Despite this, most participants find that the stringent requirements for silence and solitude are not as challenging as they appear from the outside. However, a little planning and preparation is highly recommended for first-timers, as I discovered myself.

The following tips will go a long way in preparing you physically and mentally before you begin your 10-day silent Vipassana retreat.

10-day Vipassana Meditation Retreat: 4 tips for First-Timers

Tip 1: Prepare to sit for long hours

Right from the first day, you’re required to sit cross-legged on the floor. Although you can use a meditation cushion or folded blanket for support, this can still be quite challenging if you’re not used to the practice. On most days, you will be seated for up to 10 – 11 hours [with breaks in between], and certain meditation sessions also restrict any bodily movement until the session concludes.

But don’t let this put you off or give you second thoughts. If your concerns stem from an underlying ailment, simply make sure to mention your health condition in the application form. At the Markal centre, Pune, where I did my Vipassana course, chairs were made available to all participants who had done so. The rest of us had to sit on the floor, no matter how much we griped about the pain to our teachers.

The human body is more resilient than we realise and you will adapt fairly quickly to the practice. Yes, some aches and pains may surface if you have no prior practise, but Vipassana retreats wouldn’t be popular if they were as easy as checking into a Holiday Inn. Aside from having to stay in that seated position, you won’t be sleeping on a soft comfy bed, but on a thin mattress on a hard surface. This can be a hard shift for most of us, but the challenge can still be rewarding if you prepare mentally and physically for it.

So, how exactly do you prepare to sit for long hours?

Practice—that’s the long and the short of it. In order to prepare your body for all the sitting, start practising cross-legged sitting at least a month before your course begins. Use cushions and blankets and try different sitting positions like vajrasana or sukhasana to figure which one works best for you—in terms of both comfort and duration. If you have a meditation chair or cushions, check with the centre whether it’s okay for you to carry them along to use during your course.

Related » Tools and props to facilitate meditation

Tip 2: Start having lighter dinners

From personal experience, this one’s harder to endure than any physical challenge—but only if you don’t prepare for it. During the course, you are served breakfast at 6.30am, lunch at 11am and tea at 5pm, along with a light snack [rice puffs in my case]. Here’s the shocker—there’s no dinner.

If you’re used to having heavy dinners, it’s imperative that you start eating light at least a week before your course, if not earlier. As someone who has always enjoyed a hearty dinner, this could have been a challenge. Fortunately for me, I had already made the transition to eating lighter dinners a couple of months before the course. If not for that preparation, I would have struggled to adapt to the ‘no dinner’ schedule.

If you simply can’t skip dinner or are on medications that require you to have dinner, make it clear in the application form and the centre will make special provisions for your meals.

You will be expected to go to bed by about 9.30-10pm, which again can be tough if you’re not used to it. If you don’t make an effort to sleep early, you’ll regret it later as those hunger pangs invariably start to surface.

These timings are actually part of a healthy daily routine and the disciplined structure also extends to other practices in the day.

Tip 3: Read the rules and stick to them

The 10-day course is well-structured and practical. Although some rules may seem extreme to you, they’re all there for good reason. If you can accept and respect the rules, you’ll reap plenty of rewards. As the course progresses, you will gradually settle into the routine, making each successive day easier than the last. With approachable instructors, you don’t just learn more, but can also get help in addressing any concerns or doubts that you might have.

Mind you, the retreat is not at Guantanamo Bay, so don’t expect enforcement authorities to coerce you into complying with the rules. You need to do so out of your own discretion because it’s for your good.

During my course I noticed some people talking to each other, slipping fruit into their pockets to snack on later, and keeping cell phones with them to use in private. If you’re already planning on breaking the rules, perhaps a 10-day silent vipassana retreat is not for you.

Tip 4: What to pack and bring to the Vipassana retreat

As with any travel, clothing is your most essential requirement. Carry comfortable and modest clothing, as most vipassana centres have restrictions on shorts or sleeveless attire. The Markal centre that I visited had a laundry service, but that’s not necessarily the case everywhere. Find out before you head to the retreat and if necessary be prepared to do your own laundry or make sure to carry enough clothing for the 10 days.

Footwear isn’t really a big concern, but for your convenience carry slip-ons to make it easier to remove footwear before entering the dhamma hall and dining areas.

In addition to clothing, remember to carry a water bottle or flask, as drinking water may not be available in all accommodations and you’ll have to walk back to the dining hall [which is usually located at some distance from the residence quarters] every time you need water.

Medications and toiletries may not be available in the vicinity of the retreat, so make sure to carry them too. It would be a good idea to pack a pillow or pillow covers and some bed sheets or blankets if required. As you will have to deposit your phone at the registration office of the centre, it would be wise to carry a small alarm clock with you.

Summing Up — It’s Challenging, But It’s Worth It

The 10-day Vipassana retreat may seem demanding but it’s all a matter of giving up on a few habitual conveniences and enduring the silence. Staying with your thoughts for hours together and observing your body’s reactions can be tough. But such heightened awareness brings with it the wonderful reward of connecting you with your “self”. Take my word for it: the challenge is worth it!

This is an updated version of the article. It was first published on 10^th September 2019.

The post First Time on the 10-Day Vipassana Meditation Retreat? These Tips Will Help appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Breathing consciously is like drinking a glass of cool water. As we breathe in, we really feel the air filling our lungs. We don’t need to control our breath. We feel the breath as it actually is. It may be long or short, deep or shallow. In the light of our awareness it will naturally become slower and deeper. Conscious breathing is the key to uniting body and mind and bringing the energy of mindfulness into each moment of our life.

Regardless of our internal weather—our thoughts, emotions, and perceptions—our breathing is always with us like a faithful friend. Whenever we feel carried away, sunk in a deep emotion, or caught in thoughts about the past or the future, we can return to our breathing to collect and anchor our mind.

How to Practice Conscious Breathing

Light and natural, calm and peaceful

While you breathe in and out, feel the flow of air coming in and going out of your nose. At first your breathing may not be relaxed.

But after practicing conscious breathing for awhile, you will feel how light and natural, how calm and peaceful your breathing has become. Any time you’re walking, gardening, typing, or doing anything at all, you can return to this peaceful source of life.

You can say to yourself:

Breathing in, I know I’m breathing in.
Breathing out, I know I’m breathing out 

When the mind is no longer thinking

After a few breaths, you may want to shorten this to “In, Out”. If you follow your in-breath and out-breath all the way through, your mind is no longer thinking. Now your mind has a chance to rest. In our daily life we think too much. Giving our mind a chance to stop thinking is wonderful.

“Breathing in, I know I’m breathing in…” isn’t a thought. It’s a simple awareness that something is happening, that you are breathing in and out. When you breathe in and bring your attention to your in-breath you bring your mind back to a reunion with your body. Just one in-breath can help the mind come back to the body. When body and mind come together, you can be truly in the present moment.

“Breathing in, I know I’m breathing in…” is another way of saying “Breathing in, I feel alive.” Life is in you and life is around you—life with all its wonders: the sunshine, the blue sky, the autumn leaves. It’s very important to go home to the present moment to get in touch with the healing, refreshing, and nourishing elements of life inside and around you. A light smile can relax all the muscles of your face.

Breathing in, I recognize the blue sky.
Breathing out, I smile to the blue sky, 

Breathing in, I am aware of the beautiful autumn leaves.
Breathing out, I smile to the beautiful autumn leaves. 

You can shorten this to “blue sky” on the in-breath, and “healing” on the out-breath. Then “autumn leaves” on the in-breath, and “smiling” on the out-breath. When you practice breathing like this, it puts you in touch with all these wonders of life.

Just one in-breath can help the mind come back to the body

With conscious breathing, you are in touch with life

The beauty of life is nourishing you. You are free from your worries and fears. You get in touch with your breath and with your body. Your body is a wonder. Your eyes are a wonder, you need only to open your eyes to be able to touch the paradise of forms and colors that are available. Your ears are a wonder. Thanks to your ears you can hear all kinds of sounds: music, birdsong, and the wind blowing through the pine trees. When you pay attention to your in-breath and out-breath, you bring yourself home to the present moment, to the here and the now, and you are in touch with life. If you were to continue to be lost in the past, or to run to the future, you’d miss all of that.

Breathing in, I follow my in-breath all the way through.
Breathing out, I follow my out-breath all the way through. 

In the beginning, you may notice that your breathing may feel labored or awkward. Your breath is a result of your body and feelings. If your body has tension or pain, if your feelings are painful, then your breath is affected. Bring your attention to your breath and breathe mindfully.

Breathing in, I know I’m breathing in.
Breathing out, I know I’m breathing out. 

Breathing in, I smile to my in-breath.
Breathing out, I smile to my out-breath. 

Let the quality of your breathing improve naturally

Never force your breath. If your in-breath is short, let it be short. If it’s not very peaceful, let it be like that. We don’t intervene, force, or “work on” our breath. We just become aware of it, and after some time, the quality of our breathing improves naturally. Mindfulness of breathing identifies and embraces our in-breath and out-breath, like a mother going home to her child and embracing her child tenderly in her arms. You’ll be surprised to see that after one or two minutes, the quality of your breathing begins improving. Your in-breath becomes deeper, your out-breath becomes slower. Your breathing becomes more peaceful and harmonious.

Breathing in, I notice that my in-breath has become deeper.
Breathing out, I notice that my out-breath has become slower.

When you notice that your in-breath and out-breath have become more peaceful, deeper, and slower, you can offer that peace, calm, and harmony to your body. In your daily life, you may be neglecting and ignoring your body. Now is your chance to come home to your body, recognize its existence, get reacquainted, and make friends with it.

Breathing in, I’m aware of my body.
Breathing out, I release all the tension in my body. 

Rising, falling

These breathing exercises come from the Buddha himself*. They’re very easy, like child’s play. If it’s helpful, put your hand on your belly. You’ll notice that when you breathe in, your stomach is rising, and when you breathe out, your stomach is falling. Rising, falling. Especially in the lying position, it’s easy to feel your abdomen rising and falling. You’re aware of your in-breath and out-breath from the beginning to the end. Breathing like this is enjoyable. You aren’t thinking anymore—of the past, of the future, of your projects, of your suffering. Breathing becomes a pleasure, a reminder of life itself.

Breathing in, I enjoy my in-breath.
Breathing out, I enjoy my out breath

*See Thich Nhat Hanh Breathe! You Are Alive (Berkeley, CA Parallax Press, 2008)

Later on, after you’ve been able to offer that peace and to your body, helping it to release the tension, then you can identify your feelings and emotions.

Breathing in, I’m aware of the painful feeling in me.
Breathing out, I smile to the painful feeling in me.

There’s a painful feeling, but there’s also mindfulness. Mindfulness is like a mother, embracing the feeling tenderly. Mindfulness is always mindfulness of something. When you breathe mindfully, that is mindfulness of breathing. When you walk mindfully, that is mindfulness of walking. When you drink mindfully, that is mindfulness of drinking. When you’re mindful of your feelings, that’s mindfulness of feeling. Mindfulness can be brought to intervene in every physical and mental event, bringing recognition and relief.

The present moment is the only moment

I’d like to offer you a practice poem you can recite from time to time, while breathing and smiling:

Breathing in, I know I am breathing in.
Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.

As my in-breath grows deep,
My out-breath grows slow.

Breathing in, I calm my body,
Breathing out, I feel at ease.

Breathing in, I smile,
Breathing out, I release.

Dwelling in the present moment,
I know this is a wonderful moment.

You can shorten this to the words below, one word or phrase per breath:

In, Out.
Deep, Slow.
Calm, Ease.
Smile, Release.
Present Moment, Wonderful Moment.

The present moment is the only moment that is real. Your most important task is to be here and now and enjoy the present moment.

Complementary content

Here’s a meditation that teaches you to breathe consciously — guided by the venerable Thich Nhat Hahn himself. You might find it immensely useful. (Audio only)

The post Thich Nhat Hanh Teaches How to Practice Conscious Breathing appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

So how exactly do stress and anxiety interfere with your sleep? Stress and anxiety might be causing you to get less sleep, more restful sleep, or make it hard to fall asleep at all. Plus, not only does stress and anxiety make getting a good night’s sleep hard, but they can also worsen existing sleep conditions. Here are some of the ways stress interferes with your sleep, and what to do about it.

Your mind never stops racing

If you’re stressed about something in your day, these thoughts will undoubtedly bombard you right as your head hits the pillow. You can’t help but run through tomorrow’s to-do list, think about what you could have done differently in that meeting at work, or think about that impending due date that is hanging over your head.

You wake up a lot during the night

Stress may make it harder to fall asleep in the first place, and it also makes it harder to get a restful night’s sleep. According to the Anxiety and Depression Foundation of America, seven out of ten adults with persistent stress or excessive anxiety say they have trouble sleeping. In addition, the average American only gets 6.6 hours of sleep a night, which is down from the average in 2005 and less than the recommended 7 – 8 hours of sleep.

So what can you do if stress and anxiety are plaguing your sleep? Here are a few helpful tips to hopefully get you snoozing.

How to ease your stress and anxiety to sleep better

Set aside the time

Too often, we’re busy living our lives, getting dinner cooked, doing a little work, or taking care of the kids and the clock quickly reaches 11 pm or midnight. We know we have to get up early the next day, so our sleep quickly diminished. To avoid this problem, set aside time at night to start getting ready for bed and winding down. You can set a reminder on your phone an hour or so before you want to be in bed to remind yourself. Stay accountable with your schedule and set aside the time for a solid night of sleep.

Turn off the screens

Experts agree that using your phone or computer or watching TV right before bed is one of the worst things you can do for your sleep. These screens emit blue light, which disrupts the part of our brain that’s responsible for winding us down for sleep. Make a promise to yourself that you’ll turn off all screens an hour before bedtime. You can read, draw, or listen to music instead! [Also read Computer vision syndrome: Strained sight]

Try meditation

Especially for people who suffer from stress and anxiety, meditation is a great tool to help you sleep better. Your meditation practice doesn’t have to be an extensive, involved, process, but it could be as simple as spending 10 or 20 minutes before bed doing breathing exercises and relaxing. Meditation lowers your heart rate, helps clear your mind, and tells your body that it’s time for bed. Being mindful and in the moment is a skill that translates outside of sleep, as well!

Start exercising

According to the Sleep Foundation, “regular exercisers fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly. In fact, even a single moderate-intensity workout, like a brisk walk, can improve sleep among people with chronic insomnia.” This is likely because exercise triggers an increase in body temperature, decreases symptoms of depression and anxiety, and improves our circadian rhythms (or internal clock). Plus, your body will be much more tired after a long workout, and you can’t help but hit the hay!

Stress and anxiety may interfere with your sleep, but there are many things you can do to counteract these symptoms. If you think you have a more serious sleeping condition, talk to your doctor.

The post How Stress and Anxiety Interfere With Sleep appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

10 Steps to Be Happy Now

1. Put yourself first

Are you a busy parent, running around after your children and/or partner, ensuring everyone is happy, while neglecting your needs? Are you working tirelessly to earn more money, yet isolating yourself and giving up on your hobbies? Many place others first, thinking this is unselfish. However, this is the fast track to frustration, anger and resentment, especially on challenging days. Happy and successful parents, partners and workers, ensure they have a balanced life, including fun pursuits, socialising, rest and work. Be kind to yourself by doing what makes you happy every day. It is your life… so do not put yourself last. What do you feel like doing right now?

2. Be grateful

Although it’s hard to look at the wonderful things in life when you are feeling low, it is necessary. List the things you are grateful for and watch how your mood changes; it is all about transforming your mindset. Make it your new habit to list five things you are grateful for, every day, from small to large. By the law of attraction, you will attract more good into your life, improve your circumstances, and opportunities, when you spend the majority of your time focussed on the positive. Have you made your “grateful list” today?

3. Plan fun moments

It is essential to remain focussed on the present moment, but if your life is currently challenging, traumatic or filled with grief, you may need a break from this moment by creating wonderful future moments. You could plan a family holiday, a weekend getaway, a romantic dinner or a night out to a concert. Be kind to your future self and plan exciting adventures, fun days and opportunities to create wonderful memories. What wonderful experiences are you currently looking forward to?

4. Change your thoughts to positive

Are many of your thoughts negative? Automatic thoughts are commonly triggered by belief systems in your subconscious about yourself, circumstances and relationships. These core beliefs may be negative, causing your thoughts to be self-defeating. Be prepared to listen to your thoughts and argue with yourself. Does this thought need challenging? Am I jumping to conclusion? Is this black and white thinking? [i.e. something is either all wrong or all right] Negative thinking is simply a habit. Think of your mind as a television remote control, and then keep switching from the negative thoughts channel to the positive thoughts channel. You may use self-affirming statements such as: I will feel better tomorrow. This situation is temporary. By using thought swapping strategies, and self-affirming statements, you positively influence your thoughts, core beliefs and mood. You cannot stop your thoughts, but you can swap your thoughts. Have you been listening to your thoughts today?

5. Improve brain chemistry

Antidepressants often improve depression by changing the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain, such as serotonin and dopamine. Did you know that you can help your body improve these same neurotransmitters? Avoiding processed foods, and instead, eating whole foods such as quality carbohydrates, proteins, fruits, vegetables and raw nuts is thought to increase serotonin levels, reducing your risk of depression. Exercise releases endorphins, which elevate mood and increase your emotional resilience. Exercise often decreases the stress hormone, cortisol. High cortisol levels are believed to be a contributing factor in ill health, mood swings, weight gain, and depression. Therefore, exercise and healthy eating can assist you in the fight against depression, sickness, and the dreaded sad days. Have you scheduled healthy eating and regular exercise into your routine?

6  Reward yourself

What do you love doing? Do you love sitting in the sun reading magazines? How about a long drive to a hill station? Perhaps you love going on picnics, enjoying long bubble baths, or watching a movie. Is time in the garden your escape from life? Or do you prefer sitting with friends, eating takeaway foods, while watching the sun set? Whatever you love doing, do it; don’t deprive yourself. It is essential to reward yourself, especially on those sad days. What are your three favourite ways to reward yourself?

7. Sit in the sun

Sitting in the sun, even for a few minutes per day, can improve mood, positive brain chemistry, and vitamin D levels. When you feel unhappy, stressed, agitated, or even depressed, spend 15 minutes in the sun, and enjoy all the benefits of nature’s vitamin tablet. Relax, feel rejuvenated, and feel more grounded again, after some time in the sun… ready to face even the most complex of issues. Do you have a special place where you like to sit in the sun and relax?

8. Listen to music

Next time you wish to escape your troubles, grab your headphones, turn your favourite music on, and have a mini party. Music has the magical ability to transport your emotions to another place, making music a natural healer. So, if you want to forget your troubles dance or sing to your favourite songs. If you are grieving, and may need to cry, put the sad songs on, and give yourself permission to grieve. Tears that are “stuck” magnify your emotions, so allow the tears to flow. Bring a little magic to your day, or experience some of your deepest feelings, by allowing music to guide you. How have you incorporated music into your daily routine?

9. Meditate

Calm the mind, re-focus the thoughts, and feel peaceful again, with some guided meditation, using a CD or download. Regular meditation has been shown to improve brain function and health of the body. Scientific research suggests that long-term meditation thickens grey matter, and the number of folds in the cortex of the brain. This area is believed to play a role in thought, attention and memory. Accordingly, we can assume that to feel more in control of our mind, emotions, and health, we need to meditate regularly. Can you image how your life would improve with regular meditation?

10. Take a break

Sad or low energy days give us the chance to stand back from the frantic pace of life, and reflect on our goals. When we become fatigued, saddened or ill, we may find ourselves working less, yet having more time to reflect. Ask yourself: What is working in my life? What is not? Most of us do not stop enough and actively plan the life we want; we can find ourselves re-acting to life, instead of being pro-active. Have a daily break and remain rested and focussed. Give yourself permission to stop your usual activities, and ponder. Have you incorporated daily breaks into your schedule?

You have the ability to help yourself through these challenging days, with these ten steps. Put the power back in your hands. Keep asking yourself: What do I feel like doing right now? Change your day; change your life… start by changing this moment and be happy now. And if your sad days persist, you may have depression, unresolved grief, or anxiety; if so, please consult a doctor, psychologist or counsellor.

The post 10 Steps to Be Happy Now! appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

A new study led by UC Berkeley has found a way to track the flow of our internal thought processes and signal whether our minds are focused, fixated or wandering.

Using an electroencephalogram (EEG) to measure brain activity while people performed mundane attention tasks, researchers identified brain signals that reveal when the mind is not focused on the task at hand or wandering aimlessly, especially after concentrating on an assignment.

Random chain of thoughts increase alpha brain waves

Specifically, increased alpha brain waves were detected in the prefrontal cortex of more than two dozen study participants when their thoughts jumped from one topic to another, providing an electrophysiological signature for unconstrained, spontaneous thought. Alpha waves are slow brain rhythms whose frequency ranges from 9 to 14 cycles per second.

Meanwhile, weaker brain signals known as P3 were observed in the parietal cortex, further offering a neural marker for when people are not paying attention to the task at hand.

“For the first time, we have neurophysiological evidence that distinguishes different patterns of internal thought, allowing us to understand the varieties of thought central to human cognition and to compare between healthy and disordered thinking,” said study senior author Robert Knight, a UC Berkeley professor of psychology and neuroscience.

Tuning out helps the brain relax and explore

The findings, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal, suggest that tuning out our external environment and allowing our internal thoughts to move freely and creatively are a necessary function of the brain and can promote relaxation and exploration.

Moreover, EEG markers of how our thoughts flow when our brains are at rest can help researchers and clinicians detect certain patterns of thinking, even before patients are aware of where their minds are wandering.

“This could help detect thought patterns linked to a spectrum of psychiatric and attention disorders and may help diagnose them,” said study lead author Julia Kam, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Calgary. She launched the study as a postdoctoral researcher in Knight’s cognitive neuroscience lab at UC Berkeley.

Another co-author on the paper is Zachary Irving, an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Virginia who explored the psychological and philosophical underpinnings of mind-wandering as a postdoctoral scholar at UC Berkeley.

“If you focus all the time on your goals, you can miss important information. And so, having a free-association thought process that randomly generates memories and imaginative experiences can lead you to new ideas and insights,” said Irving, whose philosophical theory of mind-wandering shaped the study’s methodology.

Irving worked with Alison Gopnik, a UC Berkeley developmental psychologist and philosophy scholar who is also a co-author of the study.

“Babies and young children’s minds seem to wander constantly, and so we wondered what functions that might serve,” Gopnik said. “Our paper suggests mind-wandering is as much a positive feature of cognition as a quirk and explains something we all experience.”

How the study was conducted

To prepare for the study, 39 adults were taught the difference between four different categories of thinking: task-related, freely moving, deliberately constrained and automatically constrained.

Next, while wearing electrodes on their heads that measured their brain activity, they sat at a wacomputer screen and tapped left or right arrow keys to correspond with left and right arrows appearing in random sequences on the screen.

When they finished a sequence, they were asked to rate on a scale of one to seven — whether their thoughts during the task had been related to the task, freely moving, deliberately constrained or automatically constrained.

One example of thoughts unrelated to the task and freely moving would be if a student, instead of studying for an upcoming exam, found herself thinking about whether she had received a good grade on an assignment, then realised she had not yet prepared dinner, and then wondered if she should exercise more, and ended up reminiscing about her last vacation, Kam said.

The responses to the questions about thought processes were then divided into the four groups and matched against the recorded brain activity.

An important step

When study participants reported having thoughts that moved freely from topic to topic, they showed increased alpha wave activity in the brain’s frontal cortex, a pattern linked to the generation of creative ideas. Researchers also found evidence of lesser P3 brain signals during off-task thoughts.

“The ability to detect our thought patterns through brain activity is an important step toward generating potential strategies for regulating how our thoughts unfold over time, a strategy useful for healthy and disordered minds alike,” Kam said.

The post Brain waves can reveal where your mind meanders appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

We are always trying to find the limits of everything. We haven’t even spared the Universe, making all kinds of speculations about when and how it began as well as when and how it will end. Scientists have propounded theories such as the Big Bang phenomenon which is an attempt to explain how all that is came into existence in one grand instant, then began expanding in all directions, and continues to expand even as you read this. Then, we also wonder whether this Universe will continue to expand forever or will it stop at some point in the future.

These questions suggest that we are unable to accept the idea of timelessness. We cannot imagine something that has no beginning and no end. Our own physical existence is finite and time-bound. Death is an eventuality that reminds us repeatedly about our limited time here. Consequently, we run and chase and go after things and people and experiences. We try hard to accumulate and own as much as we can before our time runs out, never realising that when death comes, nothing will matter.

Empty preoccupations?

No one can be certain about what’s beyond our physical existence, which we call death. Likewise with our birth—we don’t know where we were before we were born. Did we even exist? No one knows for sure where do we come from and where do we go. Do we simply appear one day and disappear another day? Is there a soul that outlasts the body, that existed before birth and will continue after death? These questions are futile because there can’t be “answers” to them. Instead, what we do have are a whole lot of speculations and conjectures that pose as answers.

Of course, there are theories in many ancient scriptures that attempt to explain the cycle of birth and death—some of them seem plausible too. But, without actual direct subjective experience, these theories are nothing more than beliefs. Since experience can’t be objective, it can’t be observed in a lab or transferred as knowledge. Thus, the mystery of life, of sentience and consciousness, seems fool-proof. We can’t solve it until we get there—that is, if there is some place to go, and if there’s something to know.

And yet, our preoccupation with beginnings and endings, with the mysteries of birth and death, takes us away from the only reality there is—the present moment. Life is only available now. We think, we remember, we imagine, we plan—but all of that happens when we are absent to the now. We are lost in contemplations and concerns of the world, losing the most important treasure of life: our awareness, which is eternal.

Not endless time

But timelessness does not mean “forever”; it does not mean endless time. It means no time. And we can only access eternity when we are absolutely present, free from thinking, just being. Only when we are free from time and free from all mental abstractions, can we perceive reality as it is.

We have all had glimpses into such eternity or timelessness on occasions when we accidentally slip into the no-thought zone of pure awareness—a phenomenon that cannot be described by words or understood by thought. Indeed, even trying to explain it relies on thought and memory, which is why it is impossible.

The most that I can say about my visits to the timeless fields is that you feel fully awake, your senses are heightened and everything around you comes fully alive, as if for the first time. Life takes on a completely different texture—rich, vibrant, glorious.

This richness, which is not a feeling or a thought but simply an awareness, lasts for as long as one remains free from time, and from incessant thinking. Then, when time and thoughts return, so do the chaos and speculations.

But the glimpse does one really important thing—it dissolves the need for pointless preoccupations such as the origins and the fate of the Universe.

The post Of our obsession with beginnings and endings appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Now, new research published in the journal Psychological Science has shown that becoming happy improves your health. The researchers employed tactics that were specifically designed to boost subjective wellbeing. The study found that both online and in-person psychological interventions have positive effects on self-reported physical health. What’s more, there was no difference between the impact of online and in-person interventions—they were found to be equally effective.

“Though prior studies have shown that happier people tend to have better cardiovascular health and immune-system responses than their less happy counterparts,” said Kostadin Kushlev, a professor in Georgetown University’s Department of Psychology and one of the authors of the paper, “our research is one of the first randomised controlled trials to suggest that increasing the psychological wellbeing even of generally healthy adults can have benefits to their physical health.”

Kushlev and his colleagues at the University of Virginia and the University of British Columbia spent six months examining the impact of improving the subjective wellbeing of otherwise healthy individuals on their physical health.

How the study was conducted

155 adults between the ages of 25 and 75 were randomly assigned either to a wait-list control condition or a 12-week positive psychological intervention that addressed three different sources of happiness: the “Core Self,” the “Experiential Self,” and the “Social Self.”

The first three weeks of the programme focused on the Core Self, helping individuals identify their personal values, strengths, and goals. Then, for the next five weeks, the focus shifted to the Experiential Self, covering emotion regulation and mindfulness. This phase also gave participants tools to identify maladaptive patterns of thinking. The final four weeks of the programme addressed the Social Self, teaching techniques to cultivate gratitude, foster positive social interactions, and engage more with their community.

Called Enduring Happiness and Continued Self-Enhancement (ENHANCE), the programme consisted of weekly modules either led by a trained clinician or completed individually using a customised online platform. None of the modules focused on promoting physical health or health behaviours such as sleep, exercise, or diet.

Each module featured an hour-long lesson with information and exercises; a weekly writing assignment, such as journaling; and an active behavioural component, such as guided meditation.

“All of the activities were evidence-based tools to increase subjective wellbeing,” Kushlev noted.

When the programme concluded, researchers gave participants individual evaluations and recommendations of which modules would be most effective at improving their happiness in the long term. Three months after the conclusion of the trial, researchers followed up with the participants to evaluate their wellbeing and health.

The finding: Becoming happy improves your health

Participants who received the intervention reported increasing levels of subjective wellbeing over the course of the 12-week programme. They also reported fewer sick days than control participants throughout the programme and three months after it ended.

The study found that the online mode of administering the programme was as effective as the in-person mode that trained facilitators led.

“These results speak to the potential of such interventions to be scaled in ways that reach more people in environments such as college campuses to help increase happiness and promote better mental health among students,” Kushlev said.

—Link to original research

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How silent prayer works

When we pray or meditate in silence, we will find that we establish a link with positive, healing forces, and feel a wonderful sense of relaxation. You establish a link with the intrinsic intelligence that flows through all life, which we call God and you even secrete hormones that make you live longer.

During silent prayer, the mind is filled with positive, beautiful thoughts which trigger beneficial hormones in the body. In silence, you find the treasures of hope, faith and optimism. Without these, no illness can be cured. If you could visualise your own wellbeing during your moments of silence, you will be well on your way towards becoming healthy and energetic. Experts call this “creative imaging” and it is one of the most underrated techniques in modern healthcare.

Silent prayer in practice

Author and retired surgeon Dr. Bernie Siegel encourages his patients to mull over the question: why do I need this disease? Once the patient recognises the dynamics of his own life situation, he can enter readily into the healing process, making it quicker and more effective.

Dr. Gerald Epstein, who passed away last year, was another physician who used “mental imaging” in the healing process rather effectively. Dr Epstein would prescribe exercises in imagery for his patients. For example, a patient with immunity disorder was asked to focus on white knights—which could symbolise our white blood cells—guarding a fortress and pushing out intruders and hostile warriors.

Are you throwing away the pebbles?

The practice of silence can enrich your life with a sense of the divine presence. I often narrate the story of the man who stood alone on the sea-shore, gazing absentmindedly at the pebbles strewn all around. In a listless and dull frame of mind, he began to pick up the pebbles one by one and threw them into the water. When all the pebbles had been tossed away and the last one was in his hand, he took a good look at it and realised with horror that it was a priceless pearl!

He had thrown away scores of pearls without even realising their value.

Each hour, each minute of the day is a pearl of priceless value. The time that you spend in silence is especially valuable for it can lead you to physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.

Enter the haven of silence

The constant stress and agitation of modern life creates an emotionally polluted environment. People often tell me that they are so stressed and tense that they long to run away from it all, fly to a quiet and beautiful place far away. Just as people who live in the cities turn to parks, woods, and green zones to refresh themselves, you too must make it a habit to enter the haven of silence regularly.

Communing with God—cultivating the presence of the divine intelligence in the still depths of silence—will not only refresh and rejuvenate you but also unleash the intrinsic healing powers of your body. The practice of silence can be like your personal jet which will enable you to reach those sublime spaces of your own soul!

The post Dada Vaswani Reveals the Healing Power of Silent Prayer appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

“And religion manifests in your actions only when it has become your essence first. Our actions become our being first. Before releasing the fragrance, it is essential to become a flower. Like the cultivation of flowers, the soul also needs to be cultivated. And for the flowers to arise in the soul it is not necessary to go to the mountains. They can be cultivated wherever you are, because you can be in the mountains while remaining exactly where you are. There are mountains and forests in the inner solitude of one’s self.”

Being Alone Is Good

This is so — truth and beauty are seen only in complete solitude. And whatever is great in life is attained by those who have the courage to be alone. The deeper secrets of life open their doors only in solitude, and the soul attains to love and light. Only when all is calm and quiet will those seeds sprout which are lying deep in the soil of our being, containing all our bliss in them. The growth happens from inside towards outside and only in solitude. Remember, truth grows from inside. Artificial flowers can be imposed from outside but as far as the real flowers are concerned, they grow from within.

For this inner growth, it is not necessary to go to the outer mountains or forests, but it is necessary to be in that inner space. The path leading there is within everybody.

Take a few moments away from the hustle and bustle of your everyday racy rush, and forget the concepts of place and time around you, and your so-called personality, and the ’I’ that is born out of it. Empty your mind of all that keeps it constantly full. Whatsoever comes to your mind, know well that you are not it and throw it out. Drop it all — everything — your name, your country, your family. Let all of it disappear from your memory and remain like a blank sheet of paper.

This very path is the path to our inner aloneness and solitude. It is through this that the inner sannyas finally happens.

In Solitude, You Meet Your Real Self

When your mind drops all clinging, breaks all barriers of name and form, only then that remains in you which is your real being.

In that moment you are alone, in solitariness. What is known at that time is not of this world. It is in this knowing that the flowers of religiousness bloom and life is filled with the fragrance of the divine.

What is known in these few moments – the silence, the beauty, the truth – it gives you strength to live simultaneously on two planes. Then you are in the world, yet you are not of the world. Then there is no bondage, and life is liberated. You are in water, yet the water does not touch you.

In this very experience is the fulfillment of life, and the attainment of religiousness.

The post Osho on Why Being Alone Is Good for Your Spiritual Growth appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

While there are a multitude of mudras, there are three important ones that you can practise daily. These mudras are also helpful to yoga practitioners as they can be used along with various pranayama techniques.

Ganesha mudra

Named after the deity who removes all obstacles, Ganesha mudra can help overcome anxiety and relieve stress.

How to do Ganesha Mudra

1. Interlock your fingers in front of the chest such that right palm faces you and the left palm faces forward
2. Elbows should be pointing to either sides, forearms parallel to the floor
3. Take a deep breath in and as you exhale pull the hands apart keeping the grip tight
4. Relax the grip at the end of exhalation
5. Repeat a few times and then switch sides.

The alternate tension and relaxation of the muscles has a very relaxing effect on the body and mind. A similar method was discovered by a Dr Jacobson in the 1920s which allowed his patients to relax and overcome anxiety. Known as the Jacobson’s Relaxation Technique, his method involved first tightening and then relaxing specific muscle groups— something we also do in Ganesha mudra.

Jnana mudra

This is one of the most popular yogic hand gestures and is used in meditation and pranayama. Jnana means wisdom and this mudra is known to be quite conducive to spiritual practices; it is specifically recommended while doing kapalbhati.

How to do Jnana Mudra

1. With your palms facing up curl your index finger to the base of the thumb
2. The index finger creates a circle and the thumb points straight out
3. The other three fingers remain straight and facing up.

Take care not to let the tip of the thumb touch the index finger — that is done in another popular mudra called Chin mudra. Both Jnana and Chin mudra help in improving concentration and focus — that is why they are the popular hand gestures for meditation.

Nasika mudra

This is an important mudra as it used during anuloma viloma [alternate nostril breathing] or Nadi Shuddhi pranayama.

How to do Nasika Mudra

1. Raise your right hand up and fold the index and middle fingers to touch the palm
2. The thumb, little and ring finger stay up. The ring finger may bend slightly and that’s OK. Try to keep it as straight as possible without unnecessary strain
3. Now use the right thumb to close the right nostril and the ring and little finger to close the left nostril for alternate nostril breathing or anuloma viloma pranayama.

Ensure that the nasal septum is not pushed to one side while using this gesture. Also, the pressure of the thumb or ring finger on the nostril should be gentle. The breathing itself should never be forceful as that would negate the benefits of this practice.

Mudras are an integral part of yoga; it’s best if you practise them as a part of a holistic yoga routine rather than for their standalone benefits. There are multiple factors that impact the health of our body and mind. Maintaining a wholesome wellness routine would greatly enhance the benefits you receive from doing yoga mudras.

The post 3 Essential Yoga Mudras: Ganesha Mudra, Jnana Mudra, Nasika Mudra appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.