Life Is More Than Spirituality & Being Mindful. Or do we just not understand these two notions? People are confused, living in a fog, they want answers, they feel like there is more, more to this fast changing and crazy busy life we lead. The world is not getting bigger, it’s getting smaller! We are a touch of a button away to sending messages around the world to multiple people instantly. We’re dealing with a global market where anything is possible. Think about how the world is changing. This could lead us to amazing things.
But for that to happen we must remove the fog. It’s autopilot on steroids, most people wake up and before they have even left their house they’re stressed, on edge and frustrated. They get to work and they’re stressed, on edge and frustrated. They get home and yes they’re stressed, on edge and frustrated. We have all been there, maybe you are there or maybe you know someone who is living this right now? To the everyday person on the street there are two words that are stopping people from being happy: Mindfulness & Spirituality. Read on to find out why.
What if we could change the perception that is around mindfulness and spirituality, so we can begin to really understand what it entails and why we need to embrace it. Let’s explore the reasons and how mindfulness and spirituality is sometimes perceived wrong and is stopping people from being happy, less stressed and better equipped to live life in this busy world and be all they can be.
1. The perception
If you live life as spiritual person and you practise mindfulness you live life with your head in the clouds, you’re a tree hugging hippie. This is how people perceive a mindful and spiritual person.
The hack: The perception couldn’t be farther away from the truth. Mindful and spiritual people are emotionally resilient, extremely focused and extremely good at what they do. They are real people living in a real world and have real jobs. In fact most leaders live by this, Steve Jobs, Oprah, Richard Branson.
2. The closet meditator
It’s no secret that most people realise the perception people have around mindfulness and spirituality, and therefore are fearful of how people will perceive them, treat them, how they will judge them and how they will treat them differently if they associate with these two things. Or worse they don’t take them seriously within their profession.
The hack: It’s not sustainable nor will you benefit from hiding your mindfullness and spirituality, because you are giving people just a portion of who you are. The same person you have always been and so much more is who you have to be. There is nothing weird, nothing crazy, and nothing too freaky. Living this way allows you to be in the moment and not get lost in the past, worry or daydream about the future. Instead embody kindness, curiosity and acceptance of yourself and others.
3. Seeing the unseen
When people think spirituality, they think crystal balls, spirits and ghosts or tarot card readings. Seedy psychic readings at a carnival and oh what the mind imagines…
The hack: All spirituality really is connecting the physical body with the emotional body and the spirit body. To feel all sensations in your body, even the bad ones, without getting attached to them or wanting them to go away. To be aware off thoughts without believing they are the only version of the truth. To listen and feel your emotions and embrace whatever you feel at the time, even the unpleasant and the uncomfortable.
4. Your brain is not your mind
The brain and the mind are commonly viewed as the same, but they are very different. People who are stressed, anxious or ignorant are unable to connect and feel any real emotions, or only the ones that the brain creates. Use your emotional guidance system. Having all emotions is perfectly normal, fear, anger, frustration and even rage. It’s what you do with it, that counts, it’s just your body’s way of saying “You’re not aligned to this thought, this feeling or this action”. No drama. Reach for a better one.
The hack: When you’re more compassionate towards yourself, others and situations, when you do this meticulously, you experience more love, deeper love, laughter and happiness, better health and you improve the impact you contribute to the world. It’s about strengthening and training the mind to be stable so you can think clearly.
5. Stress is inevitable
In this crazy busy life we lead that moves at lightening speed, stress has become a normal part of life that we just have to deal with. Strength is determined by ones ability to see through the tough times and not let things get to them. To fight, hustle, push it aside and soldier on.
The hack: We have a choice, we can see the good in people and things, or we can see the bad. Seeing the bad simply causes unnecessary stress and unhappiness. Seeing the good in things and people or just simply letting it be allows us to realise that stress isn’t caused by situations, it’s cause by the thoughts we have towards them and how we react to them.
Featured photo credit: Alice Popkorn via flickr.com
