The essence of balance, Mind, Body & Soul
The human body comprises flesh and bone. There is a mutual understanding in all schools of thought and religions that there is a life force, an energy that is the source of life that makes us walk and talk. More commonly known as spirit or soul in popular culture, once that leaves our body, we are left with nothing but skin and bones, waiting to be buried, cremated, or whatever passing over ritual one’s kin believes in.
From a purely scientific perspective, it is explained as the “unphysical entity” residing in the human body. There has always been a great deal of mystery surrounding the Soul and I would like it to remain there. Yearning for its understanding is the most fulfilling process an individual goes through in their life.
During this process, you shall begin to understand your belief system. We must understand the belief system is as unique as our thumbprint. Everybody has one that is distinctive. Their awareness of it is in fact another topic altogether.
Our body needs constant nourishment in the form of food and water. That is the fuel needed to enable proper bodily function. The body in turn is completely governed by the mind, which is an organ that is the pinnacle of human consciousness enabling us to be aware of our surroundings, and feelings and governing our lives in general. Both these components again are run because of that mystical force trapped within. To avoid confusion, we shall simply call it our ‘Spirit’.
To ensure a relatively harmonious and smooth life we, as Spiritual Beings must learn to strike a balance between all the three ‘working components of our being. Before I continue further, I would just like to remind the reader that practices for enhancing the quality of life by enhancing our mental and physical capacity require constant effort.
Acknowledge that this is one course of action that we owe ourselves for just existing. Make sure we work to make ourselves the best version of Us possible! Having ascertained the three key components of our being let us see how we can improve on all three fronts respectively.
Mind
The most complex part of our physical body is our mind. This three-pound heavy organ is protected by our skull and rests at the top of our spinal cord. It oversees our thoughts and physical movements. The functions of the brain and its ‘technicalities’ are extensive and a portion of them are taught to us at elementary levels. We need to understand here specifically how the brain commands and dictates the quality of our lives.
The brain is in charge of our thoughts. As a very basic explanation, the origin of these thoughts stem from the active mind and the passive mind together. (which is also known as the subconscious) The purpose of every mind science practice, the most known being meditations, mindfulness, NLP, EFT, Hypnosis, and subconscious regressions all aim to do one thing only.
They Attempt to override the active mind and gain insight into what is going on in the subconscious. Any student of the mind must understand the complexity of the subconscious. Our thoughts become us.
Emotions
The emotions we feel and how strongly we feel them are the bases for what we attract in our lives constantly. Our subconscious is like a sponge. It starts developing from the age of seven and starts absorbing information, copying behavior, instilling thought patterns, and most importantly instills a belief system.
The reader is requested to pause here for a moment. Please reflect on yourselves very briefly. How would someone describe you? If it were to be a sentence to define your personality, what basic trait would be described in their words?
He is a very confident person/ He has a very sly way about him/ She has a wonderful presence/ She has good energy/ She seems very reserved at first/ He seems like a very aggressive individual. etc.
These are some statements that we often hear when we talk about somebody’s personality. Then again have we ever thought about what defines that personality?
Their most obvious behavior which they display at the surface of their personality is originating from what they hold in their subconscious. Our body language tells a tale of what emotions we hold in our mind. Dominant emotions comprise the chain of thoughts that are a reaction to our experiences since childhood to our current age.
Experience
Every experience. Our sorrows, our highs. Our physical ailments, our upbringing. Very shortly an individual with an aggressive parent has more chance of having pent up anger and aggression in his nature. Why so? Because that behavior is what he/she has been subjected to from the time when his / her subconscious was being developed. The ‘sponge’ acquires anger as a norm.
The reader should understand this is not as simple as I have described above. There are other factors involved as well but here, with respect to our subject I hope these small examples would initiate the frame of thought that could co relate human behavior with thoughts vested in the subconscious.
Behaviour
Behavioral traits influence our decision-making process significantly. Everything we wish to achieve in life requires making decisions aptly at the right time. Again, in addition to the above example if the individual being a female has seen her parents divorced at a young age and has seen her father as the aggressor in that particular equation there is a high chance, she will surely see the male as an aggressor in every relationship she acquires in her life.
If a man has had a very dominating mother, he would surely seek that in his relationship because in his mind all throughout his life decisions have been made by a strong, dominant female figure. Consequently, a child brought up in a house where the father has worked all his life as an employee, would incorporate in his mind that is the sole way to go about his professional life.
Risk Taking
Risk bearing capacity is a large part of decision-making processes. Leaving a job, going to a university, choosing a profession, seeking a partner are all risks are they not? The variables involved overwhelm even the most seemingly grounded individuals. All of these may seem like generalized statement’s, with lots of room for an alternative opinion.
I agree but what I write here is always through experience and study, and they intend to kickstart an alternative thought process that aims at an analytical approach towards instances in general.
The purpose of these examples is to make the reader understand how heavily the subconscious dictates our lives. Understand the mental blocks here. I am again keeping it very simple, not mentioning the other variables involved again because incorporating an analytical approach towards problem solving is always systematic and step by step.
Individuals having a talent and passion for something but finding themselves doing something completely different would be an occurrence often seen and heard by almost everyone reading this. It is a tale of lamentation we often hear by our brothers and sisters, friends and family.
Mental Block
What is the ‘mental block’ that stops us from achieving our life goals? Is it certified that a relationship is bound to crash just because we acquired aggression as a birthright, and that trait is now embedded in our subconscious? Are we doomed to follow the suit of our parents' lifepath? Can we not coax ourselves to venture into the realm of what seems doubtful, even if it promises what we want?
Absolutely! We can train our minds to work for us and to unlearn specific behaviors that have created hindrances in achieving our goals.Due to the pace of life nowadays and the influx of technology, our minds are not at a rest even for a moment. The smart phone engages our active consciousness so aggressively everything we see on it, all the information we absorb is cycled around in our subconscious.
If you have never learnt to understand your subconscious it would be cluttered already. Fueled by the influx of information, advertisements, photos & videos the mind becomes more muddled.
Speaking about solutions now, to gain control of our mind and actively work to achieve our desires, we must achieve mental clarity by finding out what our soul actually wants. It has to be free of all the mental clutter accumulated within since childhood.
The gap between the active mind and the subconscious mind must be lessened. The subconscious must be re-programmed in a way that the negative thought patterns lessen, and the positive emotions and feelings are nurtured. One very simple technique which is factually a way of life may be used to resolve this gap.
Deep Breathing
It is requested for everyone to please check up on your breathing pattern. How well do you breathe? In a minute how many times do you Inhale and exhale? Has the reader ever noticed in times of anxiety or anger or while experiencing an emotion that ‘stuns’ the body, the breathing becomes labored and almost frantic? Why does that happen?
That is our body's natural way of recovery. As mentioned at the start of this writing Chi/ life force/ energy is directly related to breath. The inhaling of oxygen and dispelling of carbon dioxide is what differentiates the living from the dead. This is the solution. Learn to harness this lifeforce, this breath consciously in your day-to-day routine.
The Rule of Breathing
Any time you feel flustered, overwhelmed, angry, or sad, take a mental note and start breathing. Only remember one rule. When you inhale make sure you use your nose, not the mouth. Inhale for 3 to 4 seconds, hold for the same amount of time and expel that same breath from your mouth slowly. Make sure you feel that breath in your abdomen. Think of your belly like a balloon you are inflating.
It should expand when you breathe in from the nose. And deflate again, like a balloon when you breathe out. Repeat for 10 to 15 repetitions. The magic of this simple technique is wonderful. You shall instantly find yourself in a better state. This clarifies the mind instantly. Any negative thought pattern shall be instantly changed by repeating this exercise two or three times.
When incorporated in our lives as a routine, as a norm this small exercise shall lessen the disparity between the active and passive, subconscious mind. This writing is intended to be short and direct. There are numerous techniques for achieving the intended results. This is the first steppingstone. The student of the mind must understand, incorporating techniques that tend to alter your acquired way of thinking are very hard to do at first.
Your brain is wired on rigidity and survival. We thrive in the familiar and resist change; thus, baby steps must be taken to achieve control. We must not let our minds overwhelm or dictate us. This small tool is intended to help you regain control of Your mind. This technique shall distribute the stuck-up energy, clear the mind and make it easy to ground any lingering negativity.
Body
The home, vessel, abode of life force. Our physical body. Physical education is part of the educational curriculum abroad. Sports are played almost everywhere. There is a boom of awareness regarding the importance of exercise, and gym businesses are thriving. A healthy body is the foundation for a healthy mind.
The biological reasons are all there all over the internet. Various vlogs of fitness celebrities are widely watched, almost everyone knows (even if they do not implement it) the importance of being fit and healthy. I shall try and tell you why a healthy body is important for our life force/chi/energy.
Body Energy
Energy is measured in frequencies. Various points in our body store different emotions in the form of energy. Very shortly as an example, anxiety is felt in our stomachs. (butterflies). Sadness is felt in our throat, often as a lump.
Love & anger interestingly both originate from the heart. The feeling of immense love and of intense anger both are felt in our heart/ chest region. The breathing exercise mentioned above does a very important thing subliminally. It distributes the emotions and in turn the energy they hold evenly and then grounds it.
Feeling anxious? Start that breathing exercise. The stuck-up energy accumulating in the abdominal region shall be dispelled by this purposeful, directed breathing.
What is the purpose of exercise?
What is the purpose of exercise? Any sport, physical activity we do uplifts our heart rate and quickens our breathing. Human beings have been active throughout the centuries. Before automobiles and mediums of travel were invented most of the travel was done on foot or by horses.
Would it be easier to find an unfit person at that time as compared to now? I think not. The requirement of being alive at that time was being able to carry your own weight, it was survival of the fittest in a literal sense.
Through the study of inventions of the past 20th century, it can easily be deduced that the physically vigorous part of living, traveling / commuting took a toll on mankind. Cars, ships, aero planes and motorcycles have replaced walking and riding. Physical activity has reduced significantly. Refined, prepared food has replaced natural foods.
Nowadays it is deemed a privilege to go to a health club or even eat organic/ healthy. Humans have started neglecting their bodies because of the alternatives available to physical activity.
When you feel depressed or anxious, going for a small walk-in nature would even seem like a task. I would urge the reader on the other hand to please co relate to a time when they took a long walk-in nature. How did they feel after it? Further please think of a time when you danced.
Yes, I danced. I am speculating everybody would have danced at some point in their lives. Why do you feel so happy after swaying to the rhythm of a tune? Why do the above-mentioned excursions seem to rejuvenate, instead of tiring our body?
Again, our body holds and stores energy, all that it holds naturally, and that it generates further, are due to the emotions we feel. The purpose of the above practice is to ground and expel the excessive energy.
This should be taken as seriously as eating and sleeping. If not dispelled properly and grounded from time to time these emotions burrow themselves in specific points of the body that lead to severe illnesses. Other than that, excessive, ungrounded energy also impacts decision making and day to day relationships severely.
Incorporate some form of physical activity in your daily routine. Start thinking of the body like a machine. A machine needs specific care for smooth running. So does our body. Physical activity strengthens the muscles, improves the blood flow, enhances digestion.
Studies claim just walking for 45 mins to 1 hour every day delays the aging process significantly. The benefit of physical exercise is a notion well known to everyone. My attempt here is to make the reader understand a healthy body in turn leads to a healthy mind. If the flow of energy is tranquil and the excess energy is consciously grounded (because of physical exercise) we are in a better position to face anything that may come our way.
The more we incorporate fitness in our routines the stronger our lungs become. The means for inhaling and exhaling (lifeforce) energy, breath strengthens giving us more control of our emotions.
SOUL
The essence of our being, our soul. As described in the opening paragraph, the source of life itself. Nowadays I would sadly deem it as the most neglected part of our being in current times. We have taken education as a gauge for the human mind. Degrees are supposed to be the measure for being smart.
There is a boom of physical activity, humans suddenly realized the dangers of excessive food consumption & inactivity and physical ‘social media influencers’ are thought to be the ideals of physical fitness. Both these measures are wrong. We seemingly determine the success of individuals on worldly measures. What we are neglecting is the fact that this body is a combination of flesh and bone and shall return to Thy Creator in whatever fashion He seems fit.
Spirit
The ‘charge’ that keeps it in an alive state is the soul, our spirit. The influx of information technology has taught us many things. Want to get wiser? A multitude of books, blogs and posts about anything that strikes your fancy is available in your palm (smartphone).
You can join a fitness club and with the right guidance shape your body into what you desire. You can gain degrees and study in a fashion that enables you to land a job of your own liking. Careers can be shaped with focus. The world is not a difficult thing to gain if you do the basic essentials. The golden question is will all of this make you happy?
The soul yearns for tranquility and peace. We look for these things in the wrong places, and it is not our fault. The alluring world along with the subliminal programming that we have been subjected to since birth is the shackles that bind our soul. These shackles are actually invisible and the first step to catering to the needs of your soul is actually realizing they exist in the first place.
The ‘pursuit of happiness’ in a spiritual sense contradicts starkly with what we have been taught and what is portrayed to us in the world. Happiness in the spiritual sense is forgiveness, the ability to love without fear, unconditionally and being ever Grateful for what we have. Nobody can tell you what your soul actually yearns for.
Souls are as unique as fingerprints. Every individual is unique and different. When we actually find what exists in our subconscious, only then are we able to choose what should remain there and what should be eliminated. The human being is far too blessed a race to claim that they have to give in to their ‘acquired’ nature.
As a mind science practitioner, I refuse to give in on what seems to be a lost cause. We can reprogram and dictate our subconscious. Being depressed and in turn having a series of failed relationships does not mean you are doomed for eternity. Having bad luck with your job, being stuck in a rut does not mean your life will continue like that.
Realign with your soul
Realign with your soul. Still the mind, listen and observe. Rejuvenate your body. Meet the energy that resides within. Fight fear, be it in a new business venture, a new relationship or even an existing relationship too! Learn to trust your Creator, trust the universe.
Detach, reassess and contemplate about Everything. The soul and subconscious are closely related. The quieter your subconscious is the more able you will be to be in touch with your soul.
When this connection is established, you shall receive guidance in every aspect of your life. The subconscious knows more than we can understand. How it knows so and how that benefits us shall be written in my future writings.
Conclusion
Balance and feed all three components of our being equally. Go in the pursuit of knowledge, sate the curiosity that is naturally embedded in human nature. Take care of the vessel, your body. Walk, play sports, exercise with weights.
Go swim or take a hike in the mountains. Keep yourself fit, and while doing all of this get in touch with your soul. Balance is the essence of our being and the crux of this practice. The simple tool I mentioned in my first article (detaching from the digital world) and purposeful breathing mentioned here shall kickstart the process of getting aligned with your spirit.
Lastly just a reminder for the reader, this is no race and there is no finishing point, so take all that is new slowly and remember again, to maintain the balance between all you do.
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