Well Being | Order of the Good Write

When I was eleven years old, I fell in love. I first laid eyes on him inside an album cover. He was photographed within a crowd of people who looked off into the distance, as if there was an accident, or some guy who “made the grade” and “blew his mind out in a car”. He had cheek bones for days, a perfect shag, symmetric feathered hair cut and held an inner beauty with an essence of humor. The man was gorgeous to me. His name was George Harrison.

It was my pre-adolescent crush on the spiritual Beatle George that introduced me to meditation. The stories about the Beatles’ visiting a giggly, wise, (and apparently very handsy) guru named Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, fascinated me. Further obsession with Harrison introduced me to the story of Krishna. I’d read Rolling Stone, listen to Harrison interviews on the radio and on TV, marinate in the lyrics of his songs about finding inner peace and gaining a concept of how life “flows within you and without you”. All these bits of wild and wonderful wisdom have followed me, escaped me, and the returned during the most difficult and wonderful times of my life.

Too young to really understand how to meditate, I put it aside as a future tool I’d never realize I’d need. With maturity came understanding the technique of meditation and its value. When things get rough in this loud and crazy world – especially during a time of transition whether in your career, life, status or whatever is on your plate that’s stirring up the particles in your mind’s snow globe – the practice of meditation can help keep your mind balanced and on track to finding the peaceful room that lives inside you. It can also hone your intuition, allow you to make decisions with power, and provide a state of well being that will provide clarity while going out and accomplishing your goals.

The answers come when our mind is still. Live mindfully. That means, don’t give into fear. Don’t give into worry. Don’t believe in scarcity. Shutting off a few minutes a day to focus on the peace that lives inside you will autocorrect these feelings because we are not meant to feel this.

We are not running from wolves anymore. Our frontal lobe bullshit can only help us understand what we need to change and work on. But letting fear cloud our clarity toward success will only hold us back and manifest the very things we fear. It doesn’t have to be that way.

I’m like you. I’m constantly face to face with the fearful stuff life brings. The pitfalls come and the self doubt creeps in. Yet, I work hard, and encourage you, to transform fear into power. We are racing through life, family and career without thought or connection to our inner vibration. Time to slow down to help you tap into your gut feelings and live mindfully. It will help you and those around you be the best you are meant to be.

Here are some resources on meditation I’ve found helpful.

The Universe Has Got Your Back, By Gabrielle Bernstein.

The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation, by Thich Nhat Hanh and Vo-Dihn Mai

Science of Being and Art of Living: Transcendental Meditation, by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

There are also plenty of guided meditations on YouTube to provide steps on how to calm the mind so you can think clearly and optimize your day.

If you’re like me and prefer atmospheric, brain soothing spacey audio to help you flow, like high frequency tones and vibrational sounds that reboot the electrodes in your brain – search for “Binary Beats” on YouTube. Play with some videos and stick with the ones that make you feel good. Plug in for 10 minutes – at your desk or in a quite corner at home – and clear those mind clouds. (Don’t do this and drive.)

The one great challenge is to make yourself do this everyday, and to not fall into the well of despair by forgetting that quiet peace inside you.

Thoughts don’t matter. What lays beneath does. George opened that concept to me.

Thanks, George.

Go forth and namaste with your spiritual self.

We’re two days past “Trick or Treats” and all the fun of Halloween, so talking about treating oneself might not be for those still trying to work off all those Snicker Fun Size bars they wolfed down over the past 48 hours.

(What are you looking at? So what if I’m buzzing on a foggy brained sugar high right now?)

But when life gets rough, the one thing we do is treat ourselves rough. When a bad diagnosis freezes you in your tracks, or you’re unemployed, or you’re now the caregiver to a loved one who is fading fast – the last thing we want to do is treat ourselves. We fall into a pit of poor eating, no exercise because all your energy is going toward those freaked out nerves coursing through your veins. That’s not cool, people. Not cool at all.

I’m not a guru on these things, but I will say – that I’ve known people who were caregivers to spouses with grave conditions. It consumed their lives to the point where when that loved one passed away – they weren’t far behind on shuffling off the mortal coil. Why? Because when they accompanied their partner to the doctor, they didn’t stop to ask about their own pesky cough or that weird spot on their arm. Things go undiagnosed or waited on because they aren’t focused on their own well being. Their priority is the ill loved one.

If you’re reading this and going through the ringer of life, please make sure you do the following. This is not rocket science, and I’m not saying anything different that what other people are saying a bajillion times on the internet, but since you’ve landed here – try this:

1) Breathe. Go to a quiet place and breathe.

2) Meditate. There are vast resources on the internet to get you started. It will ground you.

3) Eat well. Be careful with the food you chose. Treat yourself to a fancy juice. Drop the pizza and the pasta for a day. Know that you need your strength and well being.

4) Exercise. Start off walking. Breathe in the air. Take a yoga class. Try spin class – it will knock your ass on the floor and cleanse you. Or just do something that makes you move and sweat. Endorphins are your friends!

5) Reach out to friends and family. Ask for their help. If they don’t help, reach out to your community. Volunteer for a cause that means something to you. Meet new people. Get information on how to handle the difficulties you’re facing. If you have an EAP (Employee Assistant Program) group at your place of work – give them a call. Most companies have this service as a perk. There are counselors on call that can help you for free on anything – mental health, legal matters, financial planning, child & elder care. It’s pretty awesome.

And just know – that we are living a life full of nonsense and chaos with lessons galore. You are amazing and strong. Understand what’s bad in this world.

Be good to yourself and kind to the world, because sometimes the best treat of all is how you feel when you treat others the way you want to be treated.