A guide towards more peace and introspection
We all believed that after more than 2 years of COVID pandemic, life would slowly get back to normal. However, surprisingly and shockingly we entered into war in Europe, rising energy costs and fear of unknown consequences. We are now more prone to slip into anxiety, loneliness and depression than ever. How can we find a way to cope with all the stress, tension and negativity and bring ourselves to find calmness in the storm?
We have listed 8 tangible tips here for you to remember:
- Limit Social Media
The average person spends around 2.5 hours of scrolling through social media every single day. Social Media seems to connect us all, however it’s not the reality. We can keep in touch with friends and acquaintances but to be honest, most of the time, hours are wasted, we are exposed to negativity, feeling numbed or comparing ourselves to the “perfect” lives of hours. This does something to us: we feel lonely, more depressed, further away from our own life and influenced by what we are exposed to on a very subtle level. Try to limit your social media use to max. 30 minutes daily. Many phones and some apps can control this usage. You will be surprised how much more energetic and at peace you feel when you use your social media less and make more real experiences or focus on practicing self-care.
2. Be Mindful About Over Consumption of News
Taking interest in what’s happening in the world and being up-to-date with the struggles of humanity is fine, but if reading and watching news consumes too much of your time, you will fall into more depression, negativity and incomprehension. Your life and being is deeply impacted by the thing that you do and consume – whether it is food or media. You can control the consumption by setting a 15-minute fixed time every day (preferably not immediately after you wake up and also not during the evening before you go to sleep). Being exposed to too much negativity and problems externally will leave you more hopeless, isolated and fearful.
3. Practice Self Care
You have to make time for yourself and show up for yourself every single day. Little habits makes such a big change for yourself. Think about this: you spend 8 hours at the office or at work, you spend 2 hours on your phone, 2 hours on Netflix. But you can’t fix 1 hour self-care every day? Once you become consistent with your self-care, you will feel more self-worth, grounding and inner peace. Self-Care can be anything where you spend time only with yourself (no phone, no friends, only YOU).
In the yogic context, we love to spend this time focusing on our asana, meditation or pranayama practice as we understand this gives the long-term benefits to our overall well-being.
4. Eat nutritious food
We cannot deny, that we are what we eat. If you eat junk food, you will not feel as energetic and clear-minded as if you follow a sattvic (pure) diet. In the modern societies and western world, the importance of eating freshly cooked food seems to be far away from priority. The majority of people, eat out every day, not being aware of how food was prepared or what’s inside. Poor eating habits (what you eat and how you eat) lead to many disruptions of the digestive system which is the key to our overall health. Be conscious about what to eat, take time to plan your meals, buy high quality fresh fruits and vegetables and take time to prepare your own meals with love. If you set yourself a goal to do this for one month, you will not go back to eating out every day because you can feel the change in your body already.
5. Lean on Loved Ones
To overcome these uncertain times better, talk to your friends and family. And if its only through Video Call. Sharing your thoughts, struggles and feelings and releasing emotions naturally without arguments, will help you to feel more connected but also free and calm. We don’t always need to have the same opinions or feel upset when someone does things differently, but to talk and create a sense of community is very important for everyone. We all want to belong and we are indeed already connected to each other.
6. Focus on the Positives
How to stay positive in a world seemingly full of problems? Practice gratitude! Count your blessings and the people or things you feel happy about. Remembering and actively practicing gratitude sets your mind to a more positive state. Also, putting yourself into somebody else’s position can help you to change your mind and empathy level. Yes, it is frustrating to be impacted by high energy costs and limiting travel restrictions but imagine those who are in the war zone right now, which unbearable amount of fear they must have.
7. Come to Terms with Uncertainty
Life is unpredictable and has always been. We do have some control over our own life, but we surely can’t be the boss of every circumstance. We must learn to accept life as it happens and find techniques that help us to live with the uncertainties that life always holds. Make peace with this and practise the techniques to help you come to terms with it.
8. Focus on your mental and physical health
To focus on your mental and physical health has never been more important. Many people ignore this completely, but if you can be the master of your mind and body and make friends with yourself on the long-run, you can truly enjoy life with all its ups and downs (everyone goes through this). Yoga is an ancient science that was researched already thousands of years ago. It is proven to help you calm your mind, find more stability and balance your entire endocrine system. It’s a holistic approach to health and creates well-being on a very subtle level. Read more about learning Yoga
