Tension Free Life for 2018 -Part 13 EMOTION & THINKING BRAINS

The stress response is based on the trigger which occurs in the form of fear, doubt or worry. Hence, the stress response is emotion-centric. The problem of the emotion-centric response is that it is so well automated that it hijacks the thinking brain. That is the reason one can’t think straight while he is in stress. The clarity of the situation and taking appropriate action is not possible in the automated centric process. Thinking brain intervention is a must in the stressed out situation. But, in reality, in most of the cases, this is not happening.

But, it is possible to bring the thinking brain into the picture while in stress. Stress response can be altered with the thinking brain. This requires brain training and it is a learnable skill. Obviously, this cannot be practiced in the peak of the stressed out situation. This should be practiced when one is a normal state.

Tension Free Life for 2018 -Part 12 MIND FOCUS

Do you know the power of focus? It is the penetration power of the mind and this power is given to all of us equally. What happens when one focus on a particular task for a prolonged duration of time? He can get the penetration power to handle the task. When he penetrates into the task, the world around the task explodes. He tends to see things that a normal unfocussed eye can’t see around the task. This is how he solves the problem related to the task while others struggle to solve. The penetration power is like the magnifying lens that allows the world around the task to see in high definition. This new visibility gives the probabilities of the means and solutions related to the task.

This means to say that the task itself is simply magnified. Such is the power of focus. But, unfortunately, the attention span of the individuals decline heavily in the recent years. Because there are too many distractions which deplete the ability of an individual to stay focussed.

In other words, if one focuses on the problem then the problem gets magnified. On the other hand, focussing on the solution, the solution gets magnified. So, it is wise to focus on the solution in order to solve the problem related to the task. But, the question at hand: How focused are we practically?

Attention is a learnable skill & it is our rights to stay attentive. One can train the brain to enhance the attention faculty. Attention is again a power. The question now is how to harness this power for our growth.

Focussed eyes see things that normal unfocussed eyes can’t see around the task in hand.

Tension Free Life for 2018 -Part 10 BODY–MIND CORRELATION

The body follows the mind. This is the psychological effect on our physiology. Have heard about the prevalent medical field called Psychoneuroimmunology? The immunity system of the body can be altered by the psychic state of the mind. Psychosomatic diseases are the illnesses that arise from the disorder of the psychic state of the mind.

It is important to create the free space in the mind. This space allows our ideas to move around freely in the mind. When the mind space is cramped then there is no free flow of fresh ideas and one gets stuck in a particular mode. Wherever free flow is not possible, energy transference will not be smooth. This causes tension in the mind. Tensed mind creates a stiff body. The body becomes stiff when the mind is tensed. The muscles and joints mobility will be lost. Now, this becomes a good start for an array of all other illnesses.

So, create a free space in the mind. How to do this?

Create a free space in the mind in order for the body to move freely

Tension Free Life for 2018 -Part 10 STRESS CIRCUIT

Our brain triggers stress response based on the threats. It is an automation triggered by the emotion. It is carried out by the ANS (autonomous nervous system) and the response is completely involuntary. It is an activation of the sympathetic nervous system to provide the right source of energy and prepares the body to face the threats. Once out of threat, the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in and the energy level is pulled back to normal state.

Certain hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol, and noradrenaline are secreted with the triggers and sympathetic nervous system activation. These hormones initiate certain physiological changes notably increased blood flow, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, increased breathing, dilation of pupil and relaxation of the bladder.

All the physiological changes prepare the body to provide the additional energy to face the threats. But, these are temporary and stay as long as the threat is present. Once out of threat, the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in which withdraws the hormones secretions and bring the physiological changes to normalcy. These, in turn, bring the body back to the normal state.

The response is a cycle of turning on the sympathetic nervous system, bring up the energy level, turning on the parasympathetic nervous system and bring down the energy level to normalcy. This is a temporary process and stays only in the presence of the threat.

Stress is a cyclic pattern of turning on/off the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

Tension Free Life for 2018 -Part 9 Mind Game

Virtual tigers are in the individual's mind frames. What is real to you? It is not things that happen around you or within you. What is real is what you think about the things. Even though plenty of things happening around you, you automatically and selectively pick up few events that are of interest to you. Rest of the events will be discarded by your filter. This is a selective attention. Even then the selected events will not get into your mind as they are. They are coloured and projected to the mental screen how you wanted that to be. This colouring is based on the life experiences and individual faith & value system. So, it is a kind of double filtering process that happens automatically.

Because of this double filtering process, the mind thinks in a certain way. Since these filter and tint are different for different persons, the mental projection for the individual's is different. Hence, they think and act differently for the same incident. As said earlier, what one thinks that is what is real to him and hence, he acts differently than others. If he thinks that the incident present in front of him as a threat then it is one hundred percent threat for him even though in reality the incident is absolutely safe. Simply, because what one thinks that is what is real to him.

The entire system then follows the cues of his mind and responds accordingly. If one feels the event is a threat then automatically stress response kicks in followed by the whole array of the physiological and psychological cascade of responses. This can be easily explained in the context of a dream which many of us would have experienced at least few times. Let us assume that one gets a dream where a tiger chasing him. The body reacts to this thread by pumping up his heartbeat, increase the level of sweat gland, increase the breathing rate and so on. Even though the threat is not real but still the body reacts as if the threat is real. If one instantly comes out of the dream to his consciousness, he can still feel those rapid changes and the body reactions clearly.

This is how sometimes when the filter and glasses that are used for the projection into the mental screen are not perfected then probably one may live completely in a kind of a situation similar to the dream state. He thinks the event is a danger while in reality, it is completely safe.

One may end up spending the entire life unrealistically if the mental projection glasses and filter are not perfected 

Tension Free Life for 2018 -Part8 VIRTUAL TIGERS

Unlike our primitive ancestors, we live in a very safer world now. We have proper shelters, food, and other basic necessities which the ancestors were deprived of. Modern day men are completely out of threats from the wild animals. Modern day needs/problems such as financial situation, children education, office work, house renovation, road traffics, income tax etc now turn out to be the virtual tigers. Any of the above listed necessities might kick in the stress response because of the two causes of the stress that we mentioned above.

The stress circuit which worked in the primitive times and the one that works now in the modern days are one and the same. Only the big difference between these two scenarios is that the time duration of the threats. In the wilds, threat stays as along as the tiger is in your vicinity. Threat vanishes the moment tiger disappears from the scene. In this case, the thread amplification is larger but the duration is lesser. But, now this virtual tigers are not as big as the threats of the wild but constant nagging troublesome issues always sitting in the back of your mind. So, the threat amplification is smaller but the duration of the thread is longer now.

When the virtual tigers (threats) are repeated very often then there will be multiple stress responses leading to chronic stress. Chronic stress is the cause for multiple lifestyle diseases such as migraine, hypertension, anxiety disorder etc.

The stress circuit which worked in the primitive times and the one that works now in the modern days are one and the same.

Tension Free Life for 2018 -Part7 CAUSES

Often at times, the task in hand demands more energy than what your resource capabilities are. It demands more energy and it depletes your resource capabilities. On the other hand, you may expect a particular favourable result out of your action but in reality the result happened to be hostile. Both of these situations create doubts, worries and fear in you. Eventually, the stress response kicks in because of the worries, doubts and fears.

So, two common causes of stress are

1.            Task in hand demands energy far more than one’s resource capacity

2.            Result of the action is not in favour

Tension Free Life for 2018 -Part5 NATURAL RESPONSE

The primary need of all the species on the planet is to stay safe and protected. Human species are the weak animal by nature. They can’t fly like birds and run like rest of the animals. In the woods, they are exposed to all sorts of threats from different predators. Because of their weakness and threats posed by other animals, they developed flight/fly response to the external threats.

Stress is a flight/fly response which provides the sufficient instantaneous energy that allows them either to fight with the animals threatening them or simply, run away from the place of the threat to a safer place. Either of these demands energy to cope up with the situation.

So, stress is a natural response to stay safe and protected. How the skin protects the body from the external surrounding, stress protects you from the external dangerous ambience.

The stress response is part of the evolution and is a source of evolutionary energy.

Two points are worth to remember in this discussion.

a)            Firstly, it is an automated natural response based on the demanding situation.

b)            It is an instant boost of energy for a very short period of time which dies off after a certain period.

In the woods, if there is a movement in the bushes then the brain is programmed to naturally fear, worry or doubt to assume the probable presence of tiger/lion behind the bushes. Fear/worry/doubts are the trigger points for the stress response.

But, unfortunately, in the modern days, the same stress response which is supposed to protect and safeguard us is causing all kinds of modern lifestyle diseases. This is really ironical.

How the skin protects the body from the external surroundings, stress protects you from the external dangerous ambience.

Tension Free Life for 2018 -Part4 Locus Point

In today’s scenario, one encounters stress in every aspect of the life. Stress emanates while driving, in traffic, children education, in office, at home and so on. What is that which causes stress? This is a genuine question. Is that external situation that causes the stress or the internal experience to the situation causes the stress? If it is the external situation such as office causing stress then the office should be stressful to all of the employees uniformly. But, in reality, the same office is stressful for some while it is enjoyable for others.

The external office is the same for all .But, the internal experience of the office varies from person to person. Hence, stress is not external but very much internal.

Knowing this fact, if one blames the external situation such as office then it is mere his ignorance. So, it is good to revise the location of the stress if one tends to blame the external situations. Those external situations are simply the triggers but not the causes for the stress. Your experience to the situation plays the key role in deciding the locus point of the stress.

The locus of stress is pretty much internal in contrast to the belief that stress comes from the external surroundings.

Tension Free Life for 2018 -Part3 FASHION STATEMENTS

“I am stressed”. “Life is hectic”. “Office is frantic”. “I am dead tired” .These are some commonly and widely used statements of young’s and matured likewise. These have become the fashion statements of the modern world. Please do remember the power of words and effects on our emotional state. Whatever the words that were repeated will get reinforced and finally, those become our property. So, do not carry stress on our shoulder. It is not a PhD degree to carry along with us to feel proud of.

Stress is not a property that one wants to carry along as a title and hence, discard those fashion statements right away if you have developed such habits knowingly or unknowingly.

Stress is not a PhD degree to carry along with you to feel proud of.

Tension Free Life for 2018 -Part2 WORDS have POWER

Here is a typical example of conversation of two people, “this morning, I drove to the marketplace and the traffic was really heavy & driving was truly hectic. After collecting the items in the shop, I was standing in the queue; all of a sudden the guy who stood in front of me in the queue dropped his shopping cart to the cashier, rushed to the refrigerator section to collect a pocket of milk which he apparently forgot in the first round of shopping. It was really irritating and I wasted my time because of someone’s mistake. Somehow, I managed to squeeze my other activities to go right time for my appointed meeting with my boss.

How do you feel when you hear such a conversation? On hearing this conversation, there is a feel that life seems to be hectic. The cause for one to feel this way is the words that were used in the conversation.

Here is an example of another conversation. This morning when I got out into the balcony, the day appeared bright. The sun light was perfect enough to provide such an ambience. The sound of the birds in my small garden was really smoothing enough and it was a perfect start of the day as I enjoyed my morning coffee in this serene surroundings. As I drove the car, my neighbour who was taking his dog for the morning stroll greeted me “Good morning” ” with a big smile. As I crossed half to the office, the traffic became intense and that gave me a break and an opportunity to listen to the recorded motivational speech of my favourite business leader. Eventually, I reached office late but in right time to go for the meeting with the clients.

On hearing this conversation, there is a sense of positive feel. Again, what makes one to feel this way is the words that were used in the conversation? So, words have POWER when repeated multiple times. Words alter our emotional state.

Tension Free Life for 2018 -Part1

Year Twenty Eighteen has begun now. Let us target to have a tension free life. Next few blogs help you in mastering your mind for a stress free life.

In the modern days, there is an emerging trend that has a cyclic “accumulate and release” pattern for stress. We accumulate stress during the weekdays and dump the stress during weekends. We take a bunch of holiday breaks to release the stress when the volume of accumulation becomes seemingly more.  Is this the right way to manage stress?

We all uniformly accept that stress is part of our life. Somehow, we are sold to the idea that stress is part and parcel of our life. Here is simple evidence. Just look around and listen to the common folk conversations, social media and TV channels related to this subject matter. As the social animals, we follow this trend and eventually become the owners of the stress. Now stress becomes a reality in this game. Are we designed to born and live in stress?

In this game, there are two significant hazardous side effects. Firstly, the body responses to the stress and eventually it alters the physiology of the body to a degree where one may be subjected to the entire array of lifestyle diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, back pain, migraine, hyperacidity etc. Secondly, as the owners of stress, we tend to freely distribute and multiply this effect to the people who come in contact with us.

Honestly speaking, there is no such thing called stress management. Yes, one cannot manage stress as stress response circuit is an evolutionary design developed and perfected by billion years of human evolution. Result will be futile if one attempts to play with this circuit. Next few blogs help to establish this truth and to provide set of practical tools to handle optimally ourselves in the stressful situations.

This is my attempt to provide the readers the rightful education and practical techniques that relinquish one the ownership of stress and eventually not to expose himself to the entire gamut of those lifestyle diseases.

Happy New Year Twenty Eighteen!!

Power within – 12 Strategies -

The previous 12 posts describe the 12 strategies!!

What is the key for the happiness in life? Now, you would have in your possession of all those things that you desired few years before. Now, you would have bought your dream house, car, fancy gadgets, farmhouse etc. but somewhere deep inside you, you might be experiencing emptiness, a craving to get more in the pursuit of your happiness.

My personal transformation has taught me some valuable lessons that drive my direction for a meaningful & purposeful life. Here is the formula that gives a solution to your present problem. First, understand your physical, mental & emotional energies & align those energies in identifying your true resource capabilities. Once that is done, you will see a proportionate growth in all the dimensions of the life i.e. your Health, Wealth, Relationships & spiritual development. This is what you might be lacking right now. For example, you may be good in generating wealth but not in your Health or other two dimensions & so on.

Here is my attempt in compiling twelve mental, emotional & physical strategies that give the desired alignment that you sought in understanding your Power within.

Achieve Active life beyond 50s,60s &above

Physical Strategies

1 Art of listening to the body

2  Physical Exercises: Basis

3  Consistency: Success

Mental Strategies

4   Mind Pendulum

5  Mind Centre Point

6  Mind Persistence

7  Mind: Wandering

8  Thoughts:Effects

9  Mind:Comfort Zone

Emotional Strategies

10  React vs Response

11  External Reality

12 Emotions:Memory

WISH A HEALTHY & PROSPEROUS YEAR 2018

Power within – 12 Strategies – Part 12 Emotional Strategy: EMOTIONS: MEMORY

"STRONGER THE EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT TO AN EXPERIENCE BETTER THE MEMORY STORAGE/RETRIEVAL OF THAT EXPERIENCE”

Memory:

 Your memory to a particular event depends on how strong you attach emotions to that event. Your experience to an event is deeply stored in your memory when the emotion attached to that event is high. This emotion can be positive or negative but that doesn’t matter. What matter the most is the intensity of the emotion. Memory storage and retrieval are faster when the intensity of the emotion to an event is stronger.

This is why; you could able to recollect your worst experiences of your life or the best happiest events of your life in a split of a second. The experiences would have happened twenty years before. But, it is still fresh in your mind as the emotion attached to the event is stronger.

Construct:

You are simply a construct of your past experiences. You do certain things and avoid other things in life. All these choices are primarily driven by your own past experiences. You and your behaviour are simply driven by your experiences to the events that accumulated over the years until now.

Take away: Here is your take away based on the above two principles. The primary difference between human and animals is to thrive above your survival. Animals exist here to survive whereas human exist to thrive. Thriving means that we create something of our own. Remember, we exist here to CREATE. With this mind set, we can change our experience, our memory storage & hence our own definition.

Personally, I was at my worst health condition at one point of time. Then, it was considered really bad. That desperate situation changed my experience of life & changed my own definition. The experience which was considered bad has given a new definition of me as a Health coach now. So, what was considered bad at one point of time has become good now.

This is going to be true in your case also if you simply review your own experiences. What was bad for you a year before is now causing good in your life. Fundamentally, when we are here to CREATE and so, whatever good or bad events are primarily steering us in the path of creation. So, here onwards, do not worry when an experience appears to be bad. You now know now how to redefine this experience. This event is exposing you to something good. When the emotion attached to an event is always converted into positives, your memory bank is stored with positive data and eventually, that convert to a person who is here to THRIVE.

Summary:

“Stronger the emotional attachments to an experience better the memory storage/retrieval of that experience”. Experience is stored deeply in our memory when the emotion attached to that experience is stronger. Memory retrieval is easier for the high emotional stored content. Simple Strategy: Mindful of the emotion that you attach to an event/experience.

Power within – 12 Strategies – Part 11 Emotional Strategy: EXTERNAL REALITY

CHANGE YOUR CONDITIONED MIND, CHANGE YOUR LIFE”

Our life experience is limited to the extent of how well our internal world is programmed. If one starts to experience this truth, it is not only inspirational but very liberating too. Personally, this is my experience of life. Such an experiential knowledge changes the way how one perceives the life. There was a shift that happened within me during the process of my personal transformation. Today, after eight years, if I look at the kind of people whom I deal on day today basis in my current life with the set of people whom I moved with eight years before, they are totally two different set of tribes. This alone is a proof of how our internal programming determining the external reality.

Intellectual base:

 Let me try to convince your rational brain to buy this idea. Consider a scenario of two friends taking a walk to the park in the neighbourhood. The experience of walk in the park is not the same for both of them even though the place & time of the visit are preciously the same. The experience of one person is completely different than the experience of another person.

The above example demonstrates the different lenses that every one of us carries. Yes, we use filters while perceiving the events. This filter makes our experience different than the experiences of others.

Filter:

 If your filter is good then you experience a wonderful life. If you experience hardship of the life then it is time to change this filter. What is this filter? Our past experiences of life are a set of collective database stored as our faith & belief structure. Our conditioned mind operates from this database which preciously acts as a filter. We say the mind is conditioned because it can’t act beyond the limits of this database.

In other words, my life experience is simply a construct of my conditioned mind. In fact, this is our internal programming.

Mind-Body Practice:

 So, changing your life experience is as simple as changing the way your conditioned mind works. This requires bit of regular mind-body practice. This practice makes you to become aware of the conditioned mind and hence get an opportunity to manage the conditioned mind.

Experiential knowledge: 

Above, I have given an intellectual base to convince your thinking brain. So, you now know the value of such a belief. But, “knowing” is different than “owning”. If you want to own this then you need to integrate this belief experientially through mind-body practice or some other practical means.

Once when you experience this faith then you know that you are the architect of your reality. This faith is an immense power. The way how you perceive your life is no longer the same. You live like you never lived like this before!!

Summary: External Reality is the mirror image of our internal state. Our life experience is limited to the extent of how well our internal world is programmed. (Or) My life experience is simply a construct of my conditioned mind.

Power within – 12 Strategies – Part 10 Emotional Strategy: REACT VS RESPONSE

Design:

 If you open up the books of neuroscience, you’ll come to know at a very abstract level that we have three layers in the brain namely the brain stem, limbic & prefrontal cortex. In simple terms, these are called as the lower, mid & upper brains. Each section of the brain has a unique function. The lower brain is called the survival brain, mid brain is called as the emotional brain & the upper brain is called as the thinking brain.

Evolution:

 Brain has evolved in few billion years. It starts with the survival first then with the emotions followed by the thinking ability. Considering the rate of growth of the brain, the brain has evolved very rapidly in the recent few million years. The size of the brain has increased to three fold during this period. The brain was five hundred grams few million years before and now it weighs one thousand five hundred grams. Most of this rapid development has happened in the upper section of the brain i.e. the thinking brain.

Living condition:

All these neurological systems in our brain are pretty much intact even in today’s living condition. We survive, we become emotional & we think and accordingly the respective brain section gets activated. Unlike other animals,

Human is a weak animal by nature. We can’t fly; we can’t run fast & so on. We always live in the dangerous situations & hence, our brain is evolved to look for the potential threads.

But in today’s scenario, we live in a very safe world in comparison to the living condition few million years before. So, the survival & emotional centres are slightly out dated mechanisms. The smartness rests in the way of how we utilise the recent development of the brain i.e. the thinking section of the brain.

React:

 If I react to a situation or to an experience then it is a spontaneous action from my brain which uses the lower & mid sections of the brain. So, we react emotionally out of fear, worry & anxiety for the given situation & hence, we engage the survival & emotional centres of the brain. This is an out dated mechanism in today’s safe world.

Response:

Response is a simply a mechanism of giving a slight PAUSE before reacting during an experience. This pause brings the thinking brain into the equation. Once thinking brain comes into the play, it changes the way how you assign a meaning to an event and hence changes the very nature of our experience itself. This is the new way of leading the life using the newly developed part of the brain i.e the thinking brain.

This habit if it developed then it changes the way one experiences the life. So, learn to “Pause” gives an opportunity to “Respond” instead of “React” during adversity.

Summary: Unlike other animals, human is a weak animal by nature. Can’t run fast, can’t fly extra.

Hence, our brain is evolved to look for the potential dangers always.

So, we react (emotionally out of fear& anxiety). This is an out dated mechanism in the safe world now. Practice to respond i.e Learn to pause before reacting.

Power within – 12 Strategies – Part 9 MIND: COMFORT ZONE

In general, conditioned mind is trained to pull you in the comfort zone. Here, you live and do things which are familiar to you. This way your safety is ensured. Security is of primarily significant for the survival. It is pretty much etched in our DNAs.

Monotony is established when we start to live in the comfort zone for a prolonged period of time. This is because, we perform the same actions and lead the same kind of life that we lived a month/year before. We stagnate and that we don’t establish a path for our growth.

Step out:

To see growth, it is important to recondition the conditioned mind. Or otherwise, it is important to come out the conditioned mind to see our own pattern of the conditioned mind. Yes!! Stepping out the conditioned mind gives us an opportunity to see our own construct of the conditioned mind. After all, the conditioned mind operates based on the already stored database that has been accumulated by you as your experiences. It cannot think and act beyond this database.

We need to have new experiences & new learning to move forward. For this, step above the conditioned mind.

Awareness:

Awareness plays a key role in reconditioning the conditioned mind. Once the reconditioning has happened, the mind starts to work in your favour for your own growth. Yes, the same mind that pulled you in the comfort zone earlier now pushes you to the discomfort zone.

In other words, to win this game, it is important to keep the strength of your awareness far bigger than the strength of the conditioned mind. If the strength of our awareness is bigger & stronger then it gives an opportunity to mindfully step into the unknown zone. There is always a risk to move here and this is where many fail to develop the gradient in progressing through this zone. If you take a wide step then you will be thrown back to your start point because you exceed your resource capability. If you take a small step then that is not good enough to take you to your higher level. Mindful moderate steps are the key for the success and that can be achieved by heightening your awareness level.

Summary: Mind is a protective mechanism that keeps you in your comfort zone by default. Growth means stepping into your discomfort zone.

Simple Strategy: To see growth in our life, we may need to work against our conditioned mind & mindfully step into our discomfort zone.

Power within – 12 Strategies – Part 8 THOUGHTS:EFFECTS

THOUGHTS:EFFECTS

"BODY IS A CHEMICAL FACTORY.SANITISE THE BODY BY GENERATING THOUGHTS BASED ON THE POSITIVE EMOTIONS”

Energy:

 Every thought is a form of energy. In fact, modern science has proved beyond doubt that thought generates electrical impulse. This energy can be utilised productively or else it may get wasted. So, what do you think right now? It does matter a lot!!

Feeling:

Thought generates an associated feeling. Positive thought generates a positive feeling & negative thought generates a negative feeling. The emotion associated with a feeling creates a physical reaction in the body. One may experiences this as a bodily sensation. Also, every thought, every feeling and every associated reaction has a form of chemical reaction in the body.

Chemical reaction:

 A thought that generates anger has an acidic effect in the body. This chemical reaction pumps up your heart beat & increases the blood pressure. In the extreme case, it creates even ulcer, an extreme acidic nature of the body. A serene thought with an associated positive emotion changes the chemical reaction in such a way that improves the immunity system of the body.

Balance:

 PH is the balance of the alkalinity to the acidic nature of the body. The thought & the associated feeling changes the balance of the system. Thoughts based on fear, worries, frustration enhance the acidity of the body. Thoughts based on joy, love, compassion, happiness set your body in the alkalinity. So, it important to maintain the PH balance of the body. our body becomes the breeding ground for many diseases when it is dominated by its acidic nature.

Factors:

There are obviously many other factors such the food, environment etc that determine the body chemical composition. But, the way we think about ourselves as well as our perception of our surroundings play a major role in deciding the balanced chemical composition for a healthy body.

So, remember that the body is simply and purely a chemical factory. Do not pollute with the thoughts that have negative emotions. Instead, sanitise the body by generating the positive thoughts with the positive emotions.

Summary : Thought generates physical reaction in the body. Thought generates emotional response as well. Simple strategy: Choose your thoughts to change your chemical reactions in the body. Thoughts based on the negative emotions addup toxin in the body

Power within – 12 Strategies – Part 7 MIND: WANDERING

"TO STOP THE WANDERING MIND, SET THE RIGHT LIFE GOALS KNITTED WITH THE POSITIVE EMOTIONS”

Thought & physical reality:

Today, we enjoy & experience in the physical reality many such things as mobile phone, house, car etc. Earlier, these were then just in the form of thoughts or imaginations in someone mind. Our thoughts or imaginations that we have in this present time will manifest physically as things or products in near future. An intense thought or an idea in the mind will turn into an innovative product in future. Such is the power of thoughts from the mind.

Imagine the thoughts are not cohesive in nature? We all have this experience in our daily life. No one is an exception to this experience. Only, the time & duration of this experience vary from person to person. When the thoughts are not cohesive and random in nature then we call that experience as “mind wandering”. If you open up the books of neuroscience, this is referred to as “Default network” of the brain.

Reason:

 Why we switch to this random mode? Let us understand the characteristics of the mind. Mind always revolve around a centre point which is nothing but your important, interesting and significant idea. When you don’t have this, your mind loses its centre point. You can always witness this behaviour of the mind especially in a scenario where you have nothing important to do. This is a right opportunity for the mind to roam around.

Random thoughts:

Every thought is an electric impulse in the brain. Now, the technology has evolved to an extent where one can able to read this signal from the brain. So, thought is a form of energy. If we generate random thoughts then we waste our energy. In fact, brain alone consumes 20% of the total energy.

Organised thoughts:

Organised thoughts occur when there is a strong presence of the centre point. If the centre point is based on negative emotions such as fear and worries then the thoughts are organised but work in a negative way. When the centre point is based on the positive emotion then the thoughts are again organised but work in a positive way.

So, it is not only important to have a centre point but make sure that it has a positive emotion attached to it. Future can be imagined and planned as it is yet to happen. So, we have the liberty.to think. It is our choice. We have the choice to imagine positively. When we set our goal knitted with the positive emotions, mind gets organised & work towards the goal.

So, here is my message!! Mind wanders in the absence of the direction. Direction can be set by the goals.

Simple strategy:

Goals when knitted with the positive emotions give direction to the mind. Single stream of thoughts set by the goal is contemplation

Power within – 12 Strategies – Part 6 MIND: PERSISTENCE

"FOCUS ON "WHAT YOU WANT" IN LIFE INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON "WHAT YOU DON'T WANT" IN LIFE”

Persistence:

Two simple questions!!  What do you want? What you don’t want in life? Whatever the answers to both these questions, the answers persist in your mind. The persistence is much stronger and deeper for the negative question. Considering an example of building a new relationship. Now, you may say to yourself that you want to build a relationship with someone or you don’t want to build a relationship with that person. Both these ideas persist in your mind.

Direction:

 When the answer is positive such as “I want to build a relationship” then you have set a direction. Mind works in tune with direction. It gives all the possibilities for you to take actions and whatever actions that you take will lead you in this set direction. So, there is a progress. But, when the answer is negative such as “I don’t want to build a relationship”, mind still gives all the possibilities for you to take the actions. But, you will be thrown with number of other alternatives too. Should you need to build relationship with yet another person? Should you be satisfied with the existing relationship? Should you need to strengthen the current relationship? Or simply think of something about your profession. So, the direction is lost here & hence, there is no progress.

Strength:

What you resist persists. I don’t want to see my boss very often. A very nature of a thought such as this creates a situation where you are forced to meet your boss very often. Instead, focus on “what you want “in life. You may want to meet the client who will help in assigning an order or you may want to meet your colleague who will help in your project. When, such thoughts become stronger then the situations created will work in your favour.

Deeper Mind:

Negative connotation has a different meaning at the deeper level of the mind.  A thought such as “I don’t want to meet my boss” will be translated as “I want to meet my boss” at the subconscious level of the mind. So, focus on “What you want” in life instead of focussing on “what you don’t want” in life. By doing so, your direction is set.

Summary:

Mind: what you resist persists.

Resistance: I don't want to see my boss,I don't want this project, I don't want this relationship... a wrong strategy.

Right strategy: I want this project; I want this relationship... strategy that gives direction to your mind.