There's A Place Where Everything's All right
There's a place of sanctuary in each one of us. It's a simple matter of understanding that this place exists and that we can go to this place anytime we choose.
Imagine the alarm clock beeping at 6 am and immediately your inner world gets filled with endless thoughts of roller coaster loops while your tired and restless body says five minutes more. You escape into your inner world of fantasies, wishful thinking, making revisions to the past and how the future must turn out. Another half-an-hour slips by before dragging your tired body out of bed. You crawl into the shower, grab a coffee and rush out the doors. While driving with the radio blaring, you become preoccupied with your inner world of thoughts and revisions of the past, so your past experiences turns out the way you think they should have turned out. Suddenly your subconscious senses the change in traffic lights, from green to orange and you spontaneously react by slamming on the brakes, bringing your conscious mind into focus and back into the present moment, spilling coffee on your clothes. Ouch! You bellow, becoming anxious, uptight, tense and stressed as your blood pressure rises and your breathing becomes choppy.
There's a place where everything's all right
In each one of us there's a place where everything's all right. In this place there's no need to keep escaping to your inner world of fantasies and to keep revising the past. This place exists in the present moment and can be accessed through present moment awareness. When you retreat to this place, you will find stillness, sanctuary, acceptance, peace and harmony. You will become more relaxed, less tense, less stressed and, as a result your health will improve.
Techniques to find this place of stillness and sanctuary
Tools such as meditation, yoga, deep breathing, prayers and Tai Chi can be used to find stillness and sanctuary in the present moment where everything's all right. For example meditation is a tool used to silence the over active mind from driving us mad. Once the mind becomes quieter, we start to get a glimpse of this place where everything's all right. Our body starts to heal as stress and tension disappear and we realize there's no need to dwell in the past or to constantly escape in our inner world filled with revisions of how things should have been and how the future must turn out. You will find acceptance, peace, happiness, and relaxation.
Meditation through Breathing Techniques
From the few Yoga classes, which I have taken, one form of meditation is to lie on the floor, on your back, with your arms out and body relaxed. You inhale and exhale slowly paying attention to your breath. Remember that when you inhale, your diaphragm expands pushing out your stomach and as you exhale your stomach goes down. As you inhale, feel the air moving through your nostrils, windpipe, lungs and back up through your windpipe and nostrils. Another method is as you inhale, in your mind's eye picture a light moving down your spine and as you exhale picture the light moving up your spine. You should become more focused on your breathing or on the light moving up and down, quieting your over active mind that's driving you mad. Your body will become more relaxed and less stressed.
Meditation using a Mantra
I had the opportunity to learn transcendental meditation from a seminar led by Dr. Deepak Chopra, head of the Mind-Body Center, back in 1994. At the seminar I was given a mantra. Although different types of mantras are used during meditation, mine was made up of a few words from the Sanskrit language and was based on the vibrations of the universe at the time I was born. While in a sitting position, with your eyes closed, the mantra is repeated over and over. Your over active mind becomes more quiet as the mantra is repeated quieting your roller coasting thoughts. The mantra should slowly fade leaving your mind in complete silence, peace and harmony. Your breathing will improve and you will become more relaxed, peaceful and healthy.
Meditation through Prayers
A lot of people pray for money, fame, a big house or to be better than someone else. But little do they know the essence of prayers. Prayer is a form of meditation, which is extremely beneficial when done correctly. I personally believe that the more a person prays correctly, the more he or she will see the benefits, especially when it comes to health, something each and everyone of us seeks. I believe that during any prayer, the mind must be emptied of all distractions and unwanted thoughts, quieting the over active mind making the body more relaxed, peaceful and healthy. What more can we ask from our prayers?
The Law of Detachment
It is important to realize that during meditation or prayers the law of detachment must be applied and practiced. This law allows you to detach from your over active mind. It's important to deal with problems and let go of them and not to becoming a prisoner of these thoughts. The law of detachment does not mean detaching from your loved ones or from your passion, what it means is, you are detaching from your inner world of roller coasting thoughts or of you trying to forget about the thoughts and leave them far behind. Once detached from your over active mind, you will regain that healthy and peaceful feeling.
Conclusion
During Life's Journey, each one of us has access to this place of stillness and sanctuary where everything's all right, anytime we choose. We can get there by applying health prescriptions such as meditation, prayers, and only wanting peace as opposed to wanting war which allows destructive thoughts to invade and spread through our cells like the plague. When you find stillness and sanctuary, you will find peace, no need to support wars, and most of all, you will find your true self and the true meaning of life where you will regain that feeling of healthy living.
By Brian Ally