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 -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 -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 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

Live Large - Right Alignment

What is the force within us that generates the powerful result in the physical world? This is the force of alignment.

Let us dissect the resulting pattern. A person has an idea in his mind (mental energy).He is emotionally connected with the idea & he feels good whenever he thinks or executes the idea (emotional energy). He is thoroughly & deeply connected with the idea (spiritual energy). When all these energies are real & aligned together, he becomes unstoppable & fires like the sun rays that converged through the optical lens to generate a fire at a single focusing point.

The result becomes futile when all of those energies are not in equal proportions.

A simultaneous, perfect alignment and convergence of these three internal energies generate the external result.

Live Large - Start Point

For self-transformation journey, one needs to identify clearly the right start point.

But, let us first understand a very basic but an important point. Today, we use mobile, computer and other items. These items are real and exist now in the physical world. But, few decades before, these items did exist simply as the ideas in someone heads. The items that we see now are simply the results in the physical world. So, a result that is conceivable and seen in the physical world is simply a reflection and an amalgamation of the mental, emotional & spiritual energies of the internal world.

In other words, a combination of our mindset, emotional state & spiritual energy of this present moment manifest themselves into result in the near future.

The question now is: Should we need to work on the result? Or should we need to work on the causes that generate the result? Follow this simple Cause-Effect formula.

The external world is difficult to control. Internal world is within our control. It is then wise to work on the internal variables than working on the external variable factors.

So, we now know clearly our good start point for the transformation.

Releasing Habit

During the wakeful hours of the day, mostly we engage in activities in our works, family, travel etc. We repeat these set of engagements day after day and slowly these engagements become part of our life. We wear different masks with the engagements. We wear the mask of a father while engaging with the son, a mask of an employee with the employer, mask of a consumer with the seller and so on. Anything, when repeated, becomes our habit. When one or more of these engagements not going as per our desire then that would become the primary cause of the stress in life. So, stress has also become a pattern of our life.

To break this stressful pattern, one needs to create few of the releasing moments during the wakeful hours of the day. These moments can be anything that truly connects a person to the deeper side of him. These moments can be anything from listening to the music, doing physical exercises, riding a bike, cooking, singing, uttering even some meaningless words, chatting with a person very close and so on.

The boundary condition in creating such a moment is that the person should get connected to his deeper self or simply, live in that moment without wearing a mask. Voluntarily, create such moments and embed those with the daily activities of the wakeful hours.

Now, we have created a perfect balance of the releasing moments to the active moments which helps in creating a tension-free life.

Releasing moments truly connect a person to the deeper side of him.

Technique 4: THINKING BRAIN INTERVENTION

Stress is an automated process and it is emotion-centric. When the emotion is highly dominant, the thinking brain is completely bypassed. That is the reason, a person cannot think straight in a stressed out situation. Can we change the stress response by the intervention of thinking brain?  The answer is NO if we leave the automation freely. But, with sensitivity training, it is possible to dynamically alter the stress response as it unfolds in real time. There is a thin line of a gap between the trigger and response. One can exploit this region.

In between response and experience is space. Experience has no inherent meaning to it. Meaning is outside the experience & it comes from our mind. How we assign the meaning to the experience has an effect on our feeling. If the experience generates a bad feeling then it is important to work on the alternate possibilities of the “meaning” that we assign to the experience. This is the way the thinking brain helps in changing the stress response.

The entire process of experience, assigning meaning & responding to the experience have become so integral that all of those activities incoherence as one entity. It is so automatically programmed that we don’t even realise that there are individual components to the experience i.e the experience in itself as well as the meaning of the experience. The meaning is assigned straight from our own faith & belief structure.

Practice method:

In order to have the less stressful effect of the experiences of life, it is good to follow this practice method.

1.            Pick the experience that causes the stress

2.            Bring it to your mind, the event/people responsible for this experience

3.            Find out the meaning that you have automatically assigned to this experience

4.            Now, look for 3 more alternative meanings to this experience

5.            If all the alternatives generate negative feeling then specifically generate a more positive meaning to the event.

6.            Now, substitute this meaning for the experience to have a positive feeling.

ROUGH TERRAIN

Value: Imagine a life without stress. It is great and full of happiness & joy. But, how one knows that he is joyful? There should be a reference to measure the happiness. How happy are you? Without a proper reference, he may not even realise that he is joyful even though he is in a state of joy. Stress provides this reference. A state of joy cannot become meaningful without a state of the stressful situation.

The value of the shadow of the tree can be fully realised only when we walk in the harsh heat of the sun. Without the experience in the sun, our experience of the shadow has void meaning. Rough terrain makes you realise the value of smooth surface. We encounter stress to know the value of our experience of joy. The danger is that some of us are so much entangled in the mode of stress so that they lose the ability to see another side of their life. This is the sorry state of chronic stress. So, it is safe to have stress but it should not become chronic.

Balance act: Life is a cyclic pattern of on and off. The sun appears in the morning and vanishes in the evening. Moon comes in the night and vanishes in the morning. The modern digital world is a construct of this binary system only. It is just on and off. So, accept the stressful state willingly like how one accept joyful state cheerfully.

New Learning: Growth of a person comes from his new learnings. Growth ceases when there is no learning from the experiences of life. If one repeats the same set of activities day in and day out, he will soon hit the wall. He gets bored. New learning means one dare to venture into those unknown zones. This unknown zone is a rough terrain to maneuver. Stress provides an opportunity of this rough terrain. Let us play here for our new learning and gain new experience.

Rough terrain requires good maneuvering skill. It is a learning ground. It is a learning opportunity to learn new things. Learning becomes our experience. The collection of those experiences is our definition. Rough terrain provides an opportunity to know the value of the smooth surface.

Stress provides the reference. A state of joy cannot become meaningful without a state of the stressful situation.

New learning becomes our experiences. The collection of those experiences is our definition.

PROBLEM- SOLUTION ZONES

The problem is that one stays in the problem zone instead of moving into the solution zone. So, the solution is to stay in the solution zone instead of staying in the problem zone. Stress is a problem. We need to come out the stress that means with the right solutions. If we focus and stay in the problem zone then naturally due to the power of focus, the problem gets magnified. We end up entangled with multiple problems and hence stress gets multiplied. On the other hand, if we focus and shift to the solution zone then we will be overwhelmed with multiple solutions that will flush us out of the state of stress.

Entangling in the stress mode for a prolonged period of time is a chronic stress. It is a like a black hole. It sucks all our energy as the mind revolves in a vicious loop that follows from one problem to another problem. In this state, we become the owner of stressful life. Chronic stress has the ability to alter the internal physiology of the body everlastingly. The danger here is that we don’t keep the stress for ourselves.

We give freely to others when they come in contact with us. Do you remember the power of words in the early chapter? “Life is hectic” “office is stressful”. We begin to propaganda stress freely.

So, what is the main difference between a stressful people to a people without stress?  The fact here is that there no single person on this planet without stress. But, the difference is that the so-called easy going” person has the ability to handle the stress mindfully. In other words, he knows how to switch to the solution zone quickly as soon as the stress response strikes him.

A stressed person either gets caught in the vicious loop of the problem zone or takes more time than usual to move to the solution zone.  The so-called “easy going” person has the inherent capability to move to the solution zone right away. This capacity is a skill and it is a learnable skill.

The so-called “easy going” person has the inherent capability to move to the solution zone right away. This capacity is a skill and it is a learnable skill.

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."

Virtual tigers -Stress

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 these 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.

Move forward: Inward Journey

Default State: We experience the external world by our senses. The senses then feed the data to the mind and meaning of the event is honoured. Naturally, we are in concurrence to the five senses and develop these sense faculties. Over the years, we tune completely externally and our desire is focused to the needs such owning a nice house, car, dress etc. But, we always long for something more even though that all our desires are met. This process continues as long as we follow the five senses which keep our focus to the external world. This becomes our default state. In this default state, we have a longing to get more and it continues always.

Evolutionary State: When we tune in internally then we witness/observe our own internal world. How our mind works, the drive of emotion etc. When our awareness is shifted in this direction, mind tends to recede over a period of time. This calming down of mind gives an opportunity to witness the inbuilt evolutionary energy within. This evolutionary energy has an age over period of billion years. This is really a massive energy. You will witness this inbuilt intelligence in each and every part of your body.

Your awareness is now watching the events/experiences of this internal world which you were not previously aware of. Your internal sensitivity can be developed and sharpen with the consistent practice. You will be exposed to a new dimension of you. This is really splendid.

This energy is huge. If you develop an awareness capability then you can dig in the entire energy accumulated over billion years within this one life time period. The question is whether you have the real ability to handle such a massive source of energy.

The initial symptoms of this internal journey are the clear sensations /feelings of all the involuntary automatized systems such as your heart beat, neural communications, blood circulations etc. Remember, all these systems have been developed over million years of evolution and each of these systems has its own inbuilt intelligence.

Inside-out strategy: Our external world is simply a mirror image our internal world. When we tune in to our internal world, we are exposed this wide spectrum of the evolutionary energy that changes our belief structures, perceptions and how we deal our life. This is the time; you will see the quantum leap of transformation in your life.

So, move from the default state of living to the evolutionary state of life.

Summary: In default State, we live & survive by tuning into the five external sensations. This is okay for your survival. In evolutionary State, we live & thrive by turning on the internal sensation. Increasing the internal sensitivity provides an opportunity to tap the evolutionary energy.

“Make a choice to move from the default state to the evolutionary state to thrive in life.”

Leadership Skills: Self Awareness

A good leader is considered as a person who is sensible to others. This in turn calls for a sensibility within himself in order for him to become sensible to others. Sensibility is a nature of awareness: Awareness of the sensations. Bodily sensation is nothing but the language of the feeling. The feelings are the outcome of our own emotions.

So, a self-awareness of your own internal world is a prerequisite of a good leader. A person cannot manage himself when he does not have the ability of what is happening within himself. So, self-management calls for the self-awareness. For any given experience/event, one should have the ability to capture in real time the associated emotions that run beneath. A person, who has the higher sensitivity, captures the bodily sensations in finer details. A person cannot manage others when he can’t self-mange.

So, here is the flow. Self Awareness -->Self management-->Awareness of others -->Management of others.

Mirror: External reality is majorly determined by our own internal mental & emotional state. Others, they simply act as a mirror/reflection of you. When you are calm, you radiate calmness and generate calmness in others. In this case.calmness is the reflection that you see in others. A good leader is completely aware of this process & he naturally performs his behaviour in tune with the process.

Bodily sensations: Bodily sensations and the feelings are the outcomes of your emotions. There is an entire gamut of level to this sensory perception that varies from gross to the subtle levels. Your emotion appears in the form of bodily sensation. Your ability to perceive this sensation gives full access to your internal world. Good leader enhances his sensory perception to an extent of even picking up the subtlest bodily sensations so that he is well self-centred. He somehow knows the means to connect to himself in finder details.

There are techniques available in most of the mind-body practices such as Yoga, taichi etc. One needs to invest considerable effort to master these techniques. It is a learnable skill.

Summary: You can’t manage others when you don’t have the ability to manage yourself. Self-awareness & self-management are the key leadership skills. Your emotion appears in the form of bodily sensation. Your ability to perceive this sensation gives full access to your internal world. Enhance your sensory perception to an extent of even picking up the subtlest bodily sensations.

“Higher the sensory perception better the level of self-awareness "

Art of Listening to the body

If you are into the endurance sports such as marathon running then you must be well aware of the level of injuries that the beginners agonize. It is a overwhelming 65% injury rate for the novices. The early enthusiasm that one has in developing the endurance skill diminishes at the later stage due to the injury factor. One of the main reasons for the cause of injury is the inability to focus and listen to the warning signals that spring out from the body. Yes, body has an inbuilt intelligence that breeds warning signals when one surpasses his own resource capabilities.

Mechanism: So, it is a common recommendation in this arena to “listen to the body”. What exactly does it mean listening to the body? For example, you are trying to run much faster than what your limits are. Your breathing is the one that distresses first. You may start to breathe faster. Since, you consume lot of energy in the faster running; your body naturally calls for more of oxygen to burn. As a consequence, Lactic acid forms in the body when there is depletion of oxygen. This lactic acid induces fatigue & hence, the brain generates pain signal in order for you to stop or slow down the running process.

When the distress occurs, the signals can be picked up at various levels such as breathing sensation, faster heart beat sensation, pain signals, heat sensations etc. These are the combinations of signals varying from the subtle to the gross sensations. Some of us feel the signals at the subtle level whereas others feel at the gross level. Some even ignores the signals.

This process is not only transpires during the process of running but it is always there and can be witnessed for every normal happenings such as walking, sitting & sleeping.

Levels: Ignoring the warning signals is the worst thing and one can cause harm to himself. Pain, heaviness, warmness are gross sensations. One should able to acknowledge & honour these gross sensations. Throbbing, tickling, pulsating feelings are the subtle sensations. These are the finer signals that keep you in close proximity to yourself.

Power: Do increase the level of awareness & stay closer to you by tuning into the subtle sensations. By doing so, you will have the power to tap the whole gamut of the involuntary systems such as your respiratory, cardiovascular, nervous system etc. It is magical. It is the body intelligence that runs in an autopilot mode for which we have no control. Now , you get this power.This power changes the way you perceive your internal world. Obviously because of this same power, you start to experience your external world very differently.

Techniques: There are multiple levels of techniques defined in the yoga culture that gives you an opportunity to tap this power. The art of listening to the body gets enhanced by the practice of these techniques mindfully.

Summary: Pain, heaviness, warmness are gross sensations. Throbbing, tickling, pulsating feelings are the subtle sensations. Art of listening is simply tuning to the subtle sensations in the body by which you will gain access to your involuntary system (autopilot mode). Simple strategy: The art of listening to the body gets enhanced by the practice of yoga mindfully.

"LISTEN TO YOUR BODY FIRST IN ORDER FOR THE BODY TO LISTEN TO YOU”