Find Inner Peace
Reconnexion with Nature
Being in contact with Mother Nature helps us to harmonize our energies and to reach peace with oneself and with our environment.
There is much evidence that shows that being in contact with nature is positive for our well-being, our happiness and our health.
Why is that? Simply because we are an integral part of it.
Feeling fullness and connection with nature allows the extension of the healthy properties of the exposition to mother nature.
To have a strong connection with nature is both beneficial to human being but also to the nature itself because we will respect and protect it more.
Meditation
This word can quite often impress us. We think that we don’t know how to meditate, which can hold us back. However, everyone of us meditates nearly on a daily basis without being conscious of it.
Being fully absorbed by a task or something that we love doing can be a way of meditating.
This activity puts us in the “now” moment where we are fully focused and conscious in this ongoing action. WE ARE MEDITATING!
Also, when we are intending to objectively analyze a situation to respond most adequately to it (which can also be referred to as emotional intelligence), we do meditate.
In order to have a behavior based on an objective perspective, some of us often do the exercise of observing the situation out of their own outlook. As our personal outlook is often biased by our emotions, personal experiences and personal interests...
They would not see the scene with their own eyes and understanding but they should make the effort to take enough distance to analyze the situation as a whole to see how things really are without adding their personal input (emotions, judgement, interests...) which brings subjectivity.
Seeing things clearly and objectively are some features of meditation.
Some wrong beliefs about meditation
The practice of meditation is more rooted within the culture of some peoples than others, which can lead us to connect, mistakenly as downgrading, meditation with the spiritual or religious beliefs of those cultures.
In this context, it is most likely that some non-meditation followers are not willing to meditate as they would not identify with those beliefs. This logic divides the meditation followers, stereotyped by some of those believes, from the non-followers, non-disciples of those beliefs.
Instead, meditation is a tool that enables connection with one’s own self, to feel more and to extend one's level of consciousness.
Independently of the religious or spiritual belonging of anyone, meditating benefits to all as a regular physical activity does.
Méditation à l'école et en prison
Many studies all over the world over the past 40 years have proven the physical, physiological and spiritual benefits of meditation.
Several initiatives have been implemented to introduce meditation in schools, often schools having violence issues.
The results have been very positive and encouraging. The main visible benefit has always been an important decrease of violence among the kids and teenagers that have participated in the meditation program.
This reduction of violence was mainly due to a rise in the empathy level and a stronger connection among the kids, developed by meditation.
This kind of program was also introduced in some prisons. The initiative started in India, then spread across various countries of the world, such as Taiwan, Italy, and United States.
After 5 meditation class sessions, the prisoners were asked to meditate 20 minutes each day. The researchers of the programs found a significant reduction of all the trauma symptoms (stress, depression, anxiety, and insomnias) of the inmates.
Meditation is also associated with recidivism, and relapse into criminal behavior. The study also showed that when released, men who practiced meditation in jail would drastically reduce their chances to end up again behind bars in the future. Meditation is therefore also associated with recidivism, and relapse into criminal behaviour.
A Great Combination
After your physical exercise, try a small meditation session.
This combination brings about:
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A reduction of the depression symptoms,
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A stimulation of brain activity,
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A lowering of the level of cortisol, the stress hormone,
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A lowering of the feeling of pain,
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An enhancement of the physical performances
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A speeding up of the physical and psychic recovery.
A small story...
A student asked his spiritual master how long it would take him to gain the highest spiritual enlightenment if he meditates 4 hours a day.
The master replied: "10 years".
Then, the student asked: "And if I meditate 8 hours a day, would long would it take?"
The master replied: "20 years"
The student does not understand the answer. He asked why while meditating twice as much it would require double time to reach spiritual enlightenment.
The master tells him that meditating is great but if he would do this all day long, all the things he loves doing, as well as his loved ones, would pass him by. At the end, life would pass him by.
Everything is a matter of balance and harmony.
Building a rich social life
Get surrounded and know how to surround yourself with the right people
It is also very positive to have friends from different cultures, nationalities and generations. It:
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Sharpens our understanding of our surroundings,
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Makes us grow faster, increasing our tolerance level,
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Opens our mind and makes us happier.
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Enables us to connect further with people from different backgrounds,
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Increases our empathy with our neighborhoods' challenges and so on.
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Above all, we would learn further about each of us and then about the world that surrounds us.
It is essential to feel supported, and loved by our loved ones, friends, and family members. A healthy social life is key in the "pursuit" of happiness.