Understanding the causes of mental fragility and embracing healing methods can help us combat anxiety
The cell rang and fell from her hands. There was an awkward silence on all continents. Her only son in the US, a brilliant student, committed suicide. Bill Maher writes, “Suicide is man’s way of saying to God: You can’t fire me, I’m quit.” But do brave men commit suicide? It seems like a permanent solution to a temporary problem. I’m thinking of Marcus Trescothick and Chetan Sharma. The former suffered from xenophobia in the subcontinent and Chetan Sharma lost his mojo and rhythm after being hit by Javed Miandad for the last ball six in Sharjah.
Fear, anxiety, emotional upheavals, unpleasant feelings, panic attacks and phobias are all symptomatic of a vulnerable and delicate mind. A fragmented mind is invariably a victim of irrational fear. Such a person is unable to distinguish between what is logical and what is not. People who harbor anxiety suffer from panic attacks, sweaty palms, sleep disorders, palpitations, shortness of breath, inability to stay calm, dry mouth and numbness of feet and hands. Contributing to increasing fear are our pent-up emotions. These emotions are not based on rational or scientific thinking. We end up reacting violently or irrationally instead of responding in a coherent and clear-sighted way. People should be careful to consider that this situation, if left untreated, could become a grief regalia. A person may suffer from psychosomatic diseases, loss of appetite, self-deprecation or even schizophrenia. An element of fear may be necessary for us to patrol our fences. Perhaps the only fearless people are sages and mentally disturbed personalities! They are isolated from fear! The brain is an organ and the mind is our intellect. It makes us aware and increases the quality of consciousness. The mind is a movie theater where the soap opera of our lives plays out. We play, rewind and repeat a huge number of films. Thoughts are influenced by the type of food we consume (Tamasik, Rajasik, Sattvik), the company we keep and the amount of rest we take. The quality (guna) of food influences our attitude and approach to life.
Tamasik food makes us sluggish, Rajasik food makes us feverish or anxious in nature and Sattvik food makes us feel calm. The first two lead us to frightening situations. When we are cooped up with individuals who have a negative thought process, we adopt such traits and exhibit such a pattern of behavior. ‘Man is known by the company he keeps’ is a very old saying and so is ‘man is born free, but is always in chains’. It is crucial to have enough physical and mental rest. When we are rested, we are at peace and do not complain or bicker.
Then we are physically and mentally alert and productive. We must save space in our minds to simply dump the trash that goes into the trash, NEVER TO APPEAR again. We should pursue passions and hobbies, indulge in sports, participate in extra-curricular activities, avoid negative company, take initiatives, meditate, keep the mind occupied, treadmill steps, take long walks, hikes and read autobiographies. of entrepreneurs and achievers. There are others who follow the spiritual path by practicing pranayama, learning yoga, taking the Art of Living course or observing the breath using the Vipassana technique. To overcome fear, we must log out of our comfort zone so that the fear virus does not enter our operating system. And when all else fails, the magic is that you surrender to the Divine and feel grateful.
(The writer is the CEO of Chhattisgarh East Railway Ltd. and Chhattisgarh East West Railway Ltd. He is a faculty of the Art of Living; opinions are personal)
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