Mind and body.
I’m sat on the train wondering the last time you spent time in the bar. Watched TV. Played video games, or carefully attached yourself to the life support system otherwise known as Twitter.
All valid time-wasters, no argument.
But one thing isn’t coming through: the last time you courted your body and mind with the beauty of enlightenment and enhanced awareness.
We so easily neglect what is most important to us. Yet if you were to indulge your most important assets on a daily basis, you’d be repaid 1000% in joy, creativity and motivation.
Body and mind. Easy to take for granted, right? Fit for purpose.
But you’re only harnessing 10-20% of your absolute potential. You wouldn’t treat a Tamagotchi (yeah, I’m THAT old) the way you neglect and misuse your body and mind.
Here’s my take – I think you misconstrue indulgence as ignorant to others; that people will lower their regard for you and consider you selfish for your application of auto-adulation.
Selfishness it is not. Selfless it most certainly is.
Granted there’s a thin line between giving yourself all you need and more, and the twin rogues of ego and narcissism.
But it’s easy to stay on the right side of the tracks. Develop yourself, covet your mind and body, and your inherent potential to contribute to society increases exponentially. See anything selfish about that?
To cash out all these good vibes and great motivation, you gotta first make the investment.
Great chefs don’t work with cruddy ingredients; videophiles wouldn’t patch their films from source to screen with a composite cable.
Input, output. Focus on what you’re putting in to get maximum returns.
Body and mind. Are you getting this?
Here’s a smattering of inspirational ways to get the high-quality output you so patently deserve:
1. Meditation. No greater way to catch the waves of enlightenment. Have you tried it? Single-pointed meditation is the most effective – and simple – way of totally blissing out and catching up with your inner self. Here’s how:
- Find somewhere comfortable to sit. If you don’t like the whole cross-legged gig just flop into your favourite armchair. I’m not raggedy about the perfect posture – just get cosy.
- Take five or six deep breaths. I mean ‘out of character’ deep. And I mean through the nose, in and out. Feel the air expanding inside your lungs, hear it whistle as it is set free.
- Close your eyes.
- Continue your deep breaths, about 10 this time.
- Now focus on a spot just below your nostrils. Feel the cool air rushing in as you inhale, the warm air releasing on the exhale. Relax. Relax. Relaaaaaaaax.
- Just take a couple of minutes to focus on this tiny area underneath your nose. Feel the reassuring swish and swoosh of the air giving you life.
- As soon as you are ready, eyes still closed, breathing through the nose, move your focus upwards to your third eye in the centre of your forehead, just above the eyebrows.
- Breathe. Feel the life energy as your mind and third eye unify.
- If you find thoughts flitting in and out of your head, think of them as leaves on a gently flowing river, or clouds moving away across a baby blue sky. Ten days, ten minutes each time. I assure you of absolute calm and added awareness in your daily life. Combine with yoga to complement your mental workout with mild physical exertion and absolute rejuvenation.
2. Seek answers. Excite your head by unleashing your mind on a daily challenge. Make it your duty to learn some new stuff every day, be it through books, audio recordings, or simply researching a subject close to you. Ask people what they want to know – and be their guide. Cerebral enhancement comes easy to those who tread the path of lifelong learning. And a 30-minute splash of entertaining education, whatever the subject, is sufficient to wake up the consciousness to added opportunities in your personal and professional life.
3. Listen more. One of my key failings but I’m getting better every day. You start by having to be acutely aware of your personal impact. Self-confidence can manifest itself as arrogance, and this especially rings true in the case of the gobshite. I have learned one absolutely crucial fact: people respect you more when you understand the value of silence. Every time someone speaks, hang for a few seconds before replying. It gives you more time to consider your response but also creates an air of respect on your part for the other person.
4. Posture. Stretch. Smile. The way you move your body defines the way you move others. Sit up, stand tall. A really fun exercise is to look up at the ceiling or sky, and smile, smile, smile. Instant happiness.
5. Learn to see. We all have eyes, but only a few of us learn to use them. I’m talking about appreciation of form, colour and substance. The finest painters and designers of our generation developed their creative edge by observing, slowly. Everything you touch, smell. Because you don’t just see with your eyes.
Love everything you experience with all five senses and you’ll uncover more secrets than Sherlock.
6. Set daily goals. I may have mentioned this secret to mental agility and dexterity before. But have you tried it yet?
7. Bounce back. We all rant and rave, we all buckle and burn. You gotta go there to come back, right? Being mean and moody is an intrinsic right of the human, even you. So get it out your system and start the brand new day with a smile. Easy ways to revert to your kind, compassionate, RATIONAL self: look in the mirror and tell yourself how grateful you are for everything you have. Pissed about your girlfriend stealing your aftershave? Once you’ve blunted her razor and chided her for ‘missing a bit on her chin’, think how lucky you are to have a woman who not only worships your scent, but also craves you. Banish your silly little mood swings.
Top tip to avoid arguments getting out of hand, by the way: agree in advance with your potential nemesis a buzzword or phrase that, when whispered in the ear of the accused or accuser, stops the war of words in its tracks.
Ok that’s my take for today. I absolutely cherish your time in reading these posts, and now I have a quick question to ask of you: are you finding these contributions useful?
Let me know using Comments, drop me a line at dave.c.thackeray@gmail.com or come by at www.twitter.com/davethackeray
Namaste.