Daily Meditation For Unshakable Mind Control, Mental Health and Success in Life- Palak Notes
If I have to go 10 years back, when I was desperate to take control of my Life, Health, Career, Family and I did not know where to start from. I would have definitely started with "Meditation" While counselling my clients about the lifestyle changes to have a happy healthy life for higher performance, we often have this conversation, where to start from? My answer is "Start from Meditation" Meditation has such profound effects on all aspects of life, that the later you start, the more are you delaying that magical key to a successful, happy, and satisfying life.
Meditation for Mind Control
Our whole life is modelled through Will Power and Mind control. I should wake up at 6.30 in the morning (willpower), I will avoid sweet food (Willpower), I will do more exercise (willpower), I won't smoke again, Drink again. Willpower. Meditation increases your willpower. You can accomplish more with the help of this useful 10 minutes of silence every day. It teaches you to be present in the situation. You experience a state of mindfulness. The beauty of life is not in the past or future, but it's in that moment you are in. Whether or not you consider yourself religious or spiritual, it’s always worth learning, how to control your brain so you could be in the state of high performance.
Meditation for Mental Health
The most important contribution of Meditation I feel is that all the old age mental health-related issues like “Alzheimer's” are shown to slow down the progression. What is Alzheimer's: Do you see anyone around you, maybe your parents or your friend with problems like:
- Disorientation
- Mood swings
- Loss of Motivation
- Not managing self-care
- Behavioural issues
- Mixing up of words while speaking or forgetting commonly used words
These are the pre-symptoms of Alzheimer's (short-term memory loss) One of the biggest contributors to such situations in life is our Diet, Toxic environment, Chemical exposure, and the master of all “STRESS” We don't have to accept living like this. If you put in a little effort today, we can change what we have always known old age as. More and more scientific research is coming out claiming that aging is a disease and we can prevent it from happening.
One of the simplest tools that we can use to fight and suppress these inflammatories in the brain is Meditation. As Meditation takes the body into a deep relaxation state where we learn how to deal with stress.
So, what’s happening here? Why does meditation have such a strong impact in slowing down or preventing this progressive old age disease?
Like we do physical exercise to keep the body strong, we should also involve is some kind of brain exercise to keep the brain strong. Learning new skills and meditation is exactly that. As our body and mind ages, it stops producing more neurons in the brain, a process called “Neurogenesis”: meaning that brain is no longer growing. Like body loses flexibility the less we move it, our brain becomes lazy too. It means it is harder to memorize, learn and also control emotions. Recent studies have shown that certain activities and food habits can increase the generation of more neurons even after a certain age, it means that your brain can remain younger for longer.
YES: “YOU CAN GROW NEW BRAIN CELLS AT ANY AGE MEANING YOU COULD STILL BE THE SMARTEST IN THE ROOM"
Meditation for Anxiety and Stress
Meditation may reverse chronic diseases, eliminate the need for medications, and most importantly, confer a greater sense of life satisfaction, happiness, and freedom to be here, in the present, where the wonder of this never-before-existent moment is unfolding before you. When your mind is calm and your emotions are within your control, you’re in a much better position to tackle all your normal responsibilities plus the goals you’ve set for yourself. It is science backed that when you are under stress, the cortisol (hormone) levels in your body raises, and you have difficulty in making decisions.
"Who needs a bad decision making a leader? No one"
Meditation for Success in Life
"The successful warrior is the average man with laser-like focus." -- Bruce Lee Yes! Paying 100% attention to the task you are doing and not letting your mind run to what is not in front of you. This sounds simple, but it is so damn hard. No Doubt, with 100% focus on the task you are undertaking, you will excel in life, relationships, career and everything.
For example, Sir Isaac Newton noticed the forces in nature when he saw an apple falling down. We all had the opportunity to see the falling apple. Were we ever present in that situation and thought why is the apple falling down and not going upwards? Hence "Gravity was born" Life throws unexpected and unplanned things at us all. If you are mindful, you would be able to see an opportunity in every situation.
Another example is that all the people we call "Experts" around us, whom we look up to, can always recall some situations with so much precision as if it happened yesterday. We might be with them in that situation, but we cannot recall because our mind was somewhere else. Unmindful people would always say, "did that really happen" I cannot recall. Not able to recall means you were physically present in that situation but not mentally.
Meditation and Relationships
A relationship is all about compassion, tolerance, and understanding another's point of view. We all know that one bad relationship can sometimes ruin days, weeks and hence our lives. Meditation will induce gratitude, happiness, forgiveness in you.
If you are too angry with a person, just close your eyes for two minutes, imagine that person and say "I forgive you" and remind yourself of just one thing " Everyone tries to do their best. It's just that their way of handling and reacting to situations is different.". Remind yourself of mortality, someday this person is not going to be there. We all come with an expiry date, unfortunately.
If you are suffering because of someone else, then you have to fix yourself and not the other person. Through meditation when you access your inner calm, you become less reactive to any outer situation. You are in such a state of Joy at your core that outer circumstances do not even touch you. Now you know the answer why the President of our country is calmer than your mother or yourself.
How to learn mindfulness
Now there are meditation classes all over. You can enroll in one. But, this never worked for me. I think it is a lifestyle. For me, a person´s goal should be to be mindful in every situation. The best day of your life is today, not yesterday, not tomorrow. Today and that moment.
Even if you are in the gym, imagine those muscles you are targeting. Pay attention to sensations in your body, your heartbeat, your breathing, that sound of the breathing, after all the success lies in those details. If you started doing that, I am sure you can achieve results faster as you will learn how your body responds to different exercises and you will start working with your body and not against it. No matter, in the beginning, your mind will wander to unnecessary thoughts. Just try to bring back attention back in that moment.
Where to start from
Start from sitting in silence for 10 Minutes every day, for 48 days. Sadhguru says, " Forty-eight days is a period of time which is generally known as a mandala, a time period when the system goes through a certain cycle.
This is also the reason why in Ayurveda for example, medicine is usually given for 48 days. It is the length of time that is needed for the medicine to take root in your system. The same is true for the Isha Kriya. It is important that you do it without a break for that period" Forming habits is hard. Just remember that if you missed one day, then the next day you begin from 1 again.
Meditation Posture
- Keep your back straight. I realized the more my back was tilted, the more sleepy I used to get in the beginning.
- Keep your head tilted a little upwards because that will tilt the focus between the eyes automatically
- Legs crossed and palms facing upwards
If it is hard for you to sit on the ground. Sit upright position on the chair.
A Quick Hack if you have missed meditation on a day
As we learned that Meditation means being present at the moment. Just in case you have missed Meditating one day, you can meditate while brushing your teeth before going to bed or taking shower. Just notice every little thing about that moment. The voice of that shower, The Voice of the water splashing, your physical senses. Just don't let your mind wander and bring back your attention to the present situation.
Don't give up please: Consistency is the Key
Why is it that some people are more happy and satisfied than others. Why is it so that sometimes people born with resources are not able to make it that big and the one without resources makes to that level.
The answer is consistency. On the internet everything is available. Some people read 10 articles in 1 day and some people read 1 article, make changes in life and try to become a better person every day.
The world's best players say "we don't practice 100 shots, we practice 1 shot 100 times and win the game by mastering that one shot” It took me 6 months to come into regular practice for meditation. Keep trying till you feel that state of wakefulness. Keep fighting and I promise there is a bright light at the end of tunnel which is waiting for you to open the doors of a “New World” where you will find a “BETTER YOU”. "
