Build Resilience to Stress, Naturally, in just 15-20 minutes Twice a Day!
Would you believe it if we told you that it’s possible to stay in the eye of the storm all the time, no matter how furious the storm itself is raging around you? The storm of daily stress, anxiety, ever-shortening deadlines, emotional upsets, poor health, and missed chances at life, that is.
It is calmest at the center of a storm, no matter its intensity. We too have a center of utter stillness and deep peace within, access to which cushions us against various kinds of stress.
It is not that problems in life themselves cause us trouble; it is our response to them that does. A happy child dancing in the rain doesn’t mind the backsplash from the puddles at all, while for a well-dressed person sitting in a restaurant, even a slight splotch of ketchup on their expensive dress is a huge embarrassment.
While we cannot always control everything that is going on around us, our response is completely in our hands. With a composed, blissful, and balanced mindset, we can handle anything that life throws at us. No wonder patience is called the greatest virtue!
At the source of our mind is an infinite ocean of pure consciousness, which is the fundamental substance of the universe. What we usually experience as the mind is merely the surface levels of it, where thoughts can be observed.
There are deeper and deeper levels of mind, where the thoughts are subtler and softer. The deeper we go, the quieter it becomes. At the very base level, there are no thoughts, just pure awareness.
It is like the ocean on a non-windy day—clears as a mirror and completely still. When we access it through meditation, the mind gets deep rest and comes out rejuvenated.
Our brain function becomes orderly, expanded, and synchronized. We are no longer slaves to any and every thought that flashes across the screen of our consciousness, and we maintain a core of deep calmness.
We stop reacting and can decide whether to act or not based on a thought. This is a different, silent, but powerful kind of intelligence that is separate from what we use in our daily lives. We achieve freedom by impulsively reacting to thoughts and letting them take our minds for a ride.
This state of mind is a solid shock absorber. It lets us take on any kind of stress and manage it calmly, with poise and grace. We can go around any shots that life takes at us like graceful martial artists while remaining unharmed.
Since this state relaxes and charges the mind, there are health benefits as well. The brain releases beneficial neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, and GABA. Our immune systems become stronger, stress is effortlessly released and new stresses are flushed out on a daily basis, digestion improves, and the health of all the organ systems becomes better over time.
With a highly organized, calm, and strong mind and body, we are able to handle stress much better. Our resilience to stress increases dramatically. All this is achieved in just 15-20 minutes of easy, natural, and enjoyable practice of transcendental meditation twice a day.
Arghya Dutta Choudhury
School of Science of Consciousness