Mindspower

The mind is central to success in business today. Carl Segan wrote of the mind: ‘Every human being has the capacity to store the equivalent of 7550 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica.’ Women managers, like men, need to develop the powers of their mind. The Indian ethos gives us key answers in this journey towards having a razor-sharp mind that can cut through all that is superfluous to the heart of truth. Develop the ability to wipe your mind clean and silent through meditation, because great concepts can be created only when the mindspace is clear of mindless static.’

As the first few generation of women who have entered the workplace, women managers must conquer fear and overcome the need for instructions. Pursue the ability to adapt and be a leader of proactive change. The New World is not for those who are what Nehru called, unwilling victims, dragged to be sacrificed on the altar of change. It is for the promoters of change. Those who dictate the unknown future. Women must be leaders to be accepted as such. They need to banish forever their fear of being centre stage, their reluctance to accept that; they are where the buck stops.

Stress Response

The world is becoming more cosmopolitan and we are all influencing each other. The fashionable corporate high of fast-track leaders—eyes shining, excess nervous energy, multi-tasking, dynamism personified—is achieved at the expense of a tissue-destroying ‘fight or flight’ response. These individuals do not manage to have ‘rest and repair’ periods between emotional hijacks. No one can be on a constant ‘fight or flight’ high and not destroy themselves.

A fundamental shift in leisure time and spending priorities has taken place in recent years. This includes higher budgets for movies, personal fitness, meditation, holidays, adventure sports and fine arts. You have a much better chance of doing what you love as an artist, sportsman, musician or film maker today than ever before. You do not have to be a bean counter negating your soul for a few rupees more.

It involves no great commitment to adopt global taste in food, clothing, entertainment, eating and experimenting with music or dance. There are no safe, stable jobs any more. The constant need to upgrade your skills to keep your job is challenging and stressful for those who cannot cope with these changes. The decentralised ‘knowledge-worker model’ where there are no manuals and where people have to individually respond to challenges and adopt to them without bosses to guide them or head office to provide instructions, is here.

Along with the above perceptible changes, there will be non-perceptible changes in the type of leadership systems and attitudes which will complicate the individual’s lifestyle in the approaching decades. Leaders today need to deal with others in a much more difficult, participatory way.

Affirmation for Emotional Health

 I am a kind and lovable person.

 God loves me and I am loved by my friends.

 I am doing my best to make my world a happier, better place.

 I can handle failure because failure is only an event, not my whole life.

 I am protected by the goodness and wholeness of the universe.

 I can tap into the peace and silence of the universe, which is always available to me.

 The world is a positive and healthy place.

Energy from Positive and Negative Forces

‘We draw energy from the wind or air and sunlight. We draw energy from water, earth (things grown on the earth). We also draw energy from the divine forces of the universe, which pour into us through the chakras.

The sun pours heat, light and vitality, which greatly improves health and wellbeing. That is why people feel depressed during the winter especially in the far north, like Scandinavian countries and the Arctic

A place can have a positive or negative field. You can feel it when you enter a temple or church where regular services are performed. That is why people go to places of pilgrimage like Tirupathi. The feeling of prayerful sacredness envelopes all who go to that space.

During a disaster, a cloud of fear is created. Anyone who enters that space is filled with fear, even if he is normally brave. The infectious nature of all emotions is similar. Hatred speaks from mind to mind, till the cloud of hatred draws to it all the people in that space even when the person is usually rational.

How to deal with Depression

Depression is signaled by a pervasive low mood, loss of interest, in everyday activities.

The person has a lowered ability to enjoy things or experience pleasure. ‘Nothing pleases me,’ a depressed person will say. ‘I did not feel like waking up in the morning. Combing my hair and bathing needed a major effort.’ This is how a depressed person feels and all of us are depressed at one time or another. No laboratory can confirm this. Doctors have to depend on what the patient says. It can appear suddenly or be a life-long disorder. This can affect one’s whole life and harshly impact the family and its ability to enjoy life.

Treat Depression

• Being able to rise above the gloom is crucial. Soothe yourself by talking kindly to yourself. First-aid by the self is necessary while we are feeling low, insulted or tired.

• Any form of meditation or silence will heal and illuminate your inner space.

How to Deal with Anger

Red light

1. Stop, calm down and think before you act.

Yellow Light

2. State the problem and how you feel.

3. Set a positive goal.

4. Think of lots of solutions.

5. Think ahead to consequences.

Green light

6. Go ahead and try the best plan.

Affirmations for Physical Health

Sit peacefully and breath deeply with your eyes shut, play the following mental tapes of affirmation every day:

 Every day, I am growing healthier and more radiantly beautiful.

 Every day, my body is becoming healthier and stronger.

 The special, tasty, fat-free, fresh food I eat fills my body with peace and happiness.

 The food I eat heals my body.

 I am very caring about my body and treat it with love.

 I eat only what is good for the health and wellbeing of my body.

 I love my body and my body is nurtured by my love.

 My body is strong and agile and attractive as it is.

Yoga Sadhana for Wellness

Yogasanas in conjunction with pranayama bring harmony and balance to every part of the body, and are highly therapeutic for the body, mind and soul. They mould every part of the body to its ideal contour through various postures

1. Padmasana (Lotus Pose). This is the ultimate yoga pose. It destroys all disease, and brings peace of mind to those who suffer from anxiety, tension, anger and other negative emotions.

2. Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand). Also known as the queen of asanas, this asana helps expand the rib cage and increase lung capacity. The inverted body pose also brings fresh supply of oxygen and rich blood to the heart.

3. Matsyasana (Fish Pose). This asana expands your chest and tones the nerves of the neck and back. It also ensures maximum benefit to the thyroid and parathyroid glands.

4. Darikasana (Surrender). People with high blood pressure, glaucoma or a detached retina, should concentrate on Aasanas which may rectify their condition before performing inverted poses like Sarvangasana, Halasana.

5. Dhanurasana (Bow Pose). An excellent asana for the spinal cord which strengthens the hips and takes care of spondylitis. The expansion of the chest increases blood circulation in the heart muscles.

6. Savasana (Shanti Asana). This relaxes the body through various techniques like self-hypnosis, Kaya-kriya. Persons who are sad and disturbed can be benefited.

7. Yoga Nidra (Yogic Sleep). A state of conscious deep sleep for extreme
relaxation and subtler spiritual exploration.

8. Silence. Practice silence. Let thoughts pass like birds in the sky. Let the mind sink to its bedrock of silence. As the Zen Buddhists say, ‘The mind is a drunken monkey that is bitten by a scorpion.’ Allow it to relax in to silence.

Mind, Body and Soul: A Holistic Approach to Health

Sushruta Samhita, the ancient Indian work by the physician Sushruta, describes perfect health as a state where all body parts function at their optimal level and where the body, mind and spirit are in perfect balance and in a state of bliss. This is the highest goal.

Health is a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing, not merely an absence of disease or infirmity.^* Really speaking, health is not a state but a continuous adjustment to the changing demands of life and the environment. Positive health implies perfect functioning of body and mind in a given society.

Ayurveda defines health as ‘svasthya’—to be one’s own spiritual self. It is the state of equilibrium of the three doshas or mind-body energies that govern our external and internal environment―vata (wind); pitta (bile); and kapha (phlegm), along with a contented state of the senses, mind and soul.

All the ancients believed that no attempt should be made to cure the body without treating the mind and soul. To be healthy is to have the ability, despite an occasional bout of illness, to live with full use of your faculties and to be vigorous, alert and having a joie de vivre, even in old age. This concept of operational health has been termed ‘wellness’. It is a sense of all-round wellbeing.

Rules for Eating

• Sit down peacefully to eat. Close your eyes and allow your mind to leave aside all other subjects and return to the food before you.

• Choose the fuel for rebuilding your body with care.

• Thank the universe for creating the food that will give you the energy to accomplish your goals.

• Focus on the sight, the smell, the feel and finally the taste of the food you are eating. As you chew, be completely assured that the food is gently repairing all the cells of the body.

Happiness Traps

 Expect too much from others.

 Not accepting yourself as you are; wanting demand too much of yourself.

 Not being content with anything.

 Feel you are not contributing.

 Not Feeling incuded.

 Play politics and being manipulative.

 Feel you cannot prevent another’s suffering (Eg mother’s pain)

 Constant craving for food.

 In a rush all the time; in a hurry. Toomuch hurry

 Excessive anger.

 Lethargy and inactivity.

 Too much tiredness.

 Ignoring others and harm the world (selfishness).

 Being too self-absorbed.

 Promising more than you can deliver

DHARMIC LIVING

Dharma is the law of right living. Unless you live by your own internal standards you can never be happy. When you bend the rules you reduce your chances for true, pure happiness. 'Flexibility is bending rules without breaking them’, proclaims a smart hoarding, showing a gymnast’s impossible stretch. It all depends on what your internal monitor will allow.

LEAVING A LEGACY

We all fear extinction. So we seek to leave a legacy that will endure, a footprint, which will leave the world a better, happier, place. To be born a man/woman, is a privilege, let us thank God for this gift of life.

Affirmations for Social Bonding

I have a harmonious relationship with most of the people I meet. I am lovable and love others.

 I enjoy the pleasure and happiness of others. I am conscious of the metta bhavana (joy in the happiness of others) and consciously cultivate it.

 I look for what is positive in others.

 I consider most situations to be learning experiences.

 I make others feel comfortable.

 I am aware of the needs of others to be appreciated and I make it the basis of my relationships.

 I am sincere.

 I express negative emotions in as non-destructive a way as possible.

 I draw a magic circle around those who interact with me, to include in safety and affection all those who touch my life.

Life Enhancing Experiences

· Receiving affirmations from significant others.

· Going on a holiday with loved ones.

· Enjoying nature.

· Completing a task to your satisfaction.

· Overcoming obstacles.

· Being loved.

· Doing something anonymously for others.

· Acting courageously.

• Sitting enveloped in silence.

Life Destroying Experiences

· Fear of losing your job.

• Anxiety about not being able to keep up with your peers.

• Working every day so long and so hard that you are barely able to think.

• Working in a hostile atmosphere where there is competition.

• Receiving discounts from those you love.

• Betrayal.

• Feeling trapped.

• Feeling abandoned.

Raudra (Hostility) Rasa

People with hostile personalities have five times the death rate before the age of fifty than people who are less prone to these negative emotions. Cardiologist Cleyer Freidman suggests that time-pressure is at the core of the hostility, as is a sense of insecurity. Both fuel this feeling.

Bheebatsa (Abhorrence) Rasa

Repugnance, disgust and hatred of anything characterise this emotion. This fills you with negativity and an obsession with the object or person. If such a feeling attacks you, like jealousy, acknowledge it and retreat from it as rapidly as possible. To cultivate dispassion towards the event or person requires practice. For the time being avoid such toxic people or situations.

Bhayanaka (Fear) Rasa

Fear is a negative energy. It saps your ability to act. Unless you confront it, it follows you like a shadow. Fear and the consequent anxiety cause your courage to leak out of the system like a leaking gas pipeline. It is characterised by the inability to act. The body is full of stress chemicals and time is wasted on depressed and negative self-talk. It pollutes the most powerful mind field.