Posts Tagged ‘anxiety and depression’
Meditation As a Tool of Success
Much has been said and written about the benefits of meditation especially in the religions of the East. Vishwas Mahale begins his chapter on meditation in his book, “The Success” with a quote from the Buddha. In today’s fast paced materialistic world where we push ourselves to extreme limits in order to succeed, it is very important that we preserve all that we hold dear. In today’s cut throat competitive world, we must not lose those values which form the very basis of humanity. One cannot be successful by compromising on one’s health or peace of mind, nor can it be achieved by neglecting one’s responsibility towards one’s family. It is even more important that we keep alive the love amongst our near and dear ones in this materialistic world.
One cannot think properly if one’s mind is burdened with stress induced anxiety, nor can one exercise proper self discipline if the mind is under constant strain. In order to succeed in life and live with zest, one’s mind should be free from all kinds of anxiety and depression. How does one minimize and gradually erase tension from one’s life? Vishwas offers the best solution to beat stress- meditation. Though the act of meditation is primarily related to religious practices, it should be by no means confined within such boundaries.Meditation helps to clear one’s mind of all kinds of stress which results in a creative outburst; it also has a positive effect on one’s health.
There are a lot of benefits that arise from the act of meditation apart from the one’s mentioned above, it brings about a change in one’s life that help improve one’s lifestyle. The benefits do not end here, ones near and dear ones are also touched by the positive holistic change that is brought about as a result of meditation. In the field of work, meditation helps one to ameliorate one’s leadership skills. All great leaders of the past from Attila the Hun to Martin Luther King jr., used to meditate and Vishwas cites the example of these eminent personalities from the past.
One of the best things about this book is that unlike other books where authors are happy to just preach about the benefits of meditation, Vishwas elucidates the proper technique of practicing meditation. One of the most crucial aspects of meditation is that it would not be of any benefit to an individual if it is not practiced with the proper technique.
-
About the Author:
Book Info: “THE SUCCESS” offers a powerful combination of ancient eastern wisdom and cutting edge western science, which yields dynamic results. This marvelous book offers glimpses of a wider spectrum of life where success is an achievable commodity, within the grasp of every human being. A major portion of the revenue from the sales of his books goes toward helping children who are underprivileged to obtain needed food, clothing and education. “The Success” is available online in eBook format at Amazon Kindle. People can read the excerpts & order their copy, visit: Law of Success
Article Source
To Celebrate your Life is to Expand your Life
Why celebrate?
If you fulfill an intention, if you achieve something, and then you celebrate what you have accomplished, you are acknowledging to your center and to the universe what you have done. This tends to anchor it as real.
Too often, when we achieve something, we forget, or neglect out of false modesty to celebrate and anchor what we have done. Instead, with no change in pace, we just whimper, “Next!” We are left with the feeling we haven’t got anything done.
The second reason for celebrating life is to show gratitude, thankfulness and appreciation. There is a great deal of evidence gratitude is a very high-vibration emotion. It is good for mental heath. It is good for societal health. It is essential for spiritual health. This in essence makes celebration a prayer of thanks. More on this later.
The third reason for celebration is very close to the second. It makes you feel good. You feel happy. And your happiness level is the single best indicator of your vibrational level. It’s your feedback on how you are doing in life. Then in some kind of circular magic, feeling good itself becomes a reason to celebrate.
What happens when you don’t celebrate?
Those who don’t celebrate life tend to become victims of life. We have all seen examples. George earns a very high score on an examination, and then he dismisses it with “It was a fluke; I just got lucky.” Karen consistently does the work of three, but privately deflects credit with the thought, “They won’t give me credit when they find out how stupid I am.” George and Karen are victims of life, even when they accomplish something.
Victims tend to be unhappy, because life is something that happens to them, not something they continuously create. Being a victim is a recipe for addiction or mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression. It produces a low-vibration life. Being a victim could drive one to drink.
Celebration is the fertilizer for personal growth.
When someone makes a breakthrough in my office, we celebrate with “Yes!” “Halleluiah!” or “Thank you God!” When they make any sort of progress, we celebrate. We are not asking for perfection; we ask for progress. As when a child takes her first step, we celebrate.
There are many steps to becoming a Reiki master. Do you think the Reiki master decided to wait until he was a master before he celebrated? Impossible! If he had started his training with that attitude, he would never have become a master. Likewise for the singer, the minister, the meditater, the guru…or you.
Celebration along the path of growth is an essential part of growth in any skill or wisdom. To celebrate the little movements and bits of life is truly to celebrate life. Celebrating the bits is the route to creating a bigger life, a more whole life, an expanded life, a fulfilling life.
-
About the Author:
Psychologist Dr. Neill Neill maintains an active practice on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada, with a focus on healthy relationships and life after addictions. He is the author of Living with a Functioning Alcoholic – A Woman’s Survival Guide. www.neillneill.com,
Article Source
The Power Of Your Story
Many people go through life creating by default; they just aren’t clear about what they really want. They become hung up on how much is going wrong in their life or in the world. And once that happens, they start to tell a story—they construct a narrative around the grim details that have captured their attention. “People ask too much of me.” “My house is a mess.” “I don’t have enough money to do what I really want.” We’ve all heard these tales, and what’s worse, we’ve all told them. It’s really easy to let those thoughts weigh us down and sap our creative energy.
So how do you say “Cut!”? How do you stop telling the bad stories and start telling the good ones? To begin, you need to understand that events are not part of a narrative, that they simply happen. When you see that all events are neutral, you then recognize that the stories you see behind them are your stories—good, bad or indifferent. If you can reserve judgment, you give yourself a chance to let events unfold.
Once you do that, you can move on to create another story, one that feels better, one with a chance at a happy ending. That choice may seem to be a stretch sometimes, but like any exercise, it will become easier with time. Soon it becomes second nature to reflect on what you’re perceiving, see the tragedy you’ve started composing in your head, and then move on to craft that better-feeling story. The peace that comes with that choice is its own reward. But it gets even better: in time, your new story will have a ripple effect, creating positive results that will astound you.
Research shows that when you consistently engage in the practice of identifying your stressful, negative thoughts and find alternative and better-feeling thoughts you are creating new neural pathways that will lead to long-lasting benefits – decreased anxiety and depression and increased ability to find creative solutions, and ultimately satisfaction and happiness.
Of course, it’s not realistic to think that you can go immediately from a bad-feeling thought to a happy place. More than anything, you’re looking for a feeling of relief from where you were a moment ago. Feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, or depressed by what is happening in your life right now is only a problem if you can’t think of what it is you want to be different. Still not sure? Let me walk you through an example from my own life.
Quite recently, an administrator in my hospital announced that at best, everyone in the hospital would receive a minimal raise this year. Even if we did everything right, all we could hope for was 2.5%, when exemplary employees would normally get 5%. After I heard this, I had some pretty stressful thoughts – among them were fears that the hospital was going to lay off employees—and that I could be among them! I also told myself that I had been counting on a raise, and everyone needs at least a 3% increase in salary every year to just meet the rising cost of living.
After a few minutes of those thoughts (a few very painful minutes), I realized that I was telling a story. I then challenged myself to find an alternative, better-feeling story; here is what I came up with:
“I don’t know that the hospital will need to lay off employees. In fact, I know they recently hired new employees. They are probably cutting back on raises so they don’t have to lay off people, or cut salaries (and I know many businesses are doing both).”
“I am grateful for my job and will keep appreciating all of the good things that I enjoy about it. If I need more money this year, I can always find other ways to make it or I will find ways to spend less. I trust that I always have whatever I need.”
I felt so much better after this internal self-talk. It made me feel powerful and abundant at the same time. And the facts hadn’t changed: all I had done was realize that the facts were neutral, that they included a few things I had chosen not to see, that I was telling a story I didn’t like—and that I had the power to tell a different one.
How about you? Have you ever been aware of a negative thought and tried to “talk” yourself to a better-feeling place? If not, are you willing to try now?
Stacey Curnow works as a certified nurse-midwife in North Carolina, and over more than 15 years her career has taken her from western Indian reservations to a center-city Bronx hospital to the mountains of southwestern Mexico.
She has been an enthusiastic student of positive psychology for years and applies it to her midwifery and life coaching practices with great success. You can find out more about her services at www.midwifeforyourlife.com.
She is the creator of a thriving blog and many of her articles have been published in print magazines and online.
She lives in Asheville, NC with her husband, young son, and Ruby the wonder chicken.
Article Source