At the end of the yoga session today my teacher talked about his belief regarding ‘Mindful Observation of Thoughts’ (which will make for another interesting blog post). The gist of it was relevant to the eternal quest for inner peace. He said that we spend our lives searching for this inner peace. We look for it in our thoughts, our surroundings, perhaps in the food that we eat, the people who we choose to be with…however, we can’t look for peace outside and assimilate it within us. We have to create a silence within us for peace to reside, and look at life from the vantage point of this silence. And that is when you will be in a state of bliss.
So here are 5 ways to cultivate the silence within:
1. Spend 5 minutes every day observing your thoughts. Make an effort during these 5 minutes to not sit in judgement of the thoughts that are passing through your mind. Also make an effort not to relive the emotions brought about these thoughts, be they positive or negative.
2. Start your day before those in your house do. Even if it’s just 15 minutes early. Spend those first 15 minutes of the day with yourself. Water your plants. Drink lukewarm lemon and honey water. Stretch. Smile. Read. Spending 15 minutes daily with yourself will ensure you nurture a more fulfilling relationship with yourself, and this will ensure better quality of your days.
3. Pursue an extra-curricular activity passionately. So if you’ve always wanted to learn photography, do so now. If you’ve always wanted to learn karv maga, do so now. Making time and effort to pursue something you’ve been putting off creates a behavioural pattern which tells you that what you want to do can be fulfilling, and enables you to put yourself first before the rest of life.
4. Accept the situation and work around it. You might not like your job, but until you change it, deal with it. You might not like your neighbour, but until you live next to each other, deal with it. You might not like your current haircut, but until it grows out, deal with it.
5. Breathe deeply. Whether you are stressed, overwhelmed, happy, annoyed, joyful, irritated, elated, blissful, worried, tired, energetic, optimistic, pessimistic, disappointed, fascinated, delighted….