I don't know about you, but I have been deeply feeling the heaviness of what's happening around the world. In spite of me not watching news or TV, I have been hearing about too many unfortunate circumstances, near and far.
It saddens me to know that there are so many people suffering out there and to not only see but also feel how that magnifies to a collective fear and affliction, that's why I felt the need to share some techniques that can help ease the low vibrational states tides so that we can create more harmony around us. If we want a happier, kinder, more loving and compassionate world, it starts and ends with us
If you want to help yourself an the world, meditate. There's a lot of discontent and disharmony out there, and this is not a bad thing, but it can be if it's not acknowledged. When big emotions such as fear, jealousy, anger sadness, irritability, etc, it is important to first and foremost noticing them; the pure act of consciously noticing them, decreases their momentum hence, makes you less likely to react unconsciously. Emotions, especially the strong ones, can be great teachers, but they can also be merciless bosses
"I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples." Mother Theresa
One of the most powerful tools to get to know (and heal) ourselves is meditation, yet when it comes to meditation, there's a lot of expectation about what it is and how it should feel like, which may prevent us from really experiencing and allowing ourselves to enter the meditative space.
So, if you feel you can't meditate or even sit still, first you must know that in order to be able to meditate, you
1. Don't (necessarily) have to sit cross-legged or in any particular way to make it beneficial, however sitting with the spine upright is very useful, you can sit on a cushion, chair or floor, whatever works! I don't normally recommend meditating while lying down as it's easier to fall asleep 2. Are not trying to be in any different state than the one you already are, it is useful though, to notice where you are mentally (without any judgement)
3. Don't need to force yourself to do it for a long period of time. You can start with one or two minutes in which take a moment to pause completely and sit there with yourself
There's a Buddhist method called "RAIN" which is a particularly useful tool to meditate during challenging times, it can be applied at any moment of our lives, especially the ones that require our strength, determination, and understanding.
Once you know become familiarised with the words below, if thoughts arise while meditating, you can state any of the words mentally to yourself as a means to remain present, instead of riding the wave of any thought that arises.
For this technique to work, you don't even need to close your eyes, just try to stay with what is present
Recognise. If you take a pause now, and look within, what do you feel/sense? what's inside yourself, beyond thoughts, words or analysis, can you acknowledge your internal state?
Allow. Once you identify what's there, let it be there, without trying to change it, fix it, or suppress it. If there's discomfort, let discomfort be present, if there's anxiety, let it be present. Once you stop resisting what is, only what is remains and in this is-nnes lies a certain level of freedom
Investigate. Inquire into your emotions and feelings, without an analysis or story connected to them, can you trace them to their roots, internally? Notice inside, alert of your experience of this very moment, what does it contain? Can you lean into the sensations without a need to change anything about your experience ? Can you dive deep into yourself so that you're more familiar with your own depth? It's not so much what you are looking at but where you are looking from
Nurture. This is a big one, give yourself the nourishment and love you deserve. Give yourself the ears to listen to what your body and spirit needs. Deep breaths combined with the part of you that notices them is a magic gift that your nervous system loves, it's like a gift waiting to be unwrapped as many times as you want. All it takes is a wilful desire to live with more presence, for your sake and the sake of the world =)
The love and nourishment is not the material kind that you can give to yourself and brings a fleeting sense of feeling good but a deep sense of SEEING, FORGIVING, and UNDERSTANDING your SELF. With honesty, how often do you take a pause to check in with yourself and ask "how are you?." To do this, we don't even need the actual words, but to stop and look inside. "If you want others to see you, you must first be willing to see yourSelf" and once you do, give yourself all the love, acceptance, understanding and nourishment you need ♥
"Be the love you never received. Be the acknowledgement you never got. Be the listener you always wanted. Look within at the younger versions of yourself and give yourself what you always needed." ~ Amanda Ricks