There are certain things in life that we have to accept if we want to live a stress-free life. We need to understand that everything in life is not going to be according to our preferences. Secondly, we can be a little more relaxed and light about the challenges that come our way. When we are easy about a problem, it gets solved easily. This applies to our physical health as well – when we remain easy about an ailment, it gets cured easily. The more stressed we are, the faster our mental energy is expended.
Some people become stressed by worrying about the future, while others keep thinking of the past. A lot of people tend to live in the past – they hold on to painful memories, thereby suffering the pain over and over again. Since they are stuck in the past, they neither enjoy the present nor can they create a better future for themselves. Those who hold on to the past in this manner tend to hold on to their ailments as well. They keep thinking about their illness and make themselves all the more ill.
Some spiritual practices can help us gain greater control over our thoughts, and thereby our life. The first step is to recognise the fact that we are souls. The soul is a subtle sentient point of energy, residing in the centre of the forehead. Every thought the soul creates carries some energy, in the form of subtle vibrations. These affect our brain, the rest of the body, and radiate from us to create an aura that others can sense. When we create thoughts of peace, such as “I am peaceful… peace is my natural state of being…” we experience that peace. The mind calms down, the body relaxes. There are fewer thoughts and our emotions subside. Consciously and repeatedly creating such thoughts enables us to have a deeper experience of peace. The more peaceful we are, the stronger our mind becomes. In similar fashion, we generate stress by creating the wrong kind of thoughts. For example, if there is a special dish for dinner, but the cook forgot to add salt, some people will laugh it off, add the salt themselves and enjoy the meal. A few others, however, would lose their temper, berate the cook and end up spoiling their own mood as well as the atmosphere of the house.
To avoid, reduce, and eliminate stress from our life, we need to make our mind strong. Stress, in fact, is a creation of a weak mind. And the mind is weakened by unnecessary and negative thoughts that are influenced by any vice, be it anger, ego, or greed. The mind can be made powerful by some simple practices. When we wake up in the morning, we can create certain thoughts every day, such as, ‘I am powerful… I am a child of God, the Almighty… Being His child, I too am like Him… powerful, peaceful, and stable…’ Regularly practicing this awakens the latent powers of the soul, and then we will find that we do not get upset, afraid, or angry very easily.
The biggest source of strength for the soul is God. We can connect with Him simply by remembering Him. Through this mental link we can draw His powers and virtues, by remembering them and recognising, accepting, and affirming the fact that God has bestowed on me all that He possesses. This practice is called meditation. It is a tool by which the mind can be made infinitely powerful.
However, having a powerful mind does not mean that everything in life will happen as we wish. There will be obstacles, failures, and tragedies, as there are numerous actors, factors, and forces at play and not all of them are in our control. But if we develop the habit of accepting things that we cannot control, and of learning from them, with the conviction that there is some benefit in everything, they will not cause us stress or sorrow.
B.K. Surya is a Rajyoga teacher at the Brahma Kumaris headquarters in Mount Abu, Rajasthan.