It will be a major challenge when in the midst of summer and everything it represents—fiestas, celebrations, reunions, adventures and misadventures—you attempt to seek silence. Almost impossible, right?
It takes great effort to literally stop, look and listen to your inner self. But it can be done.
This Holy Week, try to find your serenity. It’s just waiting to be discovered.
Urgent need
In today’s world, the operative word is “hurry.” People are on the move, unable to sometimes even catch their breath as they rush through life and all its challenges.
Workaholics know only too well the pace of their hoes. The focus is on achievement and results.
Hardly having enough time to look back, they instead go fast forward. Never mind if along the way they sacrifice friendships, family, rest and recreation, sleep and yes, even mealtimes. This tendency to go full steam ahead is the very basis for a malady of the new world (as opposed to the old world) and that is stress.
All medical experts agree on one truth—that every disease has a root cause which more often than not is mental/emotional.
For this reason, disease is often defined as dis-ease—the absence of ease.
Ease up
We need to raise our level of ease by truly wanting it. Perhaps you have lost it. If you indeed have, you can find it once again.
There are few simple tips:
1. Wrap it up—Respect the sanctity of your vacation by leaving work at the office. There should be no place for work at home.
If your workplace is the home—close the corner of your house where the work happens. Don’t visit it this entire week. So, wrap up the work. And leave it behind.
2. Say “ahh”—That’s right. Heave a sigh of relief. Now you can breathe more deeply and unhurriedly. Practice this breathing technique.
This is easy to do. And it’s not a waste of your time. Skeptics may scoff at this relaxing breathing exercise but its effectiveness is guaranteed.
Beginners may start with 5-3-5. Five counts inhale, three counts hold, five counts exhale. Repeat 10 times. Even after the third repetition at once your feelings are as follows: calmer mood, slight sleepiness, feeling of lightness, (i.e. heaviness is lifted from your chest)
3. Hold your tongue—We all tend to talk too much, if not all the time, then some of the time. What if you were to give your tongue a rest?
Isn’t this what the word retreat is all about? To take a step back from all the noise, chatter, gossip, arguments, criticisms, means to hold your tongue.
Replace these favorite pastimes with praise and prayers, kindness and compliments. The positive results can be dramatic.
4. Release heavy baggage—We all carry our crosses—big and small. But by learning to release the anger, bitterness, jealousy and sadness, instant healing begins. Take Gary Zukav and Linda Francis’ description of anger in “The Heart of the Soul.”
Anger is likened to an iceberg. What you see is the top but beneath the water is hidden, a substructure called emotional experience, like pain. Every angry outburst reveals emotional pain which needs to be uncovered and understood. Any form of hostility emanates from fear.
5. Serenity—There is stillness in us all. And it resides in our spirit. While it may not be visible to the naked eye, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t there. Through Kirlian Photography we know that we possess an energy body—one that radiates light.
In a sense, we are all beings of light. And as such, it is our inherent nature to shine. But we cannot shine if we overload our system with negative thoughts and feelings.
To do: Find a quiet corner—wherever you are. Now, for the next 10 minutes, sit quietly and do your breathing.
Dim the lights, turn off mobile phones, laptops and TV sets. Listen to your own slow, deliberate breathing. Go ahead—allow yourself to float in your own stillness.
Each day, add another 5 minutes so that by the fifth day you are comfortable with a 30-minute meditation.
Relaxing Tonic
Ingredients:
Small cucumber, seeded and peeled
5 peppermint leaves
1 green apple, seeded and peeled
5 ice cubes
1 tsp honey
Put in blender, strain then drink.
Today’s affirmation:
“I let go and let God. Love and light!”
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