths and possibilities. Can you imagine waking up in the morning excited to fulfill your purpose in life, the way a competitive athlete wakes up excited for a match? It’s possible, and it is a surefire way to bridge the gap between body and spirit.
Exercise: Think of ways you can get your adrenaline naturally flowing during your normal day. Then go for it, and enjoy the focus and energy! Journal about it on MyMLC.
Go deeper into this subject: Adrenalin Rush | Struggle On Purpose
SOULGYM I MASTERCLASS
Live with Rabbi Simon Jacobson
How to Truly Feel Alive
Wednesday, July 5, 2023 @8:30pm
Live Stream | Podcast
Add to Calendar
Tags: anxiety, health, focus, medicine, adrenaline, Soul Gym: How to Get Energy When You Are Tired
Posted in Soul Gym, Social, Medicine | No Comments »
June 11th, 2019
One of the great challenges and ostensible paradoxes is reconciling between the individual and the collective, between personal interests and the common good. Can we find a way to preserve our diversity while being united without either being compromised?
The way to achieve this balance is through humility: When you sublimate yourself to a higher calling, your individuality unites, instead of separates, you with others serving the greater cause. Your powerful commitment permeates your being to the point that it tempers self-interest, not allowing it to rip you apart from others. On the contrary, it helps build a unified community – diverse but united by a cause greater than, and one that transcends, individual interests. Yet, it takes effort on your part as an individual to find this harmony in diversity. Here is why the effort is worth it.
Beauty In Diversity
As pretty as one color – say, blue – may be, it still would not be defined as beautiful. As sweet as one musical note may sound, it cannot be called beautiful. Beauty is always a combination of many colors – as in a painting – whose balance and coordination creates a beautiful mosaic. Many different musical notes, when played just the right way, generate a beautiful symphony.
Take nature. The beauty of nature is in the fact that so many different systems work together with such astonishing synchronicity. Perhaps no better or closer example of this is our own selves. The healthy human body is a miraculous piece of architecture. So many different limbs and organs, numerous diverse systems and faculties. Let alone the multitude of cells, hormones, chemicals, and DNA. And all combined as one fascinating unit, working as one synchronized whole. Something that strikes us (even subjectively) as beautiful is balance and symmetry of several – or very many – different elements, all combined in just the right blend.
Beauty: the harmony within diversity.
Humility in Diversity
We are all one: Together we comprise a single organism whose various cells, limbs, and organs complement and complete one another. A body includes both the sophisticated, refined brain and the “crass” functional foot; but, ultimately, the brain is dependent on the foot just as the foot is dependent on the brain. If the foot is indebted to the brain for its vitality and direction, the brain is dependent on the foot to realize many of its goals.
The humble man looks at the larger picture rather than the particulars, at the unified purpose of life on earth rather than only at his function within this purpose. No matter how lofty his own role may seem in relation to his fellow’s, he is grossly limited without him. The knowledge that his own life’s work is incomplete without his fellow’s contribution arouse feelings of humility and indebtedness toward his fellow: He recognizes that every “limb” of the mutual body is indispensable, every component complements and advances his interest.
Defining Humility
In this approach, humility is not equated with a sense of inferiority. Rather, it stems from a feeling of equality and mutual need. In becoming humble, you first realize not to feel superior about your unique qualities and strengths: All the virtues you have been blessed with — whether it is a greater measure of intelligence, refinement, or spiritual sensitivity — are only the tools that have been granted you to fulfill your mission in life. You recognize that your own accomplishments require the collaboration with others. Be humbled by the fact that every single individual on earth has a unique and irreplaceable role to play, and that every one is both needed and needs all the others.
Exercise: Start looking for harmony in diversity. What is your part in it? What beauty are you contributing to the communal symphony? Do something beautiful. Journal about it in your MyMLC journal.
Go deeper into this subject: Being Beautiful | The Blessing of Diversity | A Lesson In Humility |
SOULGYM I MASTERCLASS
Live with Rabbi Simon Jacobson
What Jews Really Think of Gentiles
Wednesday, January 24, 2024 @8:30pm
Live Stream | Podcast
Add to Calendar
Tags: Soul Gym: Under Your Skin: The Interstitium, unity, humility, diversity, purpose in life
Posted in Your Mission, Your Purpose, Soul & Mystical, Soul Gym, Personal Life, Spiritual | No Comments »
May 9th, 2019
B”H. 2 Iyar 5779. May 7, 2019
Dear Rabbi and Mrs. Yisroel Goldstein, Howard and Hannah Kaye and the entire Poway Jewish community,
From the depths of my heart I thank you for inviting me to your beautiful community this Shabbat, virtually one week from the moment when your sacred sanctuary was grotesquely defiled and one of your very own was torn away from you.
With your raw wounds wide open, you allowed me in to your most vulnerable space, to pray and celebrate with you, to find strength in each other – to defiantly demonstrate that Am Yisroel Chai, as the Rabbi opened up his stirring words Friday night.
Hundreds of you showed up this Shabbat in Poway. Hundreds of new lights were lit Friday before sunset, ushering in the Shabbat – and many thousands more in shuls throughout the land. Never have lights been more powerful as they pierced and illuminated the darkness that has descended upon us.
People gathered from all walks of life – demonstrating that we are one family, one unit, one organism, regardless of background and persuasion. One man who drove from Los Angeles told me: “I have not been to synagogue for over 20 years. But tonight I absolutely knew that there is no other place I belong but here.”
I will forever remember this Shabbat.
Some described it a Shabbat that combined Yom Kippur, Simchat Torah and Shabbat Nachamu all in one. I would add that the Shabbat was really the conclusion of Passover. Because your Passover was tragically aborted on that last fatal day of the holiday. After the killer entered the shul during the Torah reading of that day, in middle of the fifth reading to be exact, Passover came to a screeching halt. You never finished the prayers, you never ate the holiday meal, you never celebrated Moshiach’s Seudah at the end of the day.
This Shabbos, a week later, you finally had the opportunity to achieve the freedom stolen from you last Shabbos.
We will forever remember this Shabbat.
We cried and laughed together. We danced in one glorious show of unity as we chanted Lecho Dodi. We held hands and touched shoulders in one unbroken circle as we sang Sholom Aleichem.
And perhaps more powerful than all: we simply spent precious time together, with our visceral emotions stripped bare, vulnerable and fragile, yet staunch and resolute – a moment of truth, etched into eternity forever.
Who will ever forget the memorable Friday night dinner in a jam packed banquet hall, where just six days earlier a gunman took Lori Kaye’s life and shot at the Rabbi, leaving bullet holes in the banquet hall doors and walls?
Who will forget how, in middle of the dinner, Peter (Pesach) Yarrow, from the popular 60’s music group “Peter, Paul and Mary,” sang Blowing in the Wind, and hummed along as we all sang the moving Yom Kippur Yaaleh, as he explained why “I was moved to just come from NY and support you in the way that I could”?
Who will ever forget how on Shabbat morning, exactly one week to the minute, 11:35AM, when the terror attack took place, Rabbi Yisroel, who had looked death in its eyes, stood before the open ark, surrounded by Howard and the heroes – Oscar Stewart and Jonathan Morales – who miraculously saved the congregation from a massacre? With his blue bandaged hands waving to heaven, all our hearts were torn asunder as Rabbi Goldstein cried out to G-d on behalf of us all, the entire Jewish people and the entire human race.
At that moment every single person in the shul palpably felt the Rabbi’s gut-wrenching anguish at facing death, and his sheer ecstasy at being granted a new lease on life.
“G-d Almighty. Enough is enough. How much more senseless suffering must we endure?! G-d Almighty please bring an end to all human pain and loss.”
How can we forget Rabbi Goldstein invoking the name of his – our – beloved Rebbe. “Rebbe, this house of worship – Chabad of Poway – was built with your inspiration and direction. Rebbe, please intervene – together with all the Rebbe’s before you – beseech G-d to end this dark golus. Rebbe, you promised us that we are the threshold of the redemption. We pledge that we will do our part to dispel this dark tragedy with light and to turn it into a force of good. Please, Rebbe, please appeal to G-d to do His part and finally bring the Geulah – the final redemption.
“The time when we will be reunited with Lori and all those that died on Kiddush Hashem, together with all our loved ones…”
Who among us will ever forget the Rabbi calling on each one of us to roar out Shema Yisroel as loud as we possibly can, to drown out the thundering sound of the gunshots, and to take on action based resolutions here and now that will completely overshadow the pain and shock of the attack and murder of Lori.
And the stirring prayers led by the Rabin brothers, especially their singing “The little bird is calling… The little bird is wounded…,” concluding: “The little bird is Yisroel, The vultures are our foes, The painful wound is Golus, Which we all feel and know, The nest is Yerushalayim, Where we yearn to be once more, The eagle is the Moshiach, Whom we are waiting for.”
I will never forget my heart-to-heart conversations with Howard and Hannah Kaye, Lori’s surviving husband and daughter; their anguished faces broke my heart, but within that pain was an even more powerful resolve. I will never forget speaking with Oscar and Jonathan, who put themselves at risk to save many lives. Completely unassuming and humble – unaware of why everyone was making a fuss about their heroism – a majestic expression of nobility.
Poway has now become sacred ground – joining other hallowed places on earth where Jewish blood was shed sanctifying G-d’s name – from Egypt to Auschwitz. But that sacred blood has given birth to an unwavering tsunami of courage and strength, an unshakeable devotion and commitment to flood the world with goodness and kindness, an unprecedented display of resilience and hope, of dignity under fire and of sheer determination that we will prevail over all forces of evil and destruction.
Just as in the days of Egypt “the more they were oppressed the more they multiplied and flourished,” so too your Poway community, with Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein leading the way, has turned this tragedy into a flourish of good, and will continue to flourish and thrive in unimaginable ways.
Yes, we spent a Shabbos that none of us will ever forget. A Shabbos that, from within the dark belly of the abyss, we found strength more powerful than any black forces; love and unity mightier than any hate and war.
We made history together. Instead of succumbing to fear and anger, instead of feeling defeat and self-pity, you rose to the occasion and showed each other and the world what a Jew is all about: An agent of G-d to transform this sometimes hostile world into a Divine home and garden.
Lori’s tragic killing will be remembered not for its gruesome circumstances, but for the greatness it spawned. Lori will be eternalized not for her loss, but for the perpetual gain achieved by Howard and Hannah and your entire community. Lori brought all of us together. She united hundreds of thousands of Jews from the entire spectrum across this country and the world. Lori has generated millions of new mitzvoth and good deeds.
Her “vacant” seat in the shul, in her home and in the world – emptied by her horrific murder on the last day of Passover – has caused her to be remembered like never before – as we read in the Haftorah on Shabbos. Her seat has been filled many times over by all the kindness and virtue that has grown out of her empty seat.
Rare moments in history become junctures in time. Cracks between darkness and light, between death and life, between hopelessness and hope. Cracks that can either destroy us or build us; cracks that are either separations and breaks, or ones that serve as openings and opportunities. These cracks become formidable junctures connecting the paradoxes of existence. The place where matter meets spirit, good meets evil, life meets death – where heaven meets earth, immortality meets mortality and the divine meets humanity.
This Shabbos was one such rare juncture.
Thank you for allowing me to be part of this immortal experience. Thank you on behalf of all the Jewish people and all the people of the world for “taking the bullet,” and above all – for demonstrating for all to see the best humanity is capable of.
For every challenge we are given extra energy to face the challenge and become stronger for it. May G-d bless you with all the strength to heal form your – our – loss, and to transform it into an unprecedented revolution of goodness and kindness.
May Howard and Hannah be consoled and thrive.
May your community only grow and prosper.
Poway will now forever be etched into the annals of time, as a place where mortal human beings became immortal.
I have now become a permanent member of your community. I have been forever changed by my experience this past weekend with you. Please see me as a friend offering my hand in any way I can, and please know that you can always call on me.
G-d bless you.
Warmest wishes,
Simon Jacobson
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Vayikra, Trending, Social, Torah, Kedoshim, Terrorism, Racism, Current Events | 1 Comment »
March 4th, 2019
37 Inspiring Purim Insights by Rabbi Simon Jacobson
Get 37 short and inspirational vignettes to intersperse throughout your Purim festivities. Great material for before or after Megilla reading, at the Purim feast or any other time you see fit!
This e-book includes:
- Uncanny Parallels of Purim Then And Now: Perspectives and lessons on contemporary issues, including the current upheavals in the Middle East.
- Who’s Who of the Megillah: A spiritual and psychological profile of the characters of the Megillah as archetypes of our own personal psyches.
- Megillah For Self-Discovery: The inner/personal applications of some of the Megillah narrative.
- Purim And The Power Of Children: Empower the next generation of Jewish leaders.
- Lots More!
Posted in Purim, Adar | No Comments »
January 24th, 2019
With any mistake, personal or professional, there are two things that you can do to turn it into a productive moment. The phrase “fail better” has become a meme, which is, culturally, a step in the right direction. However, the Kabbalists had already detailed how one should fail better, by understanding that the inner “soul” of a mistake is a seed and opportunity for greater growth, and there are two methods that they passed down to us how to bring this seed to fruition. These two methods will revolutionize the way that you handle making mistakes.
The First Method: Unleash the Possibilities
Living a successful life requires both taking risks and playing by the rules. Following the rules keeps us in line with our missions, but risk is necessary to move forward. The outcome of risk is possibilities — possibilities that are more powerful than the outcome of strictly staying on track. When you make a mistake, allow that to unleash new possibilities. Build resources from your mistake. Take the elements of destabilization that the mistake introduced and use them for the greatest profit. Instead of trying to sweep all the fallout of your mistake under the rug, take each piece of it and turn it into a catalyst for growth; do something productive with it.
The Second Method: Elevate the Mistake
In addition to growing from the mistake, transform the very mistake into an asset by learning from it. When you’ve departed from what’s “right”, take yourself to a higher level, whether it is higher level professionally or in personal relationships. If you had followed the rules and not made a mistake, you wouldn’t have the opportunity to discover new insights and experiences that only your mistake could have taught you. You’ve opened an opportunity for yourself to exceed expectations, now that you’ve transgressed them. Take your passion for good and lift up your mistake to a solution or possibility that is far greater than the rules you broke.
Exercise: Select a mistake you made in the past day (or week) and identify how you could use it to unleash new possibilities, and how you could elevate it. Record your answer in MyMLC.
Sign up now for your FREE MyMLC account and get access to a variety of resources, including a daily journal, to record the growth and progress of your daily soul workouts and meaningful journey.
Go deeper into this subject: Did G-d Want Adam and Eve to Eat the Fruit?, What Is A Baal Teshuvah?, What to Do When Things Fall Apart
SOULGYM I MASTERCLASS
Live with Rabbi Simon Jacobson
Do People Deserve a Second Chance?
Wednesday, April 28, 2021 @8:30pm
Live Stream | Podcast
Add to Calendar
Tags: Soul Gym: Use Your Weaknesses for Growth
Posted in Soul Gym, Personal Life, Business, Work & Money | No Comments »
January 10th, 2019
Regardless of how burned out you may feel, there are three basic steps you can take to spiritually and emotionally renew yourself. While the “conventional” wisdom of the “material” world says, “Stop giving and start taking — you’ve done enough for others; you now deserve to be on the receiving end,” when you feel run-down and apathetic, that approach will ultimately backfire. Giving, while demanding for the moment, empowers and builds your confidence. Taking, while perhaps pleasant for the moment, ultimately weakens your self-confidence — creating a demoralizing feeling of uselessness and powerlessness. Though the following suggestions require work, they are very doable and well worth the effort. The fruit of your labor will be the return of a sparkle in your eye and the spirit of innovation in your heart and mind.
Study Your Soul
The first step is to learn about your soul — get to know your inner self through studying its dynamics and makeup. Just as your body is made up of many parts and systems, and the better you know how they function and their needs, the more you will know how to take care and nourish them; the same is true with your soul. Studying spirituality — the inner workings of your psyche — will both empower you and provide you with foundational roots. These deep roots will anchor you as you face the raging “flood waters” of life — all the demands and expectations that inundate us. When you study your soul, you discover who you really are. In turn, that will help you to live your life inside-out rather than outside-in: Instead of outside forces driving your life, and what you do defines who you are, who you are within should define what you do. Find classes and spiritual resources that teach you about yourself — why you are here and what kind of tools and resources you have inside yourself. (You can find an array of resources on our site. Start with the articles we have published on how to find your mission and purpose in life.) It will reawaken and strengthen your inner core, and give you access to your unique skills and talents.
Find a Friend and a Mentor
When you are feeling down and your will to persist is weak, you need someone who can look at your situation objectively and show you your strengths — these are people who believe in you and can help you to have faith in yourself. You might fight and resist the advice of these people, but you must know that “someone in fetters cannot free him/herself.” We are blinded by our own subjective feelings. At times, we all need an objective and caring outsider who throws us a line and lifts us up. A new perspective can open your eyes to your true potential, which will lift you out of complacency. The two people you need to find are a friend and a mentor. The difference between them: A friend is a peer who listens to you and gives you good advice and suggestions out of warmth and kindness. A mentor is an authority whom you respect, someone who can give you definitive answers.
Learn to Be a Giver
As long as you are taking, you develop a psychology of weakness. Taking sends you the message that you have nothing of your own to give, and therefore you need to take. It may feel easier and more comfortable to take. However, self value is always related to giving. When you give you become empowered and build confidence. You are able to see what your are capable of. Everyone has something to give and something to teach: Find your skills. When you meet someone ask yourself: what can I contribute to help this person grow?
Exercise: Monitor your own behavior. On a daily basis make sure to do at least one thing that gives something to another — time, advice, support, a kind word or gesture, a thank you. Start studying about your soul. Find a friend and mentor to consult. Journal about it in your MyMLC journal.
All content about Personal Rebirth: Kabbalah Theory of Past Lives | If You Want a Positive Life, Start With a Mission Statement
Go deeper into this subject: Do You Know How to Renew Yourself? | When You Feel Discouraged, Get to Know Yourself | Your Soul Map: The Tree of Life | How to Find Your Inner Strength
Tags: Soul Gym: Personal Rebirth
Posted in Soul & Mystical, Soul Gym, Personal Life, Spiritual | 1 Comment »
December 31st, 2018
Have you ever made a new year resolution? Did you keep it? Resolutions for the new year are deceptively simple to make: lose weight, keep the house clean, use that Filofax, cut back on Facebook, pay off the credit card!
Come mid-April, do you find that you’ve kept the new year resolutions that you made in early January? Or are you:
- Feeling guilty?
- Feeling discouraged?
- Resigned to old habits?
You deserve better than to feel stuck, guilty, and like you can’t accomplish your goals. You were created to be victorious; it’s just a matter of shifting focus. It’s not worth the heartache to make resolutions that you won’t keep. Instead, this year try one (or two! or all!) of these new year resolution ideas for a meaningful life:
Find Out What Your Passion Is
Many people have asked us how they can discover their personal mission in life. We came up with a formula to guide you through the process of discovery. It’s called POPP: Personality, Opportunity, People & Places.
Be Kind To Your Family
Some of the hardest people to be kind to are our own family members, yet they are the most important to be kind to. A new year resolution idea for a meaningful life: Develop trusting, soulful, meaningful relationships with your family members, especially children.
Invest In One Friendship
Friendship is integral to human happiness — an antidote to loneliness. Due to the demands of modern life, friendships often take the back seat to responsibilities. This year, in the spirit of living a happier and more meaningful life, invest time in one friendship.
Commit To Something
Do you want to prove to yourself that you actually can keep your new year resolution ideas? Commit to something, just one thing, in the new year using seven spiritual steps. It’s a liberating self-improvement project that anyone can do if he’s willing to be honest with himself.
Refine A Part Of Your Personality
“That’s just how I am.” Have you ever heard someone say that and thought, “Well then change how you are.” Why don’t people change and refine the less nice aspects of their personalities? Because changing one aspect of a personality is one of the most difficult human endeavors (but one of the most rewarding). The solution? Connect with your soul. We’ve explained how in “Can We Change Our Personalities?”
Give Charity
Even for people who have plenty of money, money is a source of anxiety. How much more so when there is barely enough to cover monthly expenses. The blueprint of creation gives us a 4,000-year-old solution to financial anxiety: charity. It is a tried-and-true method. Learn more about how to transform money from a curse to a blessing. Giving charity is a totally do-able new year resolution idea with huge spiritual and material benefits.
Stop For A Moment Before You Eat
Subvert the dominant diet/weight loss new year resolution idea! A realistic and sustainable way to improve your eating habits is to stop for a moment — for five seconds of contemplation or blessing before you eat. It’s that simple.
Pray In Your Own Words
According to a 2014 Pew Research Center study, 89% of Americans say that they believe in G-d or a universal spirit, though only 56% say that religion is “very important” to them. How, then, can religiously unaffiliated or less-affiliated people connect to G-d or a universal spirit? Personal prayer — asking G-d to fulfill your needs and thanking G-d for what S/He does — is available to everyone, regardless of religion or affiliation. It’s a surefire, time-tested way to develop a relationship with a higher power. Taking up personal prayer is a free, easy-to-keep, do-whenever-you-want-to new year resolution idea for a more meaningful life.
Take A Personal Inventory
Lasting personal change starts with an honest personal inventory. If you are interested in self-improvement but you find it difficult to make changes, then resolve to take an honest look at yourself in the coming year. It’s something which you can do at your own speed, on your own time. You can do it once, or you can do it daily.
Honor Your Inner Child
Your soul and your inner child are one and the same: They are the innocent, pure part of you that gets covered up by years of cynicism. Honoring your inner child as you make decisions is a worthy, life-transforming new year resolution idea.
Pay It Forward
Paying forward is repaying kindness to someone who is not the original benefactor. Join the pay it forward revolution. Whether you do it once or do it daily, paying it forward will effect the world positively beyond human comprehension.
Listen
True listening is an acquired skill that takes practice and dedication. It is an integral part of communication, and who couldn’t use a brush-up in the communication department?
Work On Being Present
So many folks love the idea of making a new year’s resolution to start meditating (or take up yoga or some other contemplative practice). For good reason: Contemplative practices do help some people to be in the moment (though not all). The Meaningful Life Center approach to being present comes from Chassidus (Jewish mysticism). It is a concept called “bittul” (self-nullification), which is losing one’s self in the moment — being so focused on what you’re doing that your ego slips away. If you want to experience bittul, focus on the activity at hand without thinking of how you are feeling or what you are experiencing. For folks who can’t or won’t meditate, it’s a miracle of a mindfulness practice.
Find Opportunities To Laugh And Enjoy Wholesome Humor
Learning how to smile is a key to dealing with difficulties. If you’re looking for a new year resolution idea that you can really enjoy, consider making a resolution to practice using humor to diffuse things and lighten things up. Healthy humor lifts people’s spirits — it is very different from abusive humor or humor at someone’s expense.
Change One Routine
Changing just one routine will train your mind to make and sustain bigger changes. We’ve even put out a three-minute video explaining how to get out of a rut by changing one routine.
Do Some Spiritual Reading
Reading spiritual content is an immediate way to give yourself a break from the material world, and it helps you to connect to your soul. Read in whatever spiritual tradition you ascribe to. If you read one paragraph or a whole library, you’ll reap the benefits, so get yourself a spiritual book and read it when you can. (Not to be too self-promotional, but the Meaningful Life Center store carries accessible, reader-friendly spiritual books.)
Forgive Yourself And Others
This last new year resolution idea for a meaningful life is extra powerful. Learning to forgive is a skill that will free you from guilt and shame. So what if you can’t keep a new year’s resolution to lose weight? Learn to forgive yourself — it’ll be an even bigger weight off your shoulders.
SOULGYM I MASTERCLASS
Live with Rabbi Simon Jacobson
Welcome 2023! How to Make this the BEST Year Yet. Wednesday, December 28, 2022 @8:30pm
Live Stream | Podcast
Add to Calendar
Tags: Soul Gym: Build the Life You Want
Posted in Soul Gym, Personal Life, Daily Life, Life Cycles | 2 Comments »
December 25th, 2018
Are you lacking the “motivation” to work out? Have personal trainers, buying exercise class cards, paying for a monthly gym membership, and posting motivational quotes on your refrigerator not worked? Are you feeling guilty? Fear not! Perhaps a spiritual approach to working out can get you going. Deeper motivation and insight into the spiritual value of fitness can elevate your experience of working out, which will help you develop a positive relationship with it.
Your Body is Valuable — And Not Entirely Yours
You were created by a power greater than yourself. Your body is not yours; it is divine “property” entrusted to your care and responsibility. Your body is therefore sacred. Thus, working out and keeping your body healthy is not just good for you; it is a critical component in your obligation of protecting and maintaining the treasured gift you were entrusted with: your body. Just as you are charged with protecting and preserving your environment and definitely not harming it, you must also not take your own body for granted. It is your cosmic responsibility to treat your body with respect in every way, which includes getting regular exercise (among many other things).
Working Out Helps You to Live a Meaningful Life
When you are healthy, you can concentrate on the things that are important to you. Most significantly, a sound body allows you to focus on your soul, enabling you to fulfill your divine mission in the world and live a meaningful life. Just as the body needs exercise, sleep, proper nutrition, and occasional vitamins or medicine, the soul needs nourishment. This nourishment includes an awareness and connection to a transcendent power, and a unique purpose in life. It’s important that your physical fitness have a spiritual component — an appreciation of the higher purpose of maintaining good health.
Nutrition is another important part of caring for both the body and mind. The foods we choose provide the energy needed for daily responsibilities, exercise, and moments of reflection, while balanced eating supports overall wellness over time. Developing healthier eating habits does not have to mean following strict rules; it can simply involve becoming more mindful of what the body needs and making thoughtful choices each day.
A dietician can also provide valuable guidance when it comes to understanding nutrition and creating an approach that fits into everyday life. The website named JM Nutrition provides helpful professional support for those looking to better understand their dietary needs, build healthier habits, and develop a balanced relationship with food. Having knowledgeable guidance makes it easier to connect nutrition with broader goals for physical wellness and a meaningful lifestyle.
True wellness is ultimately about finding balance rather than focusing on one aspect of health. Nourishing the body with wholesome foods, staying active, getting enough rest, and paying attention to emotional and spiritual wellbeing all contribute to a healthier way of living. When these areas work together, taking care of the body becomes more than a physical responsibility; it becomes part of creating the energy and clarity needed to pursue what gives life purpose.
Exercise: When exercising think about your body as a sacred entity: You are fine tuning the “vehicle” of your soul’s journey on earth. Journal about it in your MyMLC journal.
More content about Spiritual Wellness: Body Care vs. Soul Care Basics in Three Minutes | How to Achieve Spiritual Wellness
Go deeper into this subject: Toward a Meaningful Life Chapter 10: Health and Fitness
Tags: Soul Gym: Spiritual Wellness
Posted in Soul Gym, Personal Life, Daily Life, Life Cycles | 1 Comment »
December 20th, 2018
Do you know your personality type? Here is a template of twelve archetypes, based on the Biblical twelve tribes, to help you discover your distinctive character, and learn to express your unique voice. We may have several of these characteristics, and may experience them at different times in our lives.
The Twelve Personality Types According to the Bible
Reuben — The first-born: Represents the powerful energy of beginnings. Of everything that comes first. The first fruit, the first moments of the day, the beginning of every creation – has enormous amount of energy. “Unstable like water,” this power can go either way: If harnessed properly, the first-born’s energy can change worlds; if abused it can destroy. Like water, it can be the source of life, but if left unchanneled it can erode its environment and flood its surroundings.
Shimon — Aggressive discipline: The antithesis of the first born/water. The fierce anger and cruel wrath that can result from unbridled discipline must be eliminated lest it turns into weapons of violence that consume the person and all those he comes in contact with. (The lesson of this today is self understood.)
Levi — The joiner: The personality of dedicating your life to serving a higher calling, of freeing yourself from the bonds of material survival and attaching yourself to a higher cause.
Judah — The selfless leader: The path of the leader is the path of selflessness and acknowledgement – the most vital ingredient in true leadership.
Dan — The judge: The steward of law and order. Objective justice is the heart of any civilization.
Naphtali — The free spirit: Like a “deer running free” – breaking out of the status quo – independence is a necessary component in growth. Yet, this free-spiritedness must always take care to “deliver words of beauty.”
Gad — The warrior: Expanding on the justice of the judge, the warrior is ready to fight for his beliefs. The warrior is necessary to both defend our cherished values and to protect our freedoms.
Asher — The abundant one: Characterized by prosperity and pleasure, of blessing beyond the norm – to be given more than what is necessary for survival. He is the personality of not just getting what you need, but also enjoying it.
Issachar — The scholar: Scholarship provides wisdom, clarity, and direction. It is the foundation of any healthy society. The scholar personifies the dedication to immerse in study and education.
Zebulon — The merchant: The businessperson personality. The philanthropist. His role is to enter the marketplace and redeem the Divine sparks within the material world. The merchant supports the scholar, he funds houses of scholarship, which earns him a right to partake in the reward of the scholar’s studies.
Joseph — The survivor: One who has suffered. Yet, he not only survives; he thrives. He achieves greatness through his challenges. He overcomes all adversary and becomes a great leader, saving his entire generation. Despite his corrupt environment, he maintains his spiritual integrity. His inner light is powerful.
Menashe — The freedom fighter: Represents the ability to not succumb to the constraints that want to make you forget your spiritual roots. He remains connected regardless of the challenges, and courageously fights to defend his values.
Ephraim — The transformer: It is not enough to just survive in an alien environment, but to thrive. The transformer is the power to transform the difficulties into Divine power.
Benjamin — The hungry one: He is hungry for the Divine sparks in all of existence. He recognizes that his mission is to passionately seek out the Divine energy embedded in matter, devour it, consume and elevate it.
Exercise: Which personality are you? What part do you need to develop? Identify your personality type and start to work on yourself. Journal about it in your MyMLC journal.
All content on Personality Types: How to Find Your Personality Type | Are You Defined By Your Externals?
Go deeper into this subject: Which Personality Type Describes You Best? | An Exercise to Find Out Who You Are
SOULGYM I MASTERCLASS
Live with Rabbi Simon Jacobson
The Kabbalah of Horoscopes: Is It Written In the Stars?
Wednesday, May 5, 2021 @8:30pm
Live Stream | Podcast
Add to Calendar
Tags: Soul Gym: Personality Types
Posted in Biblical, Soul Gym, Personal Life, Torah Personalities, Torah, Emotions & Psychology, The Twelve Tribes | 1 Comment »
December 13th, 2018
We live in a dark and cold world. Many of us are confused; others feel alone. It is hard to find our way in a material world that conceals the path of truth. Our souls wander the earth in search of our destiny, in search of some peace. The good news is that we are empowered to deal with this darkness: every single encounter allows us the opportunity to bring in some light and warmth to others and to ourselves. We have the ability to shine; to light up the darkest crevices. Every interaction offers us the choice.
Forms of Darkness
There is a form of darkness that is merely the absence of light. For instance, when someone makes a mistake in judgment due to ignorance or inexperience. The confusion and error is a state of darkness, yet it does not have its own substance — it is not necessarily malicious. Certain information and experience could have illuminated the situation and not allowed for the error.
Similarly, a child could be deprived of a nurturing parent, which would cause a level of insecurity, but it may not become a force of its own, and with a special measure of nurturing one can supplement and provide for the proper nourishment and validation of the child’s identity.
There is however, a level of abuse, which actually creates a darkness and fear with “a life of its own.” Not merely an absence of something, that can be supplemented, but an actual force that now has to be dealt with.
There are people who maliciously cause destruction, not out of ignorance, but because they may be corrupt or greedy. Ignorance may have been the initial cause that led them to that place, but at this point it has become a very real part of their personality.
Dispelling the Darkness
We always have two choices: Either to illuminate others or to add to their misery. There is no third option. As the wise say, “If you are not busy being born, you are busy dying.” If you are not part of the cure, you are part of the problem. If you are not bringing light into this world you are contributing to its darkness.
Psychologically speaking, we need to achieve two things in dispelling the darkness in our own psyches and lives. First, we must introduce light – true knowledge that illuminates and brings clarity. We must also bring in love and compassion, which nurtures the soul, like water that revitalizes a withering flower. Second, in the areas where the darkness has manifested itself to the point where is has a life (substance) of its own, we need to find ways to channel and harness that “life” (energy) into positive areas, and ultimately transform it into a force for light. Like containers or words – we use the actual dark matter of the material universe to express and channel the sublime. We do that by learning from our mistakes (in darkness) and using that knowledge constructively, to help others.
Indeed, we can say that darkness as absence of light can never truly be elevated or transformed, because it has no substance of its own; it is nothing more than the absence of light, and thus is dispelled by shining a light. Darkness as substance can actually be redeemed and transformed.
All content about The Dark Side: Psychological Damage from Trauma and Why You Can Get Over It | How to Come Back from the Dark Side
Go deeper into this subject: It’s the Tzimtzum, Stupid | Do Our Shadow’s Have Substance? | Light |
SOULGYM I MASTERCLASS
Live with Rabbi Simon Jacobson
Hope: Your Song Never Stops Singing
Wednesday, August 6, 2025 @8:30pm
Live Stream | Podcast
Add to Calendar
Tags: Soul Gym: The Dark Side
Posted in Soul Gym, Personal Life, Pain & Suffering | 1 Comment »
