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The pillars of mental health
A healthy personality is composed of many characteristics and habits. These are some of the most important: Awareness – The ability to recognise one’s existence and sense one’s state. Release – It is important to not hold on to the past or future, ideas, feelings or physical sensations too much. Letting go with the mind is helpful. Self esteem – You must appreciate and value yourself to an adequate degree. Confidence – Cultivate this when wishing to succeed in any enterprise. Any of these traits or others can be developed by the will. One should simply meditate upon them. Think ‘What is awareness?’ and seek the…
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Resolving Possession
Possession is more common than is sometimes recognised and occurs with varying degrees of subtlety. It is based on desire and covetousness. With or without acknowledging it, one feels ‘I want…’ about a person or item. It is negative but an inherent part of our psychology; we are competitive to varying degrees and you will notice an impulse to take what belongs to another at times. You shall also find yourself or your own belongings the target of such intentions. Possession often features in abusive relationships and it is extremely uncomfortable to endure – the victim can be mentally or socially controlled while the perpetrator feeds off their fear and…
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Self-esteem
This is a vital quality. Self-esteem grants happiness. It helps us believe in ourselves and our capability. A person who values themselves will stand their ground well and be able to defend what they care about. Self-esteem is fairly easy to cultivate: one need think of the quality. At first, it may seem high or low, but these two states lie on a scale. As you analyse the feeling of either, they will balance each other and the presence of a strong, healthy opinion of yourself will grow clearer. You are realising ‘I value my own life and I wish to succeed.’ Think ‘self-esteem’ for two minutes per day and…
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Authenticity
Consciousness is dualistic, a set of scales. Two aspects – good and evil – must balance each other. We are made of happiness, enthusiasm and goodwill. But we must also express impatience, disappointment, even malice, at times. There is a place for hate. Invite not another, then – ‘Be kind, always’. This will make them ill. Rather, say – ‘be honest’.
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Where is your suffering? Part 1
Please understand – your quality of life is first determined by how healthy your body, emotions and mind are. I would like to explain the significance of this and of space, with regards to refining each of these parts of ourselves. Every aspect of you, whether it’s a thought, emotion or body structure such as a bone, organ or the blood, has a location. So, too, do illnesses, even if they are seen as being mainly mental. No event can happen outside of space – every symptom you might deal with will occur in a definite area. Now, the mind is connected to all of you, partially through the nerves…
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Cheltenham Mind, Body, Spirit well-being show, 2021
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Becoming a better listener
Listening is a skill and like any other physical talent, it can be trained. The human mind has a connection with all features of the body, so if we wish to improve a particular sense, we simply need to think of it. Try tuning into your hearing – this is best practiced when in a healthy environment such as a park or natural setting. Can you listen more carefully and notice what you hear? We direct the body’s intelligence into its structures when we focus in this way – you will find that your ability to listen seems sharper, even after a few attempts. A deeper practice involves sensing what…
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Overthinking
It’s very important to understand that the human mind is a health-seeking system. Consciousness wishes to be well and it will make all efforts to repair itself if permitted to. Those of us with an interest in mental health need to learn how to use the mind so as liberate its healing instincts. In my observation, overthinking is generally related to anxiety or worry – when the body is stressed, frightened or a person is concerned about their circumstances, the mind will overact and spend excessive amounts of energy on looking for solutions to problems, real or imagined. One needs to clear the charge of emotions in order to calm…