Find the Calm Within

It’s easy to get bamboozled into the dramas of our time — Trump tweets, #MeToo verdicts, bombings, shootings, nuclear war threats, you name it.

Maybe the long winter got us more plugged into the news because we needed something more intriguing and interesting than the gray weather. This overstimulation can become overwhelming, distracting and often addicting.

The mind is a tricky instrument. Whatever it focuses on is often what appears. From a holistic perspective, what we see and perceive is based on our conditioning, beliefs and feelings. The same rope can be seen as a shadow or as a snake.

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That simple example was given by a great meditation master, Muktananda, who came to the West in the ’60s and started a meditation revolution. He gave the rope example to describe the nature of the human mind. In the same way, different children from the same family turn out differently, based on their experience and perception.

It’s true that if you think about ice cream you might notice a new ice cream store. Or have you ever found yourself thinking of someone for a day or week, then the person calls you? Is that synchronicity, or is that energy?

Some would respond, “Weird. So-and-so called me, and I was just thinking of them.” Shows you the power of your thoughts, whether you believe or not.

While it’s nice to plug into what’s going on in the world and feel up to date, negative energy and drama can interfere with what you strive to achieve: peace, balance, guidance, intuition, creativity, wisdom and happiness.

Your perception of the world may be colored by external events moving you far from the values you hold, the things you strive to accomplish, or the energy and strength you need to move forward, leaving you far from feeling whole.

I am not suggesting you detach, numb or turn your back on the ways of the world. My point is that negative energy can leave you feeling weak, hopeless, depleted, depressed and downright overloaded. And it is no different in the workplace.

In this state of perpetual attention, are you able to harness your inner power to sustain the dark spots and shadows in your life, let alone have the patience and love for others?

(Of course, staying unconscious is also your choice.)

Here are three ways to harness your inner power:

• Incorporate a daily practice of connecting to the peace within you. Whether it’s meditating, praying, walking in nature, or looking into your garden at the birds or flowers, make time to unplug from external stimulation. Breathe! Take steps each day on your path to wholeness. Soon, when you are in a challenging situation or emotion, you gain the ability to pause and shift your mind.
• Create healthy boundaries. One of the main benefits is compassion. Dr. Brene Brown says people who have healthy, strong boundaries are the most compassionate. Isn’t it surprising? Setting boundaries is a way to turn inward to your needs and feelings while finding a place of peace and safety.
• Take an Epsom salt bath. It’s funny but true that it not only calms the nerves, but also supplies magnesium (which 80 percent of the population lacks) and clears negative energy in the body. One of my clients works as the head nurse in the organ donor department of a hospital, a job that is leading her to adrenal collapse. I recently shared the value of Epsom salt baths mixed with baking soda to help her clean energy from the day’s tumultuous events. I look forward to hearing the results.

There could be many more things on this list — breathwork, yoga, tai chi, energy work, gemstones. But it’s truly the little things you do on a regular basis that will sustain the energy you need to carry on your life and make it a blessing.

Begin where you begin. I also continue to take steps each day toward healing and wholeness and appreciate your taking these steps with me.

Gedalia Genin (www.gedaliahealingarts.com) works in Atlanta within nationally known integrative medical office Centre Spring MD as a mind/body therapist empowering women to feel their best naturally. Learn more about simple ways to feel your best in her new book, “Enough Drugs! I Am a Woman and Can Heal Naturally — A Practical Guide to Feeling Your Best.”