… if you want joy, inner peace and wisdom in your life
I’ve been talking a lot about inner peace lately. In this blog I explain why I believe a quiet(er) mind is essential for your well-being. And I really mean mental as well as physical health.
Stress (or suffering, as Buddha called it) is a silent killer.
And I see so many people, including myself in moments where I’m not paying attention, trying to be happy, have fun, and be free of cares in exactly the wrong way.
And you may not like what I’m about to say. Because ‘exactly the wrong way’ is what our instincts tell us to do. So it’s what we’re always gravitating towards.
So what is that one thing?
It is this: running away from pain and unpleasantness. Avoiding, denying, sedating, distracting, numbing.
Running away takes on all kinds of forms.
From workaholism to alcoholism, from always playing the clown to always playing the victim, from spending sprees to binge eating, from chain-smoking to obsessive pleasure seeking.
We have our strategies not to have to feel unpleasant feelings.
Taking refuge in the head is another. Just rationalize and analyse the pain away.
And why is that a bad thing, you ask?
Well, feelings we refuse to feel get stored in the body. We may believe we have adequately dodged them, but our feelings are there for a reason. They need to be felt. And if we refuse, that doesn’t mean they’re gone.
On the contrary.
They just settle somewhere in the body.
Hence the stiffness in the shoulders. The cramps in the stomach (and ulcers), the headaches, the colds, the… fill in the blank.
Our survival-driven brains tell us that it’s bad bad bad to feel pain. So we run.
In fact, we’re treating our own inner experience as a danger. We deny and ignore it.
However, should we learn to recognize the pattern, train ourselves to overrule the survival mode in overdrive, and TURN TOWARDS our pain… it would pass in about a minute and a half.
And then the toxins are flushed out of our system, the body can relax, and no blockages occur.
That’s right. A minute and a half. Ninety seconds.
If we just stay with the feeling and do nothing.
Sounds doable, no?
But we don’t do it. Not naturally.
We need to train ourselves to act against survival-in-overdrive.
So if you recognize any of what I describe here, have you checked out my online zen course yet? Where I teach you the ins and outs of a more equanimous attitude to our thoughts and emotions. So you can experience
• more inner peace
• more quiet moments
• more trust in themselves and their lives
• more clarity
• more tranquillity
• less anxiety
• improved focus and awareness
• better sleep
10 weeks, 10 live classes (and recordings), with my full support and wise teachings.
As it’s in pilot stage, I’m offering this great value course at the special price of €147,00. (Price will go up to €247,00).
Read all about it here.
We’re starting on September 13, so 5 more days to get in!
