From the esteemed Andrew Weil, MD, a breathing exercise that activates your parasympathetic nervous system, counterbalance to our usually-way-too-active sympathetic nervous system (producer of the famous fight/fight/freeze response). Dr. Weil prescribes four rounds of 4-7-8 breathing to shift out of tension into calm and even sleep.
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In the midst of what is surely the most bizarre election season in living memory, perhaps it would be helpful to review some old advice on how to maintain one's mental stability when it seems that the world really is in the handbasket, headed down to a very hot place. And by old, I mean old. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are presumed to be at least 1,600 years old, maybe more. Yet the advice in Sutra 1:33 about how to not get all freaked out by what other people do or say feels quite fresh and relevant. From Christopher Isherwood's translation: Undisturbed calmness of mind is attained by cultivating friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and indifference toward the wicked. and T.K.V. Desikachar explains Sutra 1:33 like this: In daily life we see people around who are happier than we are, people who are less happy. Some may be doing praiseworthy things while others are causing problems. Whatever our usual attitude toward such people and their actions may be, if we can be pleased with others who are happier than ourselves, compassionate toward those who are unhappy, joyful with those doing praiseworthy things, and remain undisturbed by the errors of others, our mind will be very tranquil. Notice the term "cultivate" in the first quote. That's a reminder that growth takes effort and attention over a period of time. It's worth it, though, since friendliness is the antidote to jealousy, compassion allows us to be supportive rather than judgmental, delight lifts us up when envy or comparing ourselves to others drags us down and indifference (not paying too much attention) frees us from getting worked up with worry or outrage.
And if at first, you don't succeed, no worries - there will always be plenty of opportunities to practice! |
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