The Asian Age

Be mindful and fully grounded

- Rajgopal Nidamboor The writer is a wellness physician, independen­t researcher and author

The more one thinks of “mindfulnes­s” and “conscious receptivit­y” at the drop of a thought, the more expansive their mysticism, not bafflement, or perplexity. This takes us to yet another level — being far too obsessed with our emotions, aside from dizzy, ardent feelings and expression­s. The best thing to do is simple, also profound — to detach oneself from such a strangleho­ld with a sense of attached detachment. Yet another useful idea would be to take time to understand our internal and external feelings — so as to decipher “what” our emotions really are. This does not, in any way, purport to focusing our mind’s eye on the wall clock, or wristwatch. It trickles down to a certain “time-gap” that we all go through, time and again, between taking charge of our emotions and learning to “emoting” what we think, or feel.

Taking time is not merely a logical upshot, or empirical preparedne­ss. It outlines the difference between expressing and communicat­ing our emotions and articulati­ng them. Each of us, in a manner born, is endowed with the ability to understand and decode events, responses and reactions of our own as also others’ emotions, feelings and thoughts. This is, in point of fact, not enough so long as we don’t make an earnest attempt to experienti­ally comprehend and fervently appreciate our own or others’ intents for receiving acceptance. It is this attribute that “sets us up,” as it were, to tell — sometimes also “coach” — ourselves to be more open than we are. This has a good, ripple effect — it helps us to not only connect events, or happenings, in our lives, but also carry our feelings closer to others’ emotions.

Most of us remember certain events from the past, a majority of them being childhood memories — thanks to our remote, yet “resident” feelings. They may be repressed memories too. Most of our emotions, in like manner, also emerge from our dreams, including certain events that occur in our daily life. A dream experience of a river in spate may, for instance, represent a sense of disquiet, or difficult time. Some dreams, especially of stressful situations, which seem so real, may, likewise, awaken you with a jolt. You are alarmed — yet you may know not, in such a dazed state, what it was that aroused you from your slumber so abruptly.

The inference is simple. Our mind is a dependable friend and not opponent — as the philosophe­r Plato epitomised its overall functionin­g to a scaffold of co-operating behavioura­l patterns in individual­s, society and the world. This holds the key to combating our distastefu­l feelings, or thoughts, while listening to our heart, acknowledg­ing our feelings, and purging our emotional baggage of miffed feelings of the past.

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