Good morning all. Trust we are all in a good mood. If not, just smile. So says the Buddha anyway, and he should know. He was a very wise man. No matter what happens he says, just smile. It will make you feel better.
Doctors and psychologists will confirm that when you smile, your brain responds by flooding it with endorphins, which are your happy hormones. Your muscles will relax, blood will flow freely, carrying oxygen to your brain enabling you to deal squarely with challenges.
Your brain will do whatever the body wants and vice versa. In other words, if your thoughts are filled with fear, tension, anger, bitterness etc, your body will create a corresponding behavior.
In other words, you can train your brain and your body to behave positively. All it takes is a little awareness about how you respond to certain things. Take money for instance. Do you become tense whenever money is discussed? Do you go into spasms of fear when you reach the end of the month and you cannot pay your bills?
Why don’t you try relaxing instead? This will prevent unhappy hormones from blocking your ability to find a solution. In order to deal with issues you need to be in a resourceful state, ie, have a clear mind to be in an empowered state.
You need just five minutes in the morning and five minutes before you fall asleep to train yourself as follows:
- Close your eyes
- Breathe consciously in and out to the count of ten. Breathe gently, not hard. Don’t force anything
- Try to listen to the silence for a minute or so.
- Become of aware of tension in your body and take your awareness to various parts of your body starting with the head and working all the way down to your feet.
- As you work through each area, breathe in, relax, breathe out, relax and continue until you have worked through each part of the body.
As you become more aware of your body, you will become more aware of your thoughts and how they influence your reactions, physical responses and behaviour.
If you want to work on a specific issue work through steps 1 to 5, then sit quietly listening to your thoughts. Often you will find that the urge to do something comes to the fore. If that doesn’t happen, sit in silence, then ask a question. Don’t force anything. You may find that you will sleep soundly thereafter and in the morning a solution will present itself or you may get the urge to go some place without knowing why. This is your subconscious guiding you. Just go and see what happens. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Don’t be disappointed if nothing happens. Sometimes one simply needs to cultivate inner silence in order to confront one’s own issues before anything happens. Don’t live in expectation of grandiose schemes suddenly falling into your lap. Rather keep practicing and getting to know yourself. You are the only one who can find solutions to your problems. Look within, confront your own fears.
I can’t emphasize enough that practice makes perfect. By degrees you will find your life changing. Coincidences will take you down a path you have been unable to negotiate before, or you may suddenly take up a satisfying hobby that may lead to a career.
Your mind holds the key to your entire potential. You are the cause and effect of all that happens in your life.
Respond to this post if you want to know more.
Recommended reading: Buddhaism, Meditation, positive thinking
