The last dimension is something which we all crave. We all talk about it very loosely without understanding how to achieve it. We just mention it and then forget about it and choose not to do anything about it. It remains like an unfulfilled wish or dream. This majorly affects our Mental Health and Wellness!
In our opening edition on Wellness, we had mentioned Holistic Wellness comprising eight (8) Dimensions. Often, one views Wellness as keeping physically well or emotionally well. However, our Holistic Wellness goes beyond just both of them and we need to look into all the other areas within the 8 dimensions. So far, we have discussed 7 of the 8 dimensions.
This dimension affects people across all ages, genders, locations, etc. In this world of competition, stress, anxiety, and survival, we all keep running endlessly without a pause button; without giving a moment to stop by and ponder on a few things, do not delve deeper to understand things in the right perspective, keep doing things because we got to do them without validating our attitude, actions, thoughts, etc.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU FEEL THIS WAY? If it is once in a while, it is perfectly all right. If it is more often than not, then you may be in trouble. Therefore, you need to gather yourself and give it a serious thought, take cognisance of your actions and life and do things with relevance. Initially, it may appear to be a challenge, however, subsequently, it will become a habit.
This dimension may have different connotations to different people, but you need to understand its basic principle and premise and address it in a way that is meaningful and useful to you. Earlier, very few people used to take this seriously, as most of them would view it as meaningless and frivolous and hence had no time for it.
However, over the past few years, it has gained wide popularity owing to increasing awareness of its benefits and ways to combat the increasing stress and life challenges that one faces. It is not a quick fix solution to problems, not a one-day or one-week activity, but a thorough, diligent, and conscious practice that will help one achieve it.
Now people have begun to make efforts to delve deeper into it. We are talking about our peace of mind, which leads to our Spiritual Wellness.
What comprises Spirituality?
While most people relate spirituality to religion, prayers, and meditation, it goes way beyond them. It is just not to do with you alone, but also as to how you deal with the outside world. It is way beyond you and bigger than you are and involves a constant quest to understand the meaning of life.
Right from childhood, each of us have imbibed certain values, beliefs, and principles, which our parents, elders, teachers, etc. have taught us. These values guide our thoughts and actions and from time to time, the environment we live in validates them. They are deep-rooted in a manner that they only get stronger as we tread on our life journey. They provide a purpose and meaning to our lives and it becomes easier for us to differentiate right from wrong, good from bad, and so on. They provide clarity in making our daily life choice.
Only a devastating experience may shake our value systems.
There are various researches, which show that there is a major connect between our values and beliefs, and our sense of wellbeing. For e.g. if one of your values is honesty, all your thoughts and actions will be in harmony with it. If you choose to commit an act, which does not resonate with your value of honesty, you will never be in peace and feel good. You will feel restless and constantly think about it, which may ultimately affect your overall health.
How does your Peace of mind affect your wellness?
We define Spiritual Wellness as…
“To have the ability to be optimistic, develop tolerance and respect for all, exercise the required control, and gain spiritual knowledge to find inner peace and harmony.”
Your peace of mind allows you to relax, remain calm, control your emotions and reactions, and keep you physically healthy. In its absence, your whole life will become chaotic and you will be running from pillar to post to manage things appropriately.
You can achieve Spiritual Wellness in the following ways:
1. Your actions
To achieve anything new takes time and a lot of practice. First, it starts with you generating interest or developing keenness, and a strong desire to achieve it. Adequate research about it follows thereafter. Once you have gathered enough information, you will validate it from the experts in the field and then set aside time to implement it. During this period, all your actions need to focus on achieving it. The same is relevant for Spiritual Wellness.
You cannot achieve Spiritual Wellness overnight. It is a very tough journey, which needs a dynamic change and a paradigm shift in your thought process, actions, deeds, and above all your attitude towards it. Embarking on the journey of spirituality is not a standard mantra. It depends on what exactly you want to achieve and then start your quest.
You would need to exercise tolerance while on the quest for the relevant knowledge. There are no quick-fix methods. The process of losing weight may be easier to understand and implement, for e.g. you can relate it to actual figures in terms of calorie intake and energy expended, length of time you need to walk or exercise, how many push-ups you need to do and so on.
However, the process for gaining spiritual knowledge and implementing it is very different. It is more to do with your mind and soul. The results are not easy to measure. They can only be visible in external manifestation like how patient, compassionate, forgiving, etc. you have become. Even if you were to achieve it one day, maintaining it at all given points of time is very challenging.
You can gain relevant knowledge by speaking to people and relevant experts, searching on the Internet, travelling to various places, etc. to understand the true meaning and purpose of their existence. You can also gain deeper insights by attending relevant workshops, seminars, spiritual discourses, etc. and implement what is feasible and meaningful to you.
Some may think that reading ancient scriptures are a waste of time and may not have relevance to the current times. However, they are not only a rich source of spiritual knowledge but also provide clarity to many questions, the answers to which may not be available anywhere. They also help in calming our mind and body, very essential for attaining peace, for which we all strive.
Meditation is another activity, which enables us to calm our volatile and restless minds, body, and soul. If practised in the proper manner, one can reap rich benefits. It is just not closing your eyes and praying. It is also important to be completely with oneself in serenity, absolute silence, with no distractions and disturbances. Once you achieve a state of calmness and peace, you will not only be able to communicate with people in a better manner but also establish a deeper connection with them.
2. Connect with others
If you need to ensure a deeper connection with others, it is important to go beyond just thinking about only yourself. You cannot remain in isolation or live in an ivory tower. Once you begin to take out time for others, speak to them in their times of need and vice versa, and reach out to people voluntarily, you will start resonating and being in accord with them.
At times, even without knowing people, you may feel a bond or a strange connection, or maybe some kind of a magnetic force pulling them towards you and the reverse. You may also feel that you have known them for a long time. It is the frequency and wavelength at which you resonate with them that enables you to establish that connection.
Have you ever experienced that at times you have shared your personal problems and emotions with mere strangers, which probably you may not have with the people to whom you are close? It is the above connection which makes you do so. Regardless of who and what they are, their gender, age, location, caste, creed, colour, etc. learn to respect everyone and treat all equal.
Do unto others, as you would want others to do unto you. Do not help others with an ulterior motive or to get something from them in return. That is not going to help you in the future. Be selfless and you will be more at peace. Because having unlimited expectations from others will only cause you more agony, trauma, and disappointment.
While you learn to respect all, their viewpoints, thoughts, actions, etc., it is equally important to respect all religions and faiths and not discriminate against anybody. There may be many incidents or unpleasant events, which occur across all faiths, however, they should not become the reason/s to disrespect or show hatred to them.
Intolerance and bias will never allow you to achieve the peace of mind you want and need. Therefore, it is essential and beneficial to develop and practise various attributes for your Spiritual Wellness.
3. Develop positive attributes
While we are born with certain positive qualities, we also learn, inculcate, and implement many more during different phases of our lives. As children, we find time and use them frequently; however, when we grow up, life takes a dramatic turn.
In this materialistic world of stiff competition, there is hardly any room for sympathy, empathy, compassion, feelings, kindness, etc. If there is an undesirable incident, which has occurred, e.g. a mishap on the road or anywhere else, people around are very indifferent and tend to turn a blind eye as if it does not matter to them. Would they adopt the same attitude if they knew the person involved in that mishap? If not, then, does it mean that we should offer help to only whom we know and shut out the rest? The answer would still be – NO. Then, why do we not extend a hand to help anyone we come across? There may be many reasons not to do so. However, would they be justified? Give it a thought…
If someone wrongs us, we find it easy to neither forgive nor forget that person. We get angry and seek opportunities to seek revenge. This not only affects our peace of mind, but we delve into negativity. This hampers our thought processes and attitude. Therefore, it is important to let go and not keep holding onto things.
We need to develop and practice the art of forgiveness and tolerance. When we do this, we will be more at peace and be able to focus on productive things which need our immediate attention. This does not mean that we allow people to wrong us all the time. It depends on the gravity of the situation, our reactions to it, and finding solutions to the problems.
When we face problems or something does not work out for us, we tend to find faults with others, not realising that we may have been responsible for it. Therefore, before reacting to any situation, it is important for us to introspect. The answer will lie within us. At times, when surrounded by problems, we may tend to lose hope and give up. Here, it is important to put on an optimistic cap, belief in our abilities and capabilities, find solutions, and move on.
Many people may find the above attributes to be a challenge and that it is easy to say than to do it. However, with diligent and continued practice, it is achievable.
4. Maintain balance in all aspects of your life
When you embrace the above-mentioned positive attributes, it will help you maintain a balance in your life. Maintaining a balance is applicable to all areas of our lives. You would have heard of the saying – Too much of anything is bad. It is not applicable to just consumption of food and drinks, etc. but to overall life in general. For e.g. expressing emotions, physical activity, resting, watching TV, social media, etc. Whatever you do in life, you need to exercise control and maintain equilibrium; else, the scales may tip to an extreme angle causing not only a physical and emotional imbalance but will upset your overall life.
One of the important controls you need to maintain is the intake of food and the right kind of food. Caution to food lovers! There are many kinds of food, which have a negative effect not only on our physical health but also on our mental frame of mind. Therefore, it is essential to identify those foods and refrain from their consumption to keep your body and mind calm and healthy.
To bring about a balance in your life, you need to be organised to bring in a semblance of discipline. If you choose to get up, eat, drink, sleep, work, etc. at odd times, you will remain disturbed and that is bound to affect your peace of mind. It is important to fix timelines or prepare a timetable for your activities, else you will never be able to keep up with your commitments and maintain the required routine. Therefore, to avoid chaos, you need to be organised and do the right things at the right time and keep the right things in their right place.
In addition, you need to ensure that there is no room for excuses. Emergencies are acceptable; however, they should not become a habit. It is a human tendency to give excuses for things we are unable to accomplish or complete especially when we commit to others. Deep inside, we definitely know that the reasons and excuses we give are not true, but do not want to accept the situation. They will keep nagging us and will not allow us to be in peace.
Therefore, it is extremely essential that we frequently do some introspection and see if we are living a life of truth or deceit. Are we deceiving others or actually deceiving our own selves? The day we are able to find the right answers to our own questions, our thoughts, attitude, actions, commitments, and the way we deal with people and our surroundings will definitely change for the better. When you do so, you will generate positive vibes, which will have a positive impact on others in your ecosystem.
Do refer to our article on Physical Wellness, where we provided details on various ways you can adopt to lead a disciplined life. Those inputs coupled with what we have shared above may enable you to be more at peace with yourself. You need to realise the value and benefit of Spiritual Wellness and make a beginning to tread on the path of spirituality because…
Peace of Mind is very important; else, your mind will go into pieces!
Why wait until tomorrow? Start working on your Spiritual Wellness TODAY!
Ajay Mahajan | Sadhana Rao | info@wellnessmetrics.in
