How can you avoid stress in life? Just impossible! Even if you want to, no body would give you the chance to be truly peaceful. It is like a virus most active in the air, both within and without. I have heard even Lata Mangeshkar, after attaining the status of living legend in India who has Guinness record of highest number of music albums in the world, for first few seconds of her live concert, is caught by this inner fear that makes the adrenalin run random.
The best of the sportspersons do go through this, and every corporate executive feels odd inside before an important presentation on numbers. Faced with a question that you want to hide inside of you, the stress runs high. There is so much material available in the Google navigated sites in millions that talks of every possible remedies and way outs, but I see not a single person at EASE. There seems to be the dis-ease of stress into the very roots of our techno-society.
Is there any way out?
I think every answer is a relative answer, including mine, for it completely depends upon the person who is going through it and the urge to rise above it.
Of course, the remedy of any dis-ease is to find the roots and then treat it and cure it if it is curable. The root of all stress is our “mindlessness”. The remedy of all stress is in Mindfulness. As we become more and more conscious of our thoughts, emotions, and physical acts, we gradually are able to purge or detoxify our inner dross, as the mind works from the plane of calm (instead of restlessness) it develops the power to discriminate, to discern, to distill, and strain the unwanted and only focus on those ‘thoughts, emotions, acts” which will make a person happy. This is a gradual process of inner transformation. Yes, stress is inevitable but we all have the power to surmount it through transmutation. From negative stress to a state of positive celebration!
Problem, No Problem
One of the most natural tendencies of un-enlightened mind is to magnify any problem or a negative situation by drawing out of the experience of the past and possible pains of the future. More than the problem, it is the apprehensions, and your interpretation that keeps adding fuel to the fire! Problems survive in the field of a common notion “Why me?”
“Why should it happen to me?” It consumes your energy as its fodder and keeps you distracted from a far greater reality of your being immersed in infinite blessings in the present.
When faced with any problem, may it be physical, mental, emotional, at home, at the work place, anywhere, don’t instantly surrender to it and get involved. When two people are exchanging heated words, do you always get involved? You may watch for a while and then move on.
The problem of the problem is your instant identification with the problem as a problem. That is where problem for ‘you’ begins.
As you practice daily meditation, and mindfulness in all activities, learning to separate yourself from the thoughts and acts, learning to be calm and alert and mindful, appreciative of the Higher Wisdom at play, accepting the whole ‘issue’ as a learning tool, you start to see with clarity of an ‘unconditioned mind’ the real message from the heavens. You start to gain your own ground in your own mind and not surrender to the whims and fancies of its unconscious dictates. Now others can provoke you but not make you angry or upset! Now problems are there as it is there for every saint and sinner, but your life is no longer ‘problematic’. If problem comes, first deny it saying ‘no problem’.
Attaining Success in the Natural Way
To be where you are needs you totally. It is not true that you are where your body is. Children are on the field playing while their bodies are at the study desk. Mindfulness demands your attention, your intention, your devotion to the single goal of life, to be fully aware of your indwelling Self, and to be who you truly ARE. There is no shortcut to Truth, for Truth needs you totally.
All of it starts with simple practices that builds our confidence “I can”. Most people give their best and if what they want does not happen, then the confidence level starts to wane, thoughts like “somehow things are not happening and may be I am not fit for it”, take possession of mind’s space, and once these negative thoughts are allowed to breed in the ground of mind, it is like a wild bush, they grows at random.
Mindfulness works wonders in life. Take some deep breaths when you are caught by these negative emotional intelligence, flow with the breath for a while, count your incoming breath and your outgoing breath, taking your attention to the most powerful natural tool that Universe has given you, your breath. It is magical. Instead of flowing unconsciously with the negative self-criticism and condemnations, Wake up, assert your inner lion, roar, and connect to your Spiritual Source, and the pathway is your Own Breath.
You will see the thoughts are changing, the unpleasant atmosphere within is changing, and you are calming down, now impregnate the most powerful Affirmations that you would like to see happen in life. They do work, provided you put the seed in right ground, not a rocky one.
Don’t accept defeat till you are defeated. Never give up!
Be Mindful, Be Present, Be Here and Now!
Mindfulness is the fullness of your mind with your Presence.
Mindfulness is the essence of spiritual practice and also the pinnacle of realization in its perfection. It is your ultimate protection from all that could make you unhappy. It is your shield that dispels all the negativity from finding the space in your mind and growing its roots. It always brings you to here and now. A practice that makes you a conscious being aware of the inner and the outer, of the Presence that pervades existence.
All evils are born in the absence of mindfulness. Peace and bliss blossom in the heart of mindfulness. There is no superior practice that can awaken the Self within you and transform you into a person of infinite kindness and compassion.
Be mindful. Be present. Be here and now!
Transforming Your Inner Dialogue
Self-talk is as important as self-love. The quality of your inner conversation is a pointer of your intentions and motivations. You are talking all the time inside of you. These thoughts, though random, do influence your inner and outer life in a deep way.
If you feel that something is objectionable, you may instantly react and then get into a bad mood for the day. But if you are alert and mindful, you could take this as a situation, which gives you the ground to work. Can you create a distance from the situation that is bothering you and assess its deeper significance to your life? Can you create a pause and meditate and mindfully respond to the situation with compassion and understanding? Can you stop resisting and motivate yourself to experience the calm even when hit by the negative force? These are true spiritual challenges that a seeker has to go through.
The more positively anchored you are, the more is the possibility for you to avoid conflict and confrontation and keep your mind fit for something that would uplift you to a higher domain where you will experience the joy of calm and peace.
These are moments that come to you from the force of the past, only to give you an opportunity to either succumb to the habitual pattern or rise above it. Mindfulness helps you to be more compassionate and responsive to others making your life and the life of others a true celebration.
Moments of Mindfulness
Mindfulness is to wake up to the moment, to come to the moment, to meet the moment, to be the moment. Waking up is awakening, awakening to newness and freshness of the moment and not the repetitive unconsciousness.
We can do it this moment, close your eyes for a few seconds, breathe with awareness, let the mind mingle with the breath. Then it becomes mindful breaths, and mindful breaths is yoga. Smile like a baby knowing all is well in life. A baby has no worries, for the baby is in the moment. Become a smiling baby, letting go of all that holds you back from your blissful, natural state. Let go, for when you let go, you come to the moment to BE. To be one with your pristine, uncontaminated Self within, your illumined consciousness.
Spread the day with such short mindful moments to awaken to your glorious Self. Just as little drops of water make a mighty ocean, so also these little drops of awakening, Mindful Moments, will make a compassionate loving human being out of your present state of worries and uncertainties. You will be happy. You will make others happy.
The Light of Meditation
Observation is empowerment. Identification or attachment is misery. The bottom line of all meditative practice is to disentangle the mind from its habitual thoughts and emotions and behavior and reactions, and this happens only when we bring the “observer element” to the forefront of our daily life. When you are identified with situations and circumstances, the situation rides you and you become victims of situations and reactions rather than the winner!!
As one keeps victimizing one’s own self, the negative habitual pattern of fear and anxiety sink deeper into subconscious levels, only to form a repetitive pattern when similar situations and circumstances arise in life.
This is where Mindfulness and Meditation comes to you as the savior. No, no external props can help for long, you have to develop your power of observation of your thoughts and emotions, and when you do it, they start to transform from darkness and fear to light and freedom.
Meditate not to attain to any mystic, occult powers to wield over others, which is again moving from darkness to more darkness. Meditate to become free from the phantoms of past and future and arrive at the pristine destination of life, the ‘present”, the ‘now’. Reap the fruits of observation in the stillness, the silence that is the most powerful force on earth to gift you Self-knowledge. There you have all that you wanted in life but without fears of losing it anymore, for you are free from ignorance of identification and become Light yourself.
Life Flows Inside Out
In these days of demanding life style, it is difficult to find true quality time for contemplative meditation. There are too many distractions. As the mind hovers over the periphery without its connection to the Spirit within, it is caught in the cycles of fear, tension and stress. But none of these negative emotions come from outside. They breed in the shallow pool of our own mind and breath inside.
You only need to let go everything for a moment. Pause. Take a deep mindful conscious breath. Become aware of your inner Center. Even 30 seconds would do. Moving lovingly from the periphery to the Center. Quick withdrawal from the mundane unconsciousness to tranquil and peaceful space within, the movement is from restlessness and stress to quiet and relaxation.
Enjoy the Life that eternally flows Inside Out!!
Meditation to Carry Your through the Day
Even most successful iconic persons like Steve Jobs, I have heard, started the day with a short spell of meditation. He shared with us “I notice a difference from the moment I meditate. I can be stressed, or tired, and I can go into a meditation and it all just flows off of me. I’ll come out of it refreshed and centered and that’s how I’ll feel and it’ll carry through the day.”
Yes, if you want to carry through the day that demands so much from you, you need to tune your body-mind-breath with the Universal body-mind-breath first thing in the morning. Do this through exercise, yoga, pranayama and meditation so that you are centered, and you don’t collect stress but beat it as it comes with your calm and powerful mind.
Blame not the external, build the internal and all is taken care of.
Your Conscious Mind Plays Only 5%
Your subconscious mind is the reservoir of infinite intelligence and intuitive wisdom and is always in deep communion with the source – Supreme Consciousness.
Scientists say, conscious mind plays during wakeful hours just 5% while most of what we think and how we do comes from the subconscious, 95%!!! That is the reason most people complain I want to do good things but when it comes to the point of taking action, it is my habit which takes over. Yes, it is our habits that drive us. Habitat of habits is the subconscious!
The good news is we are gifted with the power to reprogram our subconscious. We can change our present and through that our future. It is all in our thought patterns.
Make note of the fact that calm and relaxed mind is the gateway to the world of this infinite intelligence and intuition. Relax, calm your mind, and impregnate the affirmation that you would love to see in your life to make it a grand celebration!
The Power of Your Imagination
It is not the dream that you dream to attain a certain outcome, but it is the power of your imagination that triggers and fulfills your dream. It is your self confidence, your deepest trust in the power of your spiritually anchored mind, it is your devotion and love with which you act and visualize its end as flowing naturally that quickens the process of realizing the coveted goal of your life.
To our infinitely potential sacred mind, nothing is impossible. Attaining anything of the material world, healing any of the afflictions of body-mind, or spiritual illumination, it is not how hard one strives but how much emotion and imagination one puts into the dream that paves the way to the success.
Hard work with faith and love can create any magic of life!