Stress
of Lockdown
(Part III)
Think of Seniors,
Super Seniors, Oldies and Goldies
(Calmness the Magic
for stress)
FullLockdown: Medicine, grocery, milk, vegetables, dairy
products, fruit delivered at home. Children do not allow persons like me senior
citizens to go out lest #Covid catches, same faces, same routine eat sleep, watch
TV, no newspaper to read, no visitors. What is this God? This was one of the
tweets that was posted on Twitter.
The other view is, Matsya
is an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. Matsya is described to have rescued
the first man Manu and other species from a great deluge. Think that
Lord Vishnu is protecting everybody and we are inside Matsya the Lockdown.
Such a situation can be boring leading to stress and
depression. What to do. People suggest many ways to get rid of such feelings.
Get up early in the morning it is not a problem
with seniors; simply because if you get five-six hours sleep at night it is
enough; some get less than this and still there are many who do not get sleep
even late at night. However to refresh themselves is a problem with many; but
they need not be taught because they so experienced in these matter. Have a cup
of coffee, tea, warm water, aloe Vera juice or simply the fresh lemon and water
would do. Now you are free to proceed on a journey of self and refresh yourself
mentally and to enjoy the day ahead.
This is the journey which modern generation says
meditation:
it is not the end it is the beginning and a continuous for every day so prepare
yourself emotionally. It is a way of life. It cannot be abrupt, off and on; and
so are its fruits the benefits, you cannot reap in a day or week. Learn from
the masters; it is not bookish; it is practical; a training of mind and body
and the hard one.
Can there be any
timing for meditation. Many would say early morning in the wee hours; “Amritwela”,
yes that time is good as the external disturbance of body and mind are minimum
during that period: nature during that period showers nectar on all and
everywhere; the twilight and horizon are at their best. However, meditation can
be at any time the only condition is that one should be able to isolate oneself
and create a physical vacuum and it can be even when you are with your family
and friends and also doing something: in such condition you have to be slightly
careful about your body. Meditation is
an activity of mind not of body still the body plays its own roll as body
houses brain and mind is an activity of brain and soul. So if you are unable to
find time early morning it can be anytime you are free.
One of ingredients
of meditation is calmness of body, action, reaction, thinking, mind and soul. Learn to calm your body first: that has
deteriorated with time: you cannot run when your required, you can walk only.
If you run against your physical fitness you may have breathlessness, may even
fall, have bones broken and so on. Understand carefully that youth has gone and
now you are senior citizen, genes-clock is already on and has reached its last
phase you already have something chronic like hypertension, diabetes, prostate
or something more to be taken care of every time. Digestion now wants only the
boiled vegetables less of butter and ghee-the crystalized butter, chicken and
mutton, spices, sugar and salt, starch, it needs even lesser number of chapatis
more of fruits and liquids. It is a time to reduce intake of beverages and also
the alcohol even if it is imported one. You can’t do trekking now which you
loved so much. Physical action of the body has to be reduced to what you can do
like walking at a pace you can afford as much as your body can tolerate
essential and a panacea for many old-age ailments, light exercises or simple
yoga a must to keep the age related issue as far as possible. This is what
calmness of body means.
After the body it is the speech which remains most
active throughout the day, distributing knowledge many times uncalled for,
telling stories of the past, remembering past and saying no to many of the
proposals of younger generations without understanding what generation gap
means. What such a behavior fetches, many a times just listening as people
respect your age, relation or position; some give you a deaf ear and sharp
reaction too, sometimes that creates lot of tension, high pitch voices, stress
and a feeling of insult and inappropriate behavior. One has to cool down such a
behavior, speak when you must, always polite, polished, soft and well behaved.
Realize you most important needs are nutritious diet as age demands and good
medical care, unless these are adversely affected which would happen seldom,
speak only the sweet words: distribute blessing whosoever meets and get best
wishes from everybody. Keep your purse slightly lose and distribute to unknown,
needy and strangers you would listen best of the words and pleasant ones and
whatever is left would be used without your concurrence the way they like may
be for the good or the bad. This is time
to cool your tongue.
Thinking comes the next; think positive and creative
that gives you the pleasure; by now everything is settled, career is over you are
getting pension and interest more than the requirements of the wonderful couple
and a wonderful drink in the evening, wife is there to serve you hot cup of
coffee, children are married and settled, have all the luxuries of life a car
and house, medical facilities nearby or at call. What more you want. Perhaps
nothing more than the peace and happiness. Spend some time with the Lord the
last resting place of the soul: listen devotional songs and praise of the Lord:
that will ensure positive thinking.
Mind: what is this? As I know it is a calculator, always
thinking plus or minus, advantage and disadvantage, profit or loss, what “I
will gain” argumentative always thinking “I know more than others”, not ready
to listen, always agitating, always preparing a response, a store house, a
search engine, always afraid, never self-happy; always in action even during
sleep: recalls from memory much faster than a super computer. How such a thing
can calm itself. Really impossible. Saints, sages, seers and still higher
beings tried for years together by meditation and otherwise to calm it: some
succeeded others had some wonderful and bitter experiences and some failed all
together. That way a common family man perhaps is least capable to calm the
mind. What to do and what not to do at the same time it is essential to calm it
to fight stress particularly at such advanced stage of age sixty plus. Here
lies the need for introspection what a person needs at this age only physical needs- a good medical system, nutritious
food, good entertainment system to pass the time and a solid financial system
to take care of all these. At this age all issues of life either stand solved
or there is somebody to take care and if you have a good financial foundation
there is nothing to worry. Those who are not fortunate enough their problems
need critical examination of various issues.
If one fall in the above category, learn how to ignore, how
not to entangle in others affairs, confine to what concerns you positively, learn
to say yes positively the proposals which others have, appreciate competence
and capacity of others, appreciate your children and grandchildren it is their
time now, greet whomsoever you meet, think good of others, all such things
would give your mind a positive and cool space away from negativity and
agitated outlook. This what I understand what calm down of mind means. Brilliant and beautiful things happen in calm minds. Be
calm. You are brilliant.
Calm mind may
provide a time of “no subject” in mind, nothing to think, nothing to do, a
vacuum only- first step towards self-realization the ultimate main of meditation.
Soul what it is, how it can be calmed and tranquil. Soul, in religion refers to the immaterial aspect of a
human being, that which confers individuality more or less synonymous with the
mind or the self. In theology, the soul is further defined as that part of the
individual which partakes of divinity is considered to survive even after the
death of the body. However in this blog we are not concerned with defining
souls or its function. We are interested only to keep the stress away and how
the soul as known to the common man can contribute to his welfare in that
respect.
1. Contentment: It is fact that whatever
one wanted to achieve has already been achieved when he crosses sixty years of
age. As such he should remain contented with his achievements, circumstances,
environment, possessions and relations that will save many entanglements and
gave you peace and satisfaction.
“Contentment makes poor men rich, discontent makes rich
men poor.”
Benjamin Franklin
Contentment does not come from achievement. It comes
from a relationship with the Lord.
Paul Henderson
2. Practice positive psychology – Mindfulness,
Gratefulness, Positive Affirmations
Stay focused in the
present. Peacefully work out in your mind what situations make you stressed and
why. Be aware of your response to the source of pressure. Try understanding the
importance of what you are worrying about and find positive ways to calm
yourself when you are feeling apprehensive. Take time to reflect, genuinely, on
the positive things going on in your life.
Use positive
language and thoughts, acting as your own source of inspiration. Some studies
show that using affirmations can boost your mood over time if consistently
repeated.
3. Express yourself – Confide in a loved one.
When stressed find
“Dil Da Maharam” my mother used to say-one who can apply balm and cool you. If
you are not able to find one confide in a loved one if you can. In this age it
is difficult to find such a person. Practice how to confide in one of the
deities, I have seen people making Radha Krishn or Lord Hanuman their friend
and placing problem before them and then forgetting everything.
4. Spirituality: Many have defined spirituality in their
own different way. Spirituality
involves the recognition of a feeling or belief that there is something greater
than myself, and that the greater whole of which we are part is cosmic or
divine in nature. Enjoy what that
“Whole” has given to its “part”, in fact “Part” has everything that “whole”
has. Be above petty things. Be with love, compassion, solution, welfare of
others, charity, these things will give you internal glow and a peaceful and
internally happy soul. Learn the value of present moment, use it in His
devotion and welfare of others. Spirituality is closing the eyes to see you self.
See Him everywhere and in every one. You need not be a mystic but a family man
to believe that He is with you always.
“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege
it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
Marcus Aurelius
You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach
you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.
Swami Vivekananda
5. Intuition:
Intuition is the
ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning. It is the
voice of the Lord, your soul, conscious, nature and always coming from the
inside, sometimes in the distress to guide you to the right path. It is link
with the Supreme. One must learn to recognize intuition. No scientific or valid reasoning. Intuition is not
logical. It is not a result of a set of considered steps that can be shared or
explained. Instead, while based on deep-seated knowledge, the process feels
natural, almost instinctual. Telepathy to some extent is also related to
intuition.
Follow your intuition, it will always lead you to the
right destination.
“The
intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We
have created society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
Albert Einstein
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