Peace Begins With You
Anyone or anything ever annoy you and then poof you are super crabby? Perhaps you get to a place where you can actually watch yourself reacting badly, creating an unhelpful cycle of demonstrating frustration, anger or hurt rather than finding ways to move forward...yeeeaaaah, me too... it happens, BUT let's not allow these (assumed) set backs shake us up. These moments are opportunities to refine how we respond to the various stimuli of life...
Yoga and meditation are ultra helpful in creating awareness, not only of our bodies, but also our emotions and reactions. So, awareness is great, but then comes choice. Choice about what to do next. In the heat of the moment when we know we are losing our cool...it's incredibly helpful to have simple tools to calm our nerves and help us release anger and frustration. Choose these tools rather than indulging in venting and life will flow much more beautifully.
Here's a simple little Kundalini meditation I have found incredibly helpful (it's from a book by Gabrielle Bernstein)....all you need is your hand, you can be seated, standing, walking, whatever & you can do this anywhere - at the bank, in a meeting, when you are in heavy negotiations with a toddler or partner or just when a fearful thought seems to grip your attention...
Gently press your thumb against each of your fingers (like we do at the end of savasna in class) using this mantra, Peace Begins With Me. You can say the mantra aloud or in your head:
Thumb to your index finger, say: PEACE
Thumb to middle finger, say: BEGINS
Thumb to ring finger, say: WITH
Thumb to pinky finger, say: ME
Enjoy! Hope it helps...
- Meredith Gunderson
Seeker, Teacher, Writer on Yoga, Meditation and Inner Peace.
Founder of The Modern Meditation Movement, a curated resource portal to inspire and support meditation practice as well as explore how meditation changes our lives and ultimately, our world.