How can you remain calm in the event of an unpleasant situation? How to protect your mind from negative emotions? Are there techniques that can help you deal with stress?
A disturbed mind affects many of us today in our often busy and stressful lives. Unfortunately, many people don’t even acknowledge that they are stressed. Neither at school nor at home, are we taught how to handle negative emotions and how to be calm. We teach dental hygiene but forget to teach mental hygiene. Stress does not go away by just talking, advising, or resolving. You may remind yourself a hundred times that you shouldn’t get angry, but when the emotion comes, you are unable to control it. It comes like a thunderstorm and you lose your calm.
We need to learn some techniques and tools to get rid of them and calm the mind. In this article, we will know about some useful tips and techniques, as revealed by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, on how to calm your mind.
Breathing Techniques
Breath is the connection between the body and mind. Learning about the breath is very important. For every rhythm in the mind, there is a corresponding rhythm in the breath, and for every rhythm in the breath, there is a corresponding emotion. When we are angry, our breath is short. When we are happy, our breath is long and calm. The opposite is also true. When we change our breathing pattern, our state of mind also changes. While you cannot handle your emotions directly, you can handle them through the breath. Breathing techniques like Pranayama and Sudarshan Kriya reduce stress, anxiety, and depression significantly. Nadi Shodhan Pranayama or Alternate Nostril Breathing purifies the body and allows the influx of fresh energy, eliminating stress and improving endocrine function.
Meditation
Meditation is accepting the moment and living every moment totally. If you observe, the mind vacillates between the past and the future. We are either angry about the past or anxious about the future. Meditation helps bring the mind to the present. When that happens, the mind naturally calms down. When the mind is calm, we are able to perceive things better. On the other hand, when the mind is disturbed, our perception is also disturbed.
In our daily lives, we come across many challenging situations. These situations often influence the state of our minds so much that we cannot make effective decisions. Neither the events in life nor the states of our mind, happen with our permission. In fact, the events and states of mind often occur in direct defiance of our wishes.
Meditation can bring about a balance between the different states of the mind. You can learn to switch from the tough aspect to the gentler aspect within you. You can be firm when appropriate and at the same time let go when needed. Meditation enables you to switch between these states effortlessly. With a few minutes of daily meditation, our thoughts become calm and powerful, and our tasks are accomplished more effectively. We can cleanse our minds of negative emotions, allowing us to be in a state of serenity.
Knowing there is a Higher Power
When you feel you’re getting carried away by anxiety, remember there is a power much bigger than you and everyone else, that is in charge. There is a great power in the universe that has maintained this universe for billions of years. Have faith in that power. It will take care of you. The faith in a greater power can relieve you of your anxiety and bring calmness.
Now, that does not mean you become inactive and do nothing, saying, “Oh everything is done by a greater power, why should I do anything at all?” That type of irresponsibility is also not good. We need to take a middle path.
Your anxiety is because you’re not in control. If you’re in control, you won’t be anxious. And you can’t control everything. That’s why you must remember there’s a higher power taking care of things.
Spirit of Enquiry
Often, you are not aware that you are connected with the whole universe, and you think you are just some small person wanting small little things. How do we get out of this small mind? We must look to enquire into the core of our existence. What is life? Who am I? What do I want? This spirit of self-inquiry can awaken something inside you, bringing a sense of calmness.
Giving Up the Tendency to Grab
Unless we move from the tendency to grab to contribute, we cannot be satisfied and happy. The desire to grab will keep creating an irritation inside of you. The irritation inside us is because we are focused on grabbing. Once you are on a spiritual path, just relax. Everything will be given and taken care of.
Shaking Hands with Waiting
Waiting is something that irritates us. It makes us restless. But if we shake hands with waiting, frustration can go away from our life, and the process of waiting can become meditation. Waiting is a junction. On one side, it can lead us to anger, frustration, and other negative emotions. On the other side, it creates quietness and brings up creativity.
Other Ways
A few other simple ways, like listening to music, having a cold shower, being with nature, and exercising can also shift our focus, helping us calm down quickly.
Your Center is All Calm
The structure of human consciousness or the mind is very similar to that of an atom. The positively charged protons are in the center of the atom, while the negatively charged electrons are only on the circumference. Similarly, even in human consciousness, all the negativities and anxieties are only in the periphery. The center of your existence is all calm and positive. You are akin to the structure of an atom. Go back to your center where you find that all your anxieties just dissolve. Your true nature is peace and love.
