Make Your Heart Recession Proof
Are you experiencing the effects of the recession? If you haven’t noticed its been in the news everywhere. A recession is brewing! The real estate market is in shambles. Many people have been laid off of their jobs.
A recent MSN report suggests that the economy has really been heading south in Florida. (A little pun there)
(http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/Homebuying
Guide/WhereARecessionHasAlreadyHitHard.aspx)
Have you had this experience yet? Has your heart been troubled by the fear of a recession?
Well you don’t have to worry. If you’re willing to take the time and put in some effort you can avoid some of the emotional trauma of living through a recession. I’d like to offer some ways to make your heart recession proof. What do I mean by that? I mean that strategies exist for overcoming fear and dealing with anxiety, particularly dread over what is happening in the outside world. Even if our outer circumstances are deplorable, our response to them doesn’t have to make us depressed.
Here are some things you can do to make your heart recession proof.
1. Shut off the Television and Disconnect the Radio
Fear sells. Mayhem boosts ratings. We all know that the media thrive on bad news. Nothing increases viewers like a good disaster. Don’t buy into the fear and anxiety. If you find your pulse quickening when you listen to the radio or watch television then avoid them. Focus your mind on what is upbeat and positive. Most of the news is just news. If you haven’t lost your job then don’t worry, but if the media frenzy makes you dizzy then avoid it.
2. Practice Gratitude
We all have reasons to be thankful. Most of us have plenty to eat. Generally, we have a roof over our heads. Even if our world has been turned upside down because we’re out of work or some one close to us has passed away- if we’re still breathing we have something. Finding something to feel grateful about and expressing these feelings of gratitude has been shown to lift the mood of people. It can keep our hearts on an even keel.
A good way to practice this skill is when you get up in the morning and you’re driving to work, to think of one think that you have that makes you feel grateful. It could be your significant other. It might be your dog. Just spend a few moments and feel thankful. It can change your outlook completely.
3. Check out from Life Regularly
Most people don’t plan down time. But its essential for keeping our hearts and minds sane. One way for you to keep from feeling totally burned out is to schedule 1-2 hours weekly that is just for yourself. You’ll want to check out completely from life. Find an activity where you have absolutely no pressure to do anything. It could be going to the movies by yourself. It may be taking a walk with your dog.
For me its going to the bookstore. A trip to Barnes and Noble or Borders with no agenda- where I have nothing in particular to do gets me relaxed.
It doesn’t matter what activity you do, but plan to check out regularly. What relaxes you?
4. Learn to Become More Heart Centered
Have you ever felt really connected? It could of been with a spouse, your child, or just while out in nature. You know what I’m talking about. It’s those times when you experience a feeling of heart opening of expansion in the chest. It’s what I call being heart centered. Becoming more heart centered is an excellent way to make your heart recession proof. Being heart centered means you become more open. It asks you to embrace greater intimacy, intimacy with others, and also with yourself.
If you become more heart centered it can improve your health. You’ll be less likely to be overwhelmed by stress. It can reduce your chances of getting an illness.
Various techniques for heart centering are available. Meditation is good. Guided imagery is very helpful. So is the method I teach called Sufi Remembrance. The key to becoming more heart centered is to find a method you feel comfortable with and then begin practicing it everyday.
I hope you consider trying these methods for making your heart recession proof.
I’d love to hear from anyone about how they deal with their worries over the recession.
January 30th, 2008 - Posted in Self Help | | 0 Comments
Purity of Heart
Our hearts get clouded.
They fill up with sticky, troublesome feelings and images. You know what I’m talking about.
We’ve all experienced those negative emotions- anger, fear, sadness, grief, frustration, anxiety, depression, and many others. Swirling emotions veil us. They create a wall that keeps us from feeling the way we want to feel. But emotions don’t just influence us psychologically. They can also harm our bodies.
Dean Ornish, M.D. is a cardiologist who first proved that heart disease could be reversed. He has also been instrumental in demonstrating the link between what we feel and real illness. If you haven’t seen it, his book, Love and Survival, it is a must read.
Dr. Ornish speaks about the damaging effects of what he calls closed-heartedness. It’s the cloudiness that I’m talking about. When we erect a wall that keeps us from connecting with other people. Clouding of the heart comes because of negative emotions. It’s when we’ve pulled back from life because we’re afraid to engage. Perhaps we were hurt, traumatized by some event from the past. We may have chosen actions that were impure.
By this I mean that perhaps we chose something other than love. We made the decision to hate or to hurt. Once we do this the negativity affects us.
How can we heal the clouding of the heart? One way is to begin a purification process, to begin to create purity of heart. We can choose to love. We can choose to give and help. Making the conscious decision to engage in activities that uplift, or are love centered will help remove the negativity that clouds the heart.
Recently on the blog Zen habits a powerful post was written that goes along with this idea of creating purity: http://zenhabits.net/2008/01/one-simple-principle-to-live-by-purity/
Purity of heart is something we can all strive for in our lives.
We can make conscious choices to not back bite, gossip, and spread negativity. We can also choose deeply to live a life of awareness. We can decide to give love. If we do this we can achieve purity of heart.
January 16th, 2008 - Posted in Philosophical | | 0 Comments
De-Clutter Your Heart
A spring cleaning of the heart- its something we all need. Although it’s not spring yet, we can all find value in cleaning out our hearts now and then.
What do I mean by this. It seems that life tends to clutter our hearts. We hold onto things we shouldn’t hold onto- pain, fear, anger, jealousy. Clutter in the form of negative emotions can clog up our psyche’s. They can lead to overload and overwhelm of the heart. Such negative emotions don’t just trouble us psychologically, they can also injure us physically. It’s true. Negative emotions have been clinically proven to actually cause heart disease. They can lead to inflammation of the lining of the heart called the intima. The intima is a one-celled lining of the arteries that should normally let cholesterol move in and out of the cell. But when people’s heart’s become cluttered with negative emotions the intima becomes dysfunctional. It stops working normally and cholesterol begins to build up inside the artery. This is the beginning of heart disease. So it can be critical to have a ritual of de-cluttering the heart. We need to clean the heart of dangerous negative emotions.
- Begin journaling for release. Writing down out thoughts and feelings on a regular basis is a good way to begin cleaning the heart. The simple act of expression can be healing. It can help us let go of things we shouldn’t be holding onto. I recently wrote on the idea suggested on the blog.
- Breath more deeply. Most meditative techniques include some form of breath work. Yoga is particularly good for deeply breathing. Deep breathing relaxes us and helps remove toxins from our bodies. If you practice deep breathing on a regular basis you have more energy. Deep breathing will help you let go of tension, a form of de-cluttering.
- Take up meditation or go to counseling. Another way to reduce the mess of our hearts is to begin meditating or consider counseling. Many people hold onto emotional hurts and psychological pain. Counseling is excellent for learning how to let go of these painful and often messy feelings that can lead to actual injury. Talk therapy has been shown to reduce anxiety and even help some forms of depression. Meditation is also a good way to purify the mind and let go of anger, stress, and other unwanted emotions.
- Consider Practicing Remembrance. Another powerful method for reducing the clutter of the heart is an ancient Sufi technique called, Practicing Remembrance. It’s a centuries old method for using breath and sound to bring love directly into the heart. It works well to promote heart healing, by uplifting and purifying the heart. I’ve used this for many years and have taught it to hundreds of people to reduce anxiety, depression, and many illnesses.
- Exercise daily.
Exercise is a great way to de-clutter your heart. It works physically by helping reduce your blood pressure, can raise your good cholesterol (the HDL), and it also works to eliminate depression. It’s best to exercise aerobically for 45 minutes 4-5 times a week.
Always consult your doctor before undergoing any exercise program. It’s the new year and a great time to reduce the clutter of our lives, especially our hearts.
January 14th, 2008 - Posted in Philosophical | | 0 Comments
