Perspectives

Open-mindedness is essential for a happy and fulfilling life. It allows us to learn new things, grow as individuals, and build strong relationships. Narrow-mindedness, on the other hand, can lead to isolation, ignorance, and prejudice.

The Power of Seeing the World from Different Angles

Exploring different perspectives helps us in many ways to thrive in a diverse world. We can explore different perspectives by reading, travelling, watching interviews and talking to people with different backgrounds, beliefs, values, cultures and life experiences. We can also deliberately look at things from various angles to expand our perspectives.

Discussing different perspectives about experiences, current events, or interesting topics with others can help us to see the world from different angles and develop a deeper understanding of the challenges and experiences of others. Being able to look at experiences from a broad array of perspectives develops our understanding that there are multiple ways of experiencing any situation. This can help us to become more understanding and compassionate towards ourselves and others.

Exploring different perspectives can help us to find common ground with others and to appreciate their unique perspectives, which helps us to build stronger relationships. Exploring different perspectives can also help us to resolve conflict more effectively by helping us to see the situation from different angles and to find mutually agreeable solutions. Additionally, exploring different perspectives can help us to become more creative and to come up with new ideas by helping us to think outside the box. Exploring different perspectives can help us to make better decisions by helping us to consider all of our options and to weigh the pros and cons of each option carefully.

A ‘perspectives meditation’ can help us to heal our emotional wounds by helping us to process our emotions in a healthy way and to let go of limiting beliefs, and negative thought patterns. It can also help us to express emotions more easily by creating a safe space where we can freely express our emotions without judgment. Additionally, a ‘perspectives meditation’ can help us to develop more awareness of ourselves and others by helping us to look at ourselves and others from various angles.

This ‘perspectives meditation’ involves exploring different perspectives of ourselves, our experiences, our decisions, the world around us and of others. It is a powerful tool for healing, self-awareness, personal growth and building strong relationships.

Perspectives Meditation

In this meditation, I will broaden my horizons to view myself, others and the world from a new, expanded perspective. I close my eyes, and focus on my breathing – I notice breath going in and then breath going out. I become more in touch with the present moment – centered and grounded.

I try to gain insights into what other people’s perspectives are – how they see and experience the world from a different angle. I explore different perspectives – I try to imagine what it is like to have a different perspective. I imagine what the perspective of a caring friend, a wise teacher, a compassionate therapist, a curious learner or a neutral observer might be. I can think about people I know or have met, and imagine what their perspectives might be. I can even imagine what the perspective of a future me would be. I could imagine what the perspectives of someone who has already overcame the challenges that I am facing would be. By doing this, I develop compassion, wisdom and resilience. Compassion is a powerful healing catalyst, because when I acknowledge the joys, challenges and emotional wounds of myself and others, it satisfies an important human need for acknowledgement. Acknowledgement and observation are the gifts of compassion, which helps myself and others to share joy, to feel satisfied and connected and to heal from emotional wounds. It helps us to move forward in an empowered way.

Meditating about perspectives is helping me to create new, safe inner spaces from where I can observe emotions and express them. From a neutral perspective, I notice and observe any body sensations of emotions that are present right now. I notice how emotions change over time. If I change the perspective from which I observe my emotions, I get a different result. I can observe the emotions from a different angle, or with a different attitude, like curiosity and I could respond to emotions with acceptance and ‘leaning into it’.

I can adopt the perspective that all emotions are valid and it is okay to feel them, even if the sensations are sometimes uncomfortable. I explore different perspectives during this meditation by observing the body sensations of my emotions from different angles. Each angle and perspective helps me to increase my ability to accept and observe emotions – facilitating emotions to be processed by my brain, and once processed, the emotion will dissolve. I visualise my willingness to let the emotion go, by imagining how the emotion evaporates into free energy that floats into the universe. I express emotions in a healthy way.

I develop accepting responses to emotions, and I release the patterns that prevent emotional pain from being processed. When I observe my emotional wounds from a different perspective, this can help me to release the pent-up emotional energy and heal faster from my emotional wounds. The natural healing process occurs when I allow my emotions to flow through me. I allow the pent-up emotional energy to flow through me and heal my emotional wounds.  I am building emotional resilience, which is a rewarding experience.

I observe thoughts from different angles. I challenge rumination and I disengage auto-generated thoughts. I re-frame a negative thought by shifting to a compassionate perspective. Instead of thinking ‘I’m a failure,’ I now choose to think: ‘I’m still learning and growing”. I am patient with myself, knowing that change takes time. I challenge the rumination by exploring why I am reacting the way I do. I observe thoughts from different angles. I am opening up to more possibilities, more well-being, more compassion and love.

By exploring different perspectives during this meditation, I have been increasing my capacity to observe emotions objectively and with compassion. I overcome self-limitation and fears. I am learning to express difficult and painful emotions like anger, sadness, and fear in a healthy way. Meditation helps me to embrace everything within the present moment and to process emotions. By exploring different perspectives during meditation, I notice that emotions and thoughts are not permanent, and that I have the power to choose how I respond to them. This can help me to release my attachment to certain emotions and to live a more fulfilling life.

Affirmations

Once a day, I can find a quiet and comfortable place where I can contemplate affirmations and reflect inwards. I repeat the affirmation to myself slowly and deliberately. I focus on the meaning of the affirmation and the body sensations of the emotions that arise. If the truth of an affirmation resonates with me, I accept it and let it sink in.

• I take it slow – I am patient with  myself.
• I do not have to agree with everyone.
• I am open to new ideas and perspectives.
• I acknowledge that there are many ways to view the world.
• I am willing to explore different ways of seeing the world.
• By exploring perspectives, I expand my capacity to learn and be resilient.
• I am compassionate and understanding towards myself and others.
• I do regular meditation practice to explore different perspectives.
• Softening my attitude towards myself and others takes time and practice.
• I am patient with myself as I learn and grow.
• I celebrate my progress along the way.
• I am resilient and able to tolerate difficult emotions, without reacting.
• I recognise that reacting to emotions only makes things more difficult.
• I am grateful for opportunities to learn and grow.
• I try to understand the points of view of others.
• I disengage negative thoughts patterns.
• I cultivate a compassionate and accepting attitude towards myself and others.
• I want to be more in touch with reality, and therefor I challenge my assumptions and beliefs.
  Why do I believe this?
  What evidence supports this belief?

Reappraisals: I challenge myself to be open-minded

I ask myself thought provoking questions on a regular basis to check in with myself. Am I living the life I want to live? Do I want to consider new ideas and perspectives or do I want to be narrow-minded – unwilling to consider anything that does not fit with my existing beliefs?

• Do I want to benefit from being open-minded?
• Do I want to increase the chances of succeeding in all areas of my life, as well as be happy and fulfilled?
• Do I want to keep learning about the world around me?
• Do I want to develop a well-rounded understanding of the world?
• Do I want to consider all the options before making a decision?
• Do I want to make better decisions that are more likely to lead to positive outcomes?
  • Do I want to consider a limited range of options, which can lead to poor decision-making?
• Do I want to be more creative and innovative? Do I want to see the world from different perspectives and to think outside the box?
• Do I want to come up with new and innovative ideas?
• Do I want to be more compassionate?
• Do I want to understand and appreciate the experiences of others, even if those experiences are different from my own?
• Do I want to build stronger relationships with people from all walks of life?
• Do I want to listen to and learn from others?
  • Do I want to engage with thoughts that don’t have any evidence supporting it?
  • Do I want to miss out on beneficial opportunities?
  • Do I want to make bad decisions because I consider only a limited range of options?
  • Do I want to limit my creativity and be unable to think outside the box?
• Do I want to live a more fulfilling life?
  • Do I want to lack understanding about people, or not be able to understand and appreciate the experiences of others?
  • Do I want to struggle to build relationships?
  • Do I want to find it difficult to connect with people who have different beliefs and values than me?

It is much better to be open-minded, than than to be narrow-minded.

• Do I want new perspectives to soften my attitude towards myself?
• Do I want to be more likely to see myself in a positive light?
• Do I want to be more likely to be self-compassionate, even when I made mistakes?
• Do I want to see myself in a positive, compassionate and understanding light?
  • Do I want to overlook and underestimate my strengths, talents and worth?
  • Do I want to develop low self-esteem?
  • Do I want to lack self-compassion when I make mistakes or fall short of my expectations?
  • Do I want to be more likely to be critical of myself, which can lead to low self-esteem and anxiety?
• Do I want to develop an accepting attitude towards myself?
• Do I want to be kind and understanding towards myself, even when I make mistakes or experience setbacks?
• Do I want to embrace myself and others for who we are, flaws and all?
• Do I want to appreciate my unique qualities and experiences?
  • Do I want to tire myself out by striving for unattainable perfection?
  • Do I want to be relentlessly self-critical about making mistakes?
  • Do I want to remain unaware of any unidentified passions, strengths and talents in me?

I explore the possibilities for new perspectives

• I get feedback from others about how they perceive my strengths, weaknesses, and areas for growth.
• I develop self-awareness and my ability to self-reflect
• I identify limiting patterns of thinking by observing my thoughts without judgement.
• I develop my capacity for being mindful, curious and non-judgmental
• I challenge myself and try new things, thereby discovering new strengths and talents that I wasn’t aware of.

My new, wider perspectives allow me to step away from self-limiting beliefs, self-limiting social conditioning and fear of judgement, and to really focus on my well-being.