Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Welcome to day 6 of the 7 Keys to a Healthy Mind or Feel your Fear.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” according to Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities. “It was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair….”
Award-winning photographer Michael Mauro shot the above image while we were studying at a Daoist Monastery on Wudang Mountain, China. The Chinese Yin Yang symbol reflects a healthy mind’s vision of fear and the path to blending the good with bad, the best with the worst.
Obviously, there are those fears that are healthy for us, protecting us from those things that could cause us serious bodily injury or even death, if we are not careful. Most of us don’t stick our hands into an open fire. Those would be the best fears.
Now, the worst fears, if you will, are those that freeze us in our mental and physical tracks for no truly protective benefit or reason, public speaking jumps to mind. These phobias or anxiety producing situations actually cause a great deal of stress to our bodies and our brains. Long term, sustained exposure to the chemicals, coursing through our bodies and our brains during our perceived “flight or flight” situations have a detrimental affect to our mental health. More philosophically, a courageous mind is a smiling mind.
Here we go. We can begin to train our brains to be braver by finding those situations that frighten us, and slowly, methodically free ourselves to face them. First step, visualize yourself confronting those things you are timid about. Make the mental movie, through your own eyes. Once you have successfully choreographed your courage in your mind’s eye, slowly practice expressing your new found courage outwardly. Steadily assert your fledgling assertiveness.
Remember, our fears also arise from the mental movies we make, so re-recording over those fearful thoughts with new, powerfully dynamic images of you facing your phobias in your mind’s eye, will make a very powerful impact in your overall mental health.
Before we go…
** I am not a doctor, a psychologist or psychiatrist.** Now, for those of us that suffer from a diagnosed, major clinical depression or chemical disorder, only the valuable time spent with your doctor, will hash out a plan, best suited for you.
Please join me tomorrow for the final of the 7 Keys to a Healthy Mind; Rest as Recreation.
7th Key to a Healthy Mind: Rest as Recreation
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Welcome to day 7 of the 7 Keys to a Healthy Mind or Rest as Recreation.
To paraphrase the Book of Exodus, ”On the 7th day He rested and was refreshed.”
So how do we refresh our minds?
We now know that the brain/mind is like any other muscle in the human body. Stress any muscle, it adapts and increases its capacity. If your goal is to build mental strength and flexibility, you work hard and rest well.
You strive. You strengthen. You sleep. You succeed. Matter of fact, you only build strength while sleeping. Your brain and body both thrive on bedtime. Now, that bedtime may be a solid 8 hours; pretty great if you can get it. A nap, 20-90 minutes is another fantastic way to grab some down time. I have found that meditation works wonders as well. That said, I’m not talking about a meditation adopting some nearly impossible physical posture, burning incense, chanting an unintelligible word or phrase given to you by a “master” of some sort, unless you’re in to that, I guess.
For me, meditation is nothing more than sitting comfortably, drawing in full-lunged inhales and exhales through my nose, while repeating the mantra (here it comes, free of charge) repeating the mantra in my mind….Thank You. On the inhale, I focus on the word “Thank” while on the exhale the word “You” is front and center in my thoughts, in a one-two-rhythm.
There is no target for my gratitude, though I suspect you could thank God, The Universe, your favorite Saint and the like. But for me, I figure they already get the point of my gratitude so I leave that part alone. Just Thank You. A simple recognition that I appreciate being in the position to inhale/exhale in the first place, is good enough for me.
There is a second reason, a terribly unpopular one I know. Here is MY SECRET……
Thankfulness! No wanting. No praying. No petitioning. No longing. Too much stress.
MY SECRET is pretty straight forward. Here it is. There are two types of Humans. Human Beings are content, grateful and focused on the now. On the other hand, Human Gettings are constantly focused on a goal.
At the end of each day, The Universe looks at your mindset and gives you what you are. If you’re are content, if gives you more to be grateful for. If it finds you wanting, looking, getting, it bequeaths to you more longing. Seems the Universe, the Divinity, whatever you are most comfortable with, gives you more of what you already are. YOU are what you focus on, I believe. Resting, every so often from the Getting Mindset, is one of the surest, fastest ways to a Smiling Mind. Maybe 6 days a week we can be goal driven and on the 7th we can simply be grateful.
For the final time, ** I am not a doctor, a psychologist or psychiatrist.** Now, for those of us that suffer from a diagnosed, major clinical depression or chemical disorder, only the valuable time spent with your doctor, will hash out a plan, best suited for you.