HEAL THYSELF

Last evening as I lay comfortably in my bed surfing you tube ,I realised to my annoyance that there were way too many ads before, in between and after all the videos . To top it all, quite a few of them were of these so called life gurus or spiritual healers .There were these entrepreneurs turned life gurus, hermits, mystics, babas, Ma s , so on and so forth befitting and catering to different strata and class in the society.For a moment to me, they all seemed to be rustling and competing with one another , fighting for their views and subscriptions as they were preaching us to be calm ,composed and detached.

I was left a bit bemused with my rather uncanny underlying observation . Clearly, there is a boom in this industry ( pardon my profanity) bringing a lot of gyan to us , leaving us spoilt for choice but sadly even more baffled , insensitive and marooned at the crossroads of life.

Still tucked snug in my bed, I thought to myself why was there a sharp rise in these gurus, meditation centres, detox hubs in our lives suddenly and if this was the only way out of the complicated maze like lifestyles of our modern world.

Something inside me wasn’t quite satisfied with this kind of temporary, rather expensive and a bit impractical relief . Clearly, there must be something that could be achieved sitting at our homes , workplaces, while doing our daily chores wherein we aren’t detaching ourselves or taking a ‘break ‘from the real world for this “crash course” or “soul servicing” as my dear friend calls it and yet manage to find the key to this maze ,setting us free and happy for good.

In my opinion, we, normal home and family bound people are the ones who are actually walking on a tight rope in life trying to strike a balance and staying upright while sitting on the Pandora’s box of troubles with temptations forever in our sight as compared to these sages or hermits who have conveniently stepped out of this mess and are preaching from their end. Even my faith Sikhism, inspires an individual to not give up on love, family and ties of any sort but rather balance it beautifully. The challenge lies in that.

The next step ,how do we achieve so? Simply go inward. A wise man once said,” you’re when no one is watching “.Knowing your true self in introspection reveals to us what no one might be even aware of.

We can then watch how we think and react during the course of our day to begin with. It’s almost like putting oneself under a microscope. The smallest of responses bring out the deepest of underlying emotions and insecurities from within us.

Watching ourselves from above and inside may begin as soon as we rise in the morning. Look for the pointers listed below:

* what is your frame of mind as soon as you wake up. Is it happy, sad, grateful or rather grumpy.

* Are you feeling energetic or drained or neither

* Are you pushed into your daily activities/chores without any ‘me-time’ or some form of prayer or meditation ,walk, yoga or exercise .

* Are you happy about what you’re pursuing in life namely your profession or designation

* Do you feel you’re happy around the people you are surrounded by ( both family and friends)

* While commuting to work or other places do you use cuss words or find yourself yelling at people who may not be at their best behaviour on the roads

* Does your daily conversation involve discussing people more than anything else

* Do you find yourself trapped in a rut of deadlines and upcoming events

* Do you feel the “pressure to perform” from outside rather than inside

* Are you constantly trying to ‘prove’ something through social media

* Do you find yourself hesitant to press the “like” button for certain people on social media sites regardless of the content

* Does company of only certain type of people who just praise you all the time appeal to you

* Do you have friends who often enjoy belittling other friends and does that make you feel secure

* Do you often feel the urge to photoshop your pictures

* Are you using too much make up or find yourself buying too much stuff

* Are you hanging out with people according to their social or economic importance and hierarchy

* Do you watch what goes inside your body and it’s effects on you

* Are you fortunate enough to have someone in your life to empty yourself to and think that it would be respected and you may even receive a good , unbiased advice

The list may go on as per our lifestyle and circumstances. The bottom line, however ,is very simple. It is true, discreet ( if not aloud) assessment of our inner self that we don’t expose even in front of these spiritual gurus.The pointers need no marking scheme like those quizzes from our childhood. If we don’t cheat, we’ll have our answers to all our queries about our own self since these pointers are reflectors of both physical and mental well-being.Healing would come once we diagnose our symptoms by and by. Gradually and steadily we may overcome a few of these not so positive traits making way into a healthy ,sustainable and permanent change in our lives.As they say, Healing does not mean the damage never existed, it means the damage no longer controls our life and remember, the soul always knows what to do to heal itself, the challenge is to silence the mind.

#etiquette #mindfulliving #