Exclusive Interview With Lana Popovic – Human Excellence Specialist
Lana is a passionate advocate for human evolution, and an avid lover of the ancient alchemical teachings. She promotes psycho-spiritual methods integrating scientific and spiritual technologies with both Eastern and Western wisdom traditions, for the purpose of helping people reach their potential.
In 2006 Lana undertook the long process of formal initiation into both the Tibetan Buddhist and Western Hermetic traditions, transforming her lifelong interest into a serious, full-time study and practice.
Formerly an interior and industrial designer, she left that path in 2014 to dedicate herself fully to a career in coaching.
Along the way she earned certifications in several therapeutic modalities and programs, some of which combine research in neuro-science with Eastern mindfulness-based methods.
Lana creates content, courses and coaching programs implementing her psycho-spiritual training, along with proven transformational techniques in the realm of shadow working and holistic self-improvement.
Lana Popovic, Human Excellence Specialist
What’s something you know now about happiness that you didn’t know when you were younger?
Spending all our energy running after that which we think we want, and avoiding which we don’t want, doesn’t lead to happiness. If you look around this is what everyone is doing, from the moment we are born we are led to believe that happiness is somewhere out there waiting to be seized by us. So we do whatever it takes to get it, often elbowing others out of the way, even stepping on them, to get to it. Yet the more we run after it, the more evasive it becomes. This is because we are not really clear that what appears as a source of pleasure and happiness is totally relative. Relative to what? To our momentary state which can be colored by mere mood, temporary sense of insecurity or arrogance, desire to be noticed or validated, etc.
For instance, many of us believe lots of money will bring us happiness, because more money is what many people desire. While it is true that having enough money to have a balanced life definitely makes a difference, being “filthy rich” is not associated with happiness. I have known very wealthy people who are perpetually unhappy and disempowered.
We know money allows us to acquire things we always wanted and go places we wish to see – this is of course true, but equating these goals with inner peace, happiness and existential satisfaction is erroneous thinking. Like with all things, the glamour and novelty of such things will eventually wear off and we’ll be back to where we originally were mentally.
Some people hope that being abundant will impact their reputation, making others see them in a better light. This is troubling because we count on perception and validation of others to make us feel good about ourselves. Happiness doesn’t come from what we have or how people see us, but from our sense of ourselves which is completely dependent on how we see ourselves. Our own opinion of ourselves is what ultimately matters most. For instance, if we betray our principles to gratify our ego, or cater to our insatiable desire for material possessions, we will experience deep conflict, resulting in anything but happiness. However, if we are in touch with our sense of what is right, and if we always act from that place, it will be easy to love and accept ourselves deeply. This is the starting step on a ladder to sustainable happiness.
What’s a simple habit that consistently makes you happier, more productive or creative?
We are never consistently happy, productive and creative. We go through cycles of feeling like we got it together, and periods of disempowerment and dissatisfaction. But as these cycles come and go, we can be prepared so that we can navigate our inner seasons. Dedicating some time and energy every day to cultivate our connection to the spiritual domain of our being results in building a place of refuge within ourselves. This spiritual place will look different for different people – for spiritually-minded it’s a connection to the Divine, to our Buddha nature or an inner spiritual mentor of any tradition; for a more secular mind, it is a connection to a Higher Self or inner Genius. The practice itself can consist of meditation, contemplation, prayer, conversation with divine or enlightened archetype, etc. By showing up daily to honor such a connection inside of ourselves, we create a powerful practice and prime ourselves to form a strong spiritual refuge within. I like to think of it as building our own inner Temple. When life gets difficult, we have some place to go. Because this place is built inside of ourselves, we never depend on others or external conditions to be able to touch base with it. Wherever we are, there is our Temple and thus a lifeline to our own source of inner comfort.
You’ve done a lot of research into the nature of mind. What has surprised or intrigued you the most?
There is a fundamental error in human perception of reality which leads us into confusion.
We encounter an object or a person that appears attractive, and automatically there is an impulse to have it or be near it. Whether we can accomplish that or not then determines if we end up in a happy or an unhappy state. What is the fundamental mistake here? Our very perception. The attractiveness of things is not inherent in them, but rather it is a temporary appearance in our mind, like a hallucination.
While appearances are valid for us, they are not real and solid as they appear. Yet our capacity for happiness is dependent on acquiring what appears “positive” and avoiding what appears “negative”, thus our happiness is at a mercy of our mistaken and confused worldview.
Tibetan Buddhist teachings on nature of reality reveal to us that the world does not exist out there, independently from us, wherein we come along and encounter what’s already there. Rather, what we constitute as reality is a cocreation between the outside stimulus and our own interpretation. If two different people observe one and the same situation, they will have their own respective and therefore uniquely different experience of what they are seeing. They might have similar or completely different view, depending on their own minds.
The characteristics we think we see as inherent in a situation or a person have more to do with how we are programmed to interpret phenomena, rather than such phenomena essentially possessing those particular qualities. Have you ever had a huge crush on someone, and then months or a year later you ask yourself what in the world could you have possibly seen in that person to make you like them, as they no longer seem as appealing as they once did? What changed is not the person themselves, but your perception of them.
This is the case with everything, and even with our perception of ourselves.
There are countless nuances in unpacking this teaching, and it is impossible to address it all here. But it is important to reflect that what we see is dependent upon who we are inside. If we are more compassionate, open, caring – we are more likely to interpret people’s actions and mistakes in an understanding way. This makes us less prone to anger, frustration and stress.
Much research has been conducted in the field of neuro-science showing precisely this: altruistic attitude causes us to feel happier and see the world in a more friendly manner. On another hand, antisocial and self-absorbed mindset is associated with greater tendency toward depression and anxiety. This is why the Dalai Lama says “If you wish to be selfish, be wisely-selfish by being altruistic”.
