In Fear Less: Living Beyond Fear, Anxiety, Anger, and Addiction, Dean Sluyter quotes the twentieth-century Indian sage Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, “Learn to look without imagination, to listen without distortion: that is all. You will experience peace and freedom from fear.”
Fear Less: Putting Freedom into Practice
Peace and freedom from fear. That definitely sounds like something we need in our lives today. We are looking for solutions since we are facing fear from watching the news or living with the demons of our own addictions. In his latest book, Dean says that accessing this place of freedom is easier than people think. What does it really mean to put this advice into practice? The array of practices and ideas Dean shares offers a practical methodology to make this happen.
Meditation as Part of Daily Routine
“The best strategy is to make meditation part of your daily routine, just like brushing your teeth.” He suggests that in addition to the routine daily dose, we take the time in quiet moments to drop in to the space of just being and always ok-ness.
Of course, he discusses meditation. And he offers a variety of functional and friendly approaches to access the practice. One of his powerful insights includes the following, “The sweet territory of silence is what we less poetically call meditation, but singing, dancing, and storytelling belong right alongside it. They’re all ways of living boldly, of dancing through life like nobody’s watching.”
Dean Sluyter on how to Reduce Anxiety
Everything is a Door to Liberation
Ultimately, this is what it is all about when it comes to our ability to live our lives with less fear and reduced anxiety. Living boldly. Daring to be silly. Discovering, as Dean says, that everything is a door to liberation. Fear Less is an excellent road map for a successful meditation practice. Beyond meditation, it is also a great advice book for living with ease in daily life.
What About Resting Bliss Face?
The 39 chapters are mini-essays that explore topics including: Resting Bliss Face, Relax at the Moment of Contact, Meditating with the iPhone 0, You Should Be Dancing, The Buddy System, and more. Read the book and learn what dousing yourself with cold water has to do with meditation. Gift it to yourself and your friends and family so you can all live a life of more silliness, greater purpose and practice, and less fear, anxiety, and addiction.
Fear Less Book Release Party
Celebrate the publication of Fear Less by author and meditation teacher Dean Sluyter at Diesel Bookstore in Brentwood on Tuesday, March 20 from 6:30-7:30pm. Free.
Natural Meditation
Dean is also the author of Natural Meditation. Read Philip Goldberg’s review.
Felicia Tomasko has spent more of her life practicing Yoga and Ayurveda than not. She first became introduced to the teachings through the writings of the Transcendentalists, through meditation, and using asana to cross-train for her practice of cross-country running. Between beginning her commitment to Yoga and Ayurveda and today, she earned degrees in environmental biology and anthropology and nursing, and certifications in the practice and teaching of yoga, yoga therapy, and Ayurveda while working in fields including cognitive neuroscience and plant biochemistry. Her commitment to writing is at least as long as her commitment to yoga. Working on everything related to the written word from newspapers to magazines to websites to books, Felicia has been writing and editing professionally since college. In order to feel like a teenager again, Felicia has pulled out her running shoes for regular interval sessions throughout Southern California. Since the very first issue of LA YOGA, Felicia has been part of the team and the growth and development of the Bliss Network.