Need help with being less rigid
 

Sometimes I'm pretty rigid in my thought patterns. How can I become less rigid in things?

Start looking for humor in all situations. You don't have to become a "funny man," just start recognizing that everything and anything can be laughed at from a certain perspective.

I think that maybe its hard for me to change. I'm too rigid, so it's hard to change.

@Vince I do that a lot but sometimes some things seem too embarassing to laugh at. Meh. I think I'm afraid of being humiliated in public.

You need to hang out with Germans.

Breathe my friend, learn how to breathe!

This may sound like a flippant answer to you. But if you trust it and go with it you will find that it will do for you exactly as prescribed.

Notice that when your thinking gets rigid you are no longer breathing freely. You may even be holding your breath, not letting it out at all. Taking deep, full breaths makes it impossible to stay rigid.

The key here is this: don't force the breath either. Let it flow in and out of you without controlling it. Let the breaths be full and follow the breaths rhythm, don't give it a rhythm of its own.

For one week make the point of taking a 5 minute break 3-5 each day to perform 6 consecutive breaths as described above. This will give you the feeling of what breath can actually do for your psyche. Then, as an ongoing practice for life, pay attention to how you are holding your breath when you become rigid. You will find an unfailing correlation between the two. When you catch yourself holding your breath and becoming rigid, breathe as described above.

Get into this habit and before long you will find yourself less rigid and increasingly able to flow. Don't be fooled by the simplicity of this suggestion. It's very powerful. Best of luck with it!