All too often when individuals pursue personal growth, they focus only on the negative things in their lives that need to be changed. They forget to think about the positive things that are worthwhile and important. These positives can actually fuel spiritual change.

Ilchi Lee says that knowing one's self and honestly appraising both the good and the bad are key components to spiritual growth as well as developing mentally and emotionally.

"Do you want to hear somebody tell you they love you? Then just put your hands on your chest and tell yourself, 'I love you,'" he says.

He says that the responsibility for attaining positive change falls squarely on the individual. Rather than waiting around for someone to come and improve their lives, people should take charge of their happiness and better their own circumstances.

This process often starts with an honest self appraisal. Regardless of how desperately a person wants personal change, there are still undoubtedly positive things in their life. Hanging on to these can be an important part of the process.
 

Making a personal change is never easy. It takes hard work and determination, but the results are often worth the effort. The process can bring fulfillment and spiritual development for individuals who are willing to put in the work.

Ilchi lee says that struggle is one of the main aspects of personal change. If it were easy, it likely wouldn't be as rewarding. The challenge is part of what yields results.

"If you feel inflexible, or wish you were more proactive, what you actually need is just to take one more step and go beyond your limits," he said. "When you hover between challenge and abandonment, take one more step forward. That one step can totally change your life."

This last step toward change is often the most difficult. Individuals know that it will result in potentially irrevocable alterations in their life, and they may feel reluctant to relinquish the things that they have.

However, those who have considered making a personal change likely have something out of place in their life, and hanging on to this negative baggage is counterproductive. Making deep changes is the only way to overcome this.
 

When it comes to seeking spiritual growth, few things are as important as sincerity. This grounds any quest for development in honesty and truth, allowing the seeker to expand their horizons off of a strong foundation.

Ilchi Lee says that living life honestly and truthfully is the difference between having a full and meaningful existence and living in the shadows of an unfulfilled life.

"Hope never disappears from the heart of those who live their lives sincerely, but those who have lost sincerity are dark all the time," he says.

This should remind individuals of the importance of self-appraisal. Being honest with one's self is a critical part of any pursuit of spiritual growth. Not only can it help people identify the areas of their lives that need change, it can also remind them of the positive things in their lives, which is equally as important.

Honesty and sincerity can also improve an individual's relations with those around them. Ilchi Lee says that strong ties to fellow humans can play an important role in attaining spiritual growth.
 

Members of the International Brain Education Association (IBREA) laced up their sneakers on February 21 to help raise money for the Kaiser Permanente Great Aloha Run, benefiting nonprofit organizations and charities throughout Hawaii.

IBREA, founded by philosopher Ilchi Lee to promote peace and healing prayer, participates in events such as the Great Aloha Run in an effort to unify mankind and spread knowledge about the power of love and self-actualization.

“My vision is to make the earth a more peaceful, happy and healthy place by creating 100 million Earth Citizens—people who know that the earth and our brains are the common denominator among all people who seek peace and harmony," Lee said.

It is Lee's vision that one day the people of Earth will view their loyalty to all of mankind and citizenry of the planet as being paramount to defining themselves in terms of race, religion or nationality.

Through healing prayer and meditation, Lee believes that every individual has the ability to control their brains in a way that allows them to spread their love and enlightenment throughout humanity.  

Modern life can get complicated and confusing. People have a tendency to fill their lives with events, responsibilities, goals and drama. While it can be a positive thing for individuals to reach for things, living simply may lend more meaning to life and help eliminate much negativity and attain spiritual growth.

"Just like winter follows autumn, the universe doesn't use tricks. It is pure and honest, and favors those who live with the same integrity," said author and philosopher Ilchi Lee.

In this statement, the phrase about the universe not using tricks can have direct implications on people's lives. Very often, they avoid telling the whole truth. For example, it becomes easy for individuals to tell someone that they will arrive in five minutes, when they know very well it will be closer to 10.

This trick allows people to avoid letting others down. However, more often than not, strategies like this can inject more complication than is necessary into a situation. Ilchi Lee says that avoiding this type of deception and living honestly and faithfully are the best ways to attain spiritual growth.
 

While most pursuits of personal change focus on identifying the negative things in life and working to eliminate them, individuals who are interested in improving their lives should not forget to take time to think about what is good in their lives.

Ilchi Lee has said that people cannot accomplish meaningful personal changes in their lives without being honest with themselves. This includes honestly assessing the good things in life and avoiding excessive self-criticism.

"One of the best gifts you can give yourself is an honest compliment," Ilchi Lee says.

Meditation is among the best ways to familiarize one's self with the blessing of their everyday lives. Through this practice, Ilchi Lee says that it is possible to attain a level of mental clarity that makes both problems and solutions more obvious.

Therefore, any quest for personal change should be a bipolar pursuit. While identifying and eliminating the negative things in life is extremely important, it is also critical for individuals to take time out to appreciate the good things in their life and the things they like about themselves.
 

According to author and philosopher Ilchi Lee, brain education can play a central role in an individual's pursuit of spiritual growth. It is central to developing a strong understanding of the self, which is a necessary first step in any plan to seek improvement.

"To know the brain is to know oneself, and to understand the essence of life," Ilchi Lee said. "Without knowledge of your brain, you cannot truly know yourself or your life."

This knowledge can be attained through a number of methods. One of the most prominent advocated by Ilchi Lee is meditation. This can help individuals calm their brain and empty it of all the negativity that has built up over the weeks and months. Once this debris is cleared, long dormant regions of the mind can again blossom.

Many people go through their entire lives without thinking to question who they are or why they think certain things. However, without asking what the basis for their thoughts are and seeking to understand their inner selves, positive personal change is impossible.
 

Anger is a powerful emotion that is necessary for self protection of human beings. Anger allows one to vent out the frustrations and also keep off a threat to personal space. Almost every animal has a way to vent out anger or ward off an aggression. For most animals including a snake, chameleon or elephant, anger is express when the personal space is violated or threatened. Such animals will be docile and friendly until they really feel threatened. The level of aggression or anger expression is greater when what may be considered the most valuable for the animal is threatened.

It is said that a human being is a psychological being. Broken in two, this means that a human brain functions as both psycho and logical. The right side of the brain is said to process the psycho functions which are emotional such as anger. The left side of the brain is said to processes the logical functions. In anger, the right part of the brain that controls the psycho events is what would be active.

Anger can either be demonstrated by violent actions or withdrawal. The reaction varies from one individual to another.

There are several anger trigger factors. These may vary from one individual to another and may also be dependent on the culture of a people. There are behaviors that may be considered as being provocation in one community yet it may be welcome in another. Anger trigger factors may include disappointments, being broke, losing a job, lack of forgiveness among others.

Similarly, the personalities of individuals including anger and its management may be determined by the expectations of the community. For example, in most Eastern or African culture, women are expected to be docile and not even express their anger, whereas men are expected to show their anger including being physically violent.

Dahn Yoga is an organization with women as a large majority of its members, instructors, managers and executives and takes violence against women seriously, especially sexual assault. Therefore anger in itself is not a problem. The problem lies in lack of management of anger. This lack of management of the anger could be due to the fear to address the underlying causes of anger. The prime underlying cause is the lack of addressing of the