So many times I hear 'I haven’t got time, I
haven’t got time,' however if you had someone film you for the whole day without
you knowing you would see just how much time we waste in doing unnecessary
things and having unnecessary conversations.
The fact of the matter is there is time, it is just using it in the
right way, everybody is busy and everybody seemingly has stress, the ants are
busy but it is what we are busy with that is important and knowing how to
manage our stress. Stress is cause of
disease, stress is cause of bad moods, intolerance and impatience. Too much stress is harmful to our complete
wellbeing and for many people they are suffering with too much stress, which in
turn brings sickness both mentally and physically. Often it is also the case that we wait until
the sickness comes to then do anything about it, and often the treatment is a
quick fix answer that only treats the immediate problem and not the cause and
can often bring added side effects. Burying stress and believing it’s not there
is also not a good idea, it will raise its head at some point, when you block
it, it may give a temporary relief but the account is not closed. A more
effective and higher level of healing is to eliminate the diseases before they
manifest. For this we must consider our
lifestyle, we must try and cut down on the wrong factors in our lives that can
cause the stress and bring disease, be that an increase in anxiety and
insecurity, or a physical reaction such as allergy or irritable bowl
syndrome. Dr. David Frawley says “Health
is a continual adjustment, like sailing a ship upon the sea. It cannot be achieved and then forgotten it
has to be an ongoing concern.”
Yoga brings a complete and wholesome means
of prevention to illness and management to stress levels. Yoga consists of many different practices,
but today so many people often think yoga is about rolling out a mat, wearing
trendy leggings and trying to put our bodies in places they don’t want to go
without a fight! Yoga is a way of being,
it is a gentle way, a way that leads us to feelings of completeness and
peacefulness. Yoga is being able to be
calm and contented in any given situation no matter what is going on around
us. And if we start by looking at our
levels of concentration we have made a big first step on the path to
wellbeing. The ability to concentrate is
not only essential toward our happiness but is key in any endeavor. Today as we are bombarded by stimuli from
external factors and everything is expected to be instant in most places, for
most people levels of concentration are very poor. Practicing concentration has many benefits it
strengthens the way that we connect thoughts and ideas in the brain – making it
easier to grasp or understand difficult, confronting or confusing
concepts. Being able to concentrate
boosts our efficiency and dramatically can reduce stress, as we seem to be able
to achieve what we need to with much more ease, which brings greater serenity,
insight and cheerfulness. By improving
our concentration we are definitely going to improve our psychological health.
Here is a simple exercise you can do to
help boost and improve your state of mental and physical health and bring a
greater sense of calmness into your life.
1.
Sit
in a cross-legged pose or if not possible then sit upright on a chair with the
spine not touching the back. However you
are sitting make sure you are comfortable but the spine is held straight. This in itself will naturally start to calm
the mind.
2.
Close
your eyes, and bring your awareness through your body making sure you are
feeling as relaxed as you can be.
3.
Then
start to bring your awareness to your natural breath, feeling every inhalation
coming in and every inhalation coming out.
Just watch your breath for a while, with no expectation or judgments.
4.
Try
to slowly deepen the breath a little without force.
5.
Then
begin to count your breath, the inhalation -1 the exhalation 1, next inhalation
2, exhalation 2 etc. and continue.
6.
If
you become distracted by thoughts, a sound, a smell etc. then return back down
to one and begin again, when the next distraction comes again return to
one. Don’t worry if you don’t even get
off of one, remember it is just an exercise to improve your concentration.
7.
Practice
for 5-10 minutes depending on your time.
8.
When
you have finished don’t come straight back out into the world, keep the eyes
softly closed, and mentally repeat to yourself, I am calm, I am peace, I am
healing, I am healed.
9.
Then
slowly when you are ready gently open your eyes.
If you can practice this twice a day, once
in the morning and once in the evening, after some time you will really start
to notice a difference in yourself. How
you deal with things and how you work more efficiently, sleep better and how
much more time you suddenly have!! You
can even practice this when you are traveling to and from work on the train or
bus, or during a tea break, or even in bed before you go to sleep, so no
excuses!
Enjoy the practice
Wishing you all peace, serenity and joy.
AUM shanti AUM
Mangala / Nicky.
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