Understanding the unexpected results:

It is natural for us to have certain expectations from the actions that we undertake. It is quite possible that sometimes the results of our actions do not match our expected results. In such a case, it is quite natural that we feel disappointed. We should know clearly why the results obtained do not match the expected results. Why should the result be so unexpected in the very first place? If you would like to get an answer for this question, it is important for you to grasp the two ideas presented below.

Part of a bigger system: First, we need to understand that we, human beings are a part of a bigger universal system. There is a connectedness between the different parts of this system. For example, we have lungs which are located in our body which help us breathe. But we need to understand that our lungs are functional only due to the oxygen, which is present in the precisely adequate amount outside and thanks to the process of photosynthesis. The lungs would cease to function without such a conducive ambiance. So, the lungs cannot exist alone but their existence extends to the atmosphere beyond the boundaries of the body. There is a connectedness between the lungs and the atmosphere. Similarly, there is a connectedness between the earth element and our body. Always, we are continually in direct contact with the earth element irrespective of whether we are sitting, standing or sleeping. Also, we are connected with the space. The point here is that we can’t be alone at any given moment of time and we are in constant contact with the atmosphere, space and earth. So, believe in the concept of connectedness and that we have one part which is internal to us and another part that extends externally beyond the boundaries of the body.

Characteristics of the system: This bigger universal system has just two main characteristics. They are a) balance & b) expansion. As per the big bang theory, even today the universe is expanding continuously while still maintaining the balance. As we are a part of this bigger universal system, we also exhibit these two characteristics.

a)      Growth: We refer to our growth as expansion. Each one of us is at a different level of growth and that is determined by the level of awareness in the individual. A person with a very well expanded level of awareness has a higher growth path in life.

b)      Balance: With the level of awareness, we select a particular growth path. A right growth can be achieved only when the balance is maintained. A feedback mechanism is required to establish balance. The unexpected results are such feedback mechanisms that provide the right amount of corrections to set the balance. The results are just part of our extension to the external world.

By getting the above bigger picture, it becomes obvious that the unexpected results are nothing but the correction parameters which help in establishing the balance in life. In fact, the results are time dependent. What we think of as bad often becomes good at another point of time in our life.

So, next time, when you are puzzled with an unexpected result out of your action, do not get disappointed. Understand that the results are just the feedback mechanism to maintain the balance as you grow in life. So, it is not just growth but a balanced growth.

Build your RHYTHM

It is easy to craft our life and live everyday to our highest potential if we learn certain secretes from nature. There is no doubt that nature is the best teacher. There is a synergy in the universe. The effect of interaction of multiple galaxies in the universe gave rise to a balanced state as well as universe expansion or simply a state of balanced growth. There is a rhythm built in the universe. There is a beautiful coordination that exists in the universe. We will have better understanding of our life, better fulfillment in life and we will find our own identity a lot more easily once we discover our own internal rhythm that gives rise to the path of our balanced growth. What is more powerful state to lead our life than to become aware that we are balanced and we are set in path of our growth?

Universe Big bang theory: As known to you, the universe is formed from the dark space with a sudden burst of energy which eventually over period of time become matter that gave rise to galaxies. The universe has billions of galaxies an innumerable number of planets. There is a synergy that exists between the planets and galaxies. There is a force of attraction and repulsion between the planets that provides a balanced ecosystem. Also, this highly coordinated system has a rhythm built in it that allows the universe to expand every moment. In fact, the universe that started to expand at the time of the big bang which occurred billions of years ago continues to expand even as we read this blog.

Definition of Rhythm: Any system, the components of which are highly organized and the movements of the components are very well coordinated & offer a periodicity in the system is said to be in a state of rhythm. The periodicity has some up/down movement as in a sine wave or attraction/repulsion as seen between the planets.

Human System: The Human system is highly complicated and the complexity of the system is as good as the universe itself. Each individual has the universe within him and it is highly coordinated in its functions. Say, for example, if one pinches his own hand, the sensation is transmitted through the neurotransmitters and the receivers in the neural path in a coordinated fashion. It is transmitted in the form of action potential before the signal reaches the brain to interpret as pain sensation. This pain sensation allows us to take further action to subdue the pain as one can’t live in pain forever. Even, if we consider our blood glucose level, blood pressure, heart beat or for that matter any physiological parameters, we can see a highly coordinated, orderly and rhythmic system within us. This leads to a balanced state called Homeostasis. There is a growth component attached to it based on the synergy of the system.

Why Rhythm? : The mind likes the rhythm. This is one of the characteristics of the mind. This is the reason that we like to listen to pleasant music and that it helps us feel relaxed. If we allow our awareness to track the rhythm then the mind loses its strength as the rhythm acts like a mattress for the mind to sleep. We stay aware of the present moment as long as the mind rests. This is a powerful state where we become closer to our originality. The action that originates from this state of awareness is very well balanced and sets us in the path of expansion.

My Rhythm: After many years of practicing yoga, I have developed great sensitivity to the signals that come out of my body. Now, I have come to a state where I can feel so easily the internal sensations of my natural, automatic and spontaneous breath. At any given moment, I can slip into this state of awareness and watch my internal rhythm. To demonstrate the benefit of this state of awareness, let me explain my recent performance in TCS 10K run. I registered for this 10KM run hardly two weeks before the event & I was left with just a few days of training before the event. During my training, I managed to run a distance of 10km a couple of times before the actual event. In the race, I managed to run at the speed of 10KM/hour consistently for 10KM. Certainly, it is nowhere close to what a peak performer can do. But, given the fact that I had never run in my life before the event, my age factor & lack of training, I considered it a great performance with a ranking of 2500 out of 11,000 participants. All I did was to become aware of my breathing and develop a pattern of running which matched to my internal rhythm of my breathing.

So, it is important to identify our internal rhythm to strike a balance in life as well as to set a path of  growth in our life. This state gives us better self identity, higher meaning in life, greater self confidence and better meaningful & fulfilling life. So, please identify your state of internal rhythm and dwell upon it to have a better balanced path of growth in your life.

Emotion: The Universal Energy

We, human are the emotional beings. The word emotion can be split into E- Motion. Emotion is the energy in motion that affects the psycho-physiological aspects of the human. Yes, our emotions affect our moods as well as our body. 

Emotion-Universal energy: Emotion is the energy which is not confined within our body but extends itself beyond the boundaries of the body. This is the reason that we laugh without a reason when we see someone else laugh. Laughing is contagious & so is our emotion. We meet and develop conversation with people and sometimes, we avoid people too. All these happen because of the emotion that we have associated with these people. It is not only with the people but equally applied to any kind of situation or event that we encounter. Such is the part played by the emotion in our life.

Classification: Emotion can be positive or negative. Positive emotions like joy & love generate positive energy within us and negative emotions like fear & anger generate negative energy within us. Since, emotions affect our moods (psychic) and the body (physic) and in general our health, it is important to have positive emotions. It is an art and skill that one can develop to deal with the positive emotions in most of his life.

Our Evolution & Design of our brain:  By evolution, human are weak animal in nature. We don’t’ have the powers like running at a faster speed as wild animals or flying ability of birds. Due to our weak nature, we always have the tendency to look for potential dangers around us and our brain is designed to look for the potential threats around us. In other words, we are designed to look the potential danger or fear around us first when we encounter an event/situation.  This is the wiring of our brain in a negative way that has its influence on our health. Again, it is an art and skill to rewire the brain to think and act in a positive way.

Sources of emotions: When we encounter an event/situation, we make certain judgment of the event based on the feel that we get from the event. Either, we stay with the event or move away from the event and it is decided based on the feel that we have with the event. This is an external source of emotion. Even, our own thoughts based on the past experiences or future plans also generate emotions. So, our thoughts are the internal sources of emotions. Imagine a situation where there is no thought and no experience of the external events .In this case, what happens to your emotional state? This is similar to a meditative state where one is completely detached from the external world and there is no thought in his mind. This is the time where the already stored emotions start to surface out from the body as feelings and sensations. In fact, these are the subtle body sensations which are nothing but the already stored emotions.

Basis of emotions: When we encounter an event, we decide to stay or move away from the event and it is primarily decided by the feel that is associated with the event. This feel is originated based on the individual belief that he holds. There is a possibility that the same event may be good for one person but bad for another. It is mainly because of the belief that the individual holds with the experience of the event. So, if we want to deal with most of our life with the positive emotions then it is important to look at the belief system that we hold.

Manage emotions: It is possible to manage emotions to have a better life. In actual reality, most of us ignore our emotions. We sometimes, even hide and suppress the emotions. In fact, this is the cause for the most of the health related issues that lead us to an unbalanced life. The first and the foremost thing to manage the emotions is to watch/observe the emotions in real time. So, next time when you experience a bad or good event, just watch the emotions that could be in the form of body sensations, your feelings and your moods. As a next step, try to label the emotions with words. Try this practice for a few weeks and see the change that happens in your life. Remember that emotions are the powerful means by which one can connect to his inner self.

So, in nutshell, emotion is a universal energy and by design, we are programmed to think and act with the negative emotions. But, negative emotions are bad for our health and lead to an unbalanced state. To deal with the positive emotions is a skill that one can develop. Irrespective of the sources of emotions, our belief system plays a big role in shaping up our emotion. The first step is to become aware of the emotions if at all we want to manage our emotions.

More to come soon….

The need of Mind- Body exercises in the modern world:

Life becomes wonderful when one progresses in all the major areas of life in a well paced and balanced way. There is a sense of fulfillment in life when the four pillars of life namely health & fitness, wealth, relationship and spiritual development are very well taken care of. But, the majority of us lack development in one or more of these above areas. We need to have a well defined process that monitors the development in these areas and yoga is one such monitoring tool.

Abundant information: In today’s scenario, each one of us is bombarded with a huge amount of information due to the massive technology development. Just to name a few: Internet, social media, TV, mobile communication, virtual online gaming etc. One can get distracted easily by the overwhelming pool of information. As per the research, the entire human race suffers from a rare disease called ADT, Attention deficit trait. Our brain is not sufficiently trained to enhance this attention faculty due to the distractions in the form of abundant information. Yoga enables the attention faculty to train this part of the brain in a more procedural way.

Social Mirror: If I ask a question, “How much water does one need to consume/day?” The instantaneous answer from most of us is 8 glasses/day. How come each one of us knows this answer?  Obviously, most of us would not have tested it ourselves by drinking different quantities of water to arrive at this magical number. This is an idea of someone which has been implanted into the mind of others so strongly. Such is the effect of social mirror. We just mirror what the society does. We simply follow what the majority of us practice. In this case, we are under the influence of the external force. We are driven by the external force but not by our internal calling. We naturally take up the identity of the society once we take the path of social mirroring. But, practice of yoga builds up unique identity within us as it teaches us to go by the internal influence which is lot more powerful than the external force.

What & How? : Most of us know WHAT we do in life, say for example, what kind of job that we are involved in. And, we know HOW to do this job also. But, if I ask a question, WHY we do what we do then the answer from us may not be as crystal clear as the answers to “WHAT & HOW”. We somehow ended up here in life doing the things in life without knowing clearly WHY do we do what we do. The ideal successful path is to begin with WHY then followed by WHAT & HOW. Yoga shows this path.

Competition: Competition is healthy if it is time limited to a fixed short duration. That is the essence & purpose of sports. We are in competition during the duration of sports and we have to get out of this competition once we come out of the sports. Some of us take everything in life as competition and in that process life itself becomes a competition. Competition by definition is stimulating us to a higher energy level to achieve some desired results. Practically, it is not possible to stay in the higher energy level for ever. That leads to break down on long run when we deal with life as a competition. Yoga teaches us to stay stimulated and relaxed in a rhythmic way.

In other words, a Win-Lose situation as in competition is a shorter affair where as we need to lead life in a WIN- WIN situation. To lead life in WIN- WIN situation, we need to develop the abundance mentality. There is everything for everyone. Yoga cultivates this mindset within us.

Spiritual development: Do not confuse spiritual development with some religion or gurus or meditation etc. In simple terms, spiritual development is to know our growth path clearly from our present situation that gives a sense of fulfillment in life. Spiritual development is the one that gives a higher meaning to our life and defines a bigger and better version of us with higher goals in life. This development is not about our promotion in the job, achieving certain wealth or fitness targets. We should have a clear answer to what we plan to achieve in life? For most of us, the answer may not be crystal clear. Yoga provides a path to define your higher goals.

Holistic integration: We are a product of the holistic integration of body, mind and emotion. We can’t separate and do specific exercises for body fitness, mental and emotional development discretely. Our system does not work in discrete ways. System is highly integrated and extremely coordinated. We should have a clear practicing tool to handle these highly coordinated functions to monitor physical, mental & emotional aspects of the human system simultaneously for overall holistic growth & yoga preciously fits into this category. In today’s life scenario, it is a must to have a physically healthy body, mentally a strong mind and to be emotionally well balanced and yoga can offer all of those at one go.

Now take your time & reflect yourself with the above points. If you feel that you are trapped by the whirlpool of distracting information very often or under the influence of the social mirror or if you are not clear why do you do what you do in your life or if you think life is highly competitive or if you are not clear about the higher goals in your life or if you think body, mind, emotions are discrete entities then it is high time for you to start any form of body mind exercise now.