Treat yourself gently

You’ll only end up with a headache! When you meditate the right way,  you gently let go of all those worries, all those bits and pieces of preoccupation and experience, the peaceful pleasantness of being wholly present, in a relaxed, effortless way.

In fact, make your lifestyle effortless. Do everything smoothly, gently, unhurriedly. Anchor your mind in the faith that things will be fine. And even if they go a little awry, so what? Don’t be afraid if things don’t work out. Maybe they’ll take a longer or different route, or maybe they’re not meant to be because better, bigger things are in store — dwell always in the mystery rather than in misery.

Meanwhile, be aware of what you can do, rather than what you can’t. Tiny miracles spr

out in the smallest of cans! Reiterate quietly, “I commit myself to doing more positive things for myself and for my world.” A commitment is a valuable step. Make every step pleasant. Practise conscious breathing as you perform a task so that you benefit from the joy, and peace. Pay attention to the small acts. For example: when you finish exercising, place the dumbbells back softly, carefully without a thud. Every action thus becomes a means to cultivating a relaxed, healthy life.

Pay attention. What you pay attention to heals. A student once woke up one morning, shaking in fear. Her entire body ached. She did the easier exercises so as to treat her body gently. She read Swami Vivekananda’s books that exhorted, “Be strong! Be fearless!” and felt she was being addressed.

Having been a yoga practitioner for years, the student told herself firmly, “I’m not getting involved in the fear. I’m not asking why, how, what… I will merely be an observer.”

And voila! At dusk, miraculously, the  ball of fear vanished from her mind as did the ache in her body! Later, she had a flash of insight: that an old fear rooted in her subconscious had surfaced to be expelled. 

My advice:  Always maintain a soft approach to everything around you. Be gentle with your thoughts. It’s a beautiful way of being. Simultaneously, keep your faith glowing. By paying attention to the little details in life, we attain breakthroughs. But remember, when the mind is hard, speculative or argumentative, the breakthrough moves farther away.

However, if you are overcome with anger, anxiety, resentment or fear, it could be that the left pre-frontal part of your brain, associated with positive, happy moods, has become sluggish. Activate it by balancing the nasal breathing cycle.

Exercise for peace

For this, sit comfortably, eyes closed and perform alternate nostril breathing — inhale gently through the left nostril, exhale through the right; then in through the right nostril, out through the left and so on. While inhaling, push out your stomach, while exhaling draw in your stomach. Breathe alternatively until you feel a great healing calmness descend on you. All the harsh discordance in your mind has been tempered to harmonious sweetness. Now live with vigour.

(The writers are authors of ‘Fitness for Life’ and teachers of the Fitness for Life programme.)