The world is a terrifying place right now. It seems that every day, something new pops up with the potential to increase our anxiety, rendering us more burnt out, powerless, tired or sad. The weight of this may be taking a toll on us and many others are feeling exactly the same. It is important to protect our mental health.
How we begin the day has great impact on how we spend the rest of the day. The first few minutes offer a chance to sow the positive seeds of enthusiasm, freshness and happiness. Upon waking, we can become detached from everything, and focus on our eternal identity, that of being a peaceful soul. As a being of light, we can connect with the loving light of the Supreme source of peace, and experience and enjoy God’s spiritual richness and power.
It is no secret that stress is one of the biggest health hazards we face in modern times. Stress can be greatly alleviated if we create routines that help us relax and decompress. In Costa Rica, they have a word for this daily practice, which is “down shifting”; whether it is taking a simple power nap, going for a relaxing stroll in nature, spending quality time with the people we love, or best of all, pausing several times during the day to check the quality of our thoughts and count our blessings.
Play the game of transforming useless thoughts into powerful thoughts. When we engage in positive life-affirming practices, such as meditation and yoga, and we instantly notice how strong our minds become. Thoughts affect our entire energy field, creating either wellness or illness. Consuming negative news and misinformation is like eating rubbish. Staying lightly informed and not going into details helps us to limit the number of thoughts we expend. Too many thoughts, thinking too fast and in the wrong way, makes us heavy. Everything is energy. Where thoughts go, energy flows. Even if the world situation is not improving, we can just keep the aim for ourselves to ‘improve’ each day and be better than we were before.
Leading a spiritual life makes the intellect full of inner cleanliness and simplicity. There is no waste; not of money, or of mental energy, or of time and thoughts. Experiencing God’s power, we become peaceful inside, and when we are at peace, we contribute to the healing of the world.