A lovely cup of tea in my hand on a warm sunny afternoon I wonder if this is peace of mind or is it contentment. I look around and find people so busy that they have no time to enjoy the success they achieved, is it worth it working so hard for something that you never enjoy? Sipping my tea, listening to the birds chirp as they pick off the last few fruits off the tree before sunset, stuffing themselves up and enjoying every bit of it, contentment. Is it peace of mind or contentment?
Are humans ever at peace, the birds seem content enough, give a dog a bone and when he is through he seem content enough, the flowers shaking their heads in the gentle breeze seem content, the squirrels colleting the nuts seem to be in absolute peace within themselves and with their environment.
Then my questions is why not humans?
Organize your mind
I have seen many people who have their TV or the music /ipods or some device blaring at them during all all waking hours, they seem to need noise to be alone. Time alone is time to organize the mind so it can be at peace. Sparing the time to organize your self internally is the hardest thing for most people to do. We organize our rooms, our homes, our desks and throw out the garbage, keep only what is needed, file and put away stuff so that the place is in order.
The kind of garbage we collect in a day in our minds is amazing; I recently saw discussion on HubPages on what is the worst insult you have ever received. Not only do we collect garbage we have them around for decades and air them out at any given opportunity.
We need to get rid of the negative emotions in our minds. Especially the insults we receive or the unkind words people say in anger or the garbage that has come from an unthinking person. We hurt and bleed internally sometimes even without knowing it, some of us are even dying from it. These disturb our peace of mind and prevent us from functioning to the fullest potential.
We need to get over of those past experiences that plague us, it is not easy but we need to do it for our own good.
Overcome negative emotions and negative thoughts that destroy your peace of mind
Let go of all that is negative, we need to realize that people have situations and circumstances and moods that they are dealing with and they react from that place, so do we. The more we hold on to such negative words and ruminate on them the more we are hurt and we in turn hurt others.
Forgiveness may be considered as a great virtue, but I would like to look at it as a necessity. Yes you need to forgive more for your sake, than for the sake of the other if you need to keep your balance. Forgiving someone takes the weight off your chest, reduces the hurt and the pain and lets it go by.
Forget the negative words or actions
Forgetting is the last step of cleaning up, it is like throwing out the waste and getting rid of it once and for all. This means if you let go, forgive and forget you bear no grudges at all and you can have a new beginning.
You allow you self to move ahead and grow without hold ups.
Do not revisit negative thought and emotions Self pity is something that people should avoid. I have seen those with emotional problems as I work with them everyday, people who face the problems head on are the ones that are able to overcome their difficulty, those that indulge in self pity get stuck in the same place and are overwhelmed by their problems.
Replace the negative thoughts with positive thoughts
Do not tie your growth to others. I have seen people complaining but she did that or he did not do that.. as if your mind is controlled by the intentions and actions of others.
Do your best and move on, this would help us keep our focus on ourselves and our growth.
Filling your mind with positive thoughts is filling your mind with hope and motivation. So spend a few minutes to fill your mind with pleasant thoughts about each of your endeavors. This helps you get through your day smoothly.
Believe and act. Believe in yourself and act on it. Approach every job with hope and belief that it will work out well, believe that you can do it.
Believe in people around you, don’t be biased about people from your first or limited time with the person.
Keep an open mind learn new things.
Refuse to entertain doubts and let life stress you out .
Do not be apologetic about everything, some people seem to apologize for the very air they breathe, remember you need to know that you have a right to be, to do as everyone else.
Be self confident and hold yourself in high esteem plays a huge part in being happy or keeping your peace of mind
Laugh, smile and make the most of every situation. To put it simply lighten up, don’t take yourself more seriously than you should. Don’t make it as if everyone is watching and weighing you out.. they have their own selves to deal with. Laughing releases endorphins the body’s feel good chemicals that send messages of well being to your brain, it has the power to relieve pain. It naturally boosts your immune system and fights all germs and diseases. It relaxes your body and as you laugh all tension and stress leave and you mind is free and recharged. So go ahead see the funny side of things even about yourself and laugh your head off. I always make a joke of myself so it does not hurt when people say the same things..
Happiness is a state of mind peace of mind is a way of hold on to it while making the best of your life. It is a learned attitude, though it seems difficult at first it is not impossible.
Meditation as I know is not just a calming experience; it is not some rhythmic chanting or some weird behaviour. Meditation to me is a positive experience, an enriching one, enriching thoughts, emotions and ...
Our words go before us to announce the person that we are, that is the power of words. We really need to take note of what we say. When we open our mouth and say some words, it is released to work its way...
How to maintain your peace of mind?
There is a passage from the Bible that says a lot about how to maintain your peace. Meditate on what is positive Philipians 4:8 ... meditate on ( or think only about) whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy.Basically it tells you keep your mind on all that is positive to find and keep your peace of mind. Love, oh yes, it is the most wonderful thing one human can give another, it has the power to nurture, build nourish, grow, change, protect..etc.. Use it. You will not only make other happy but will be filled with inner peace. Cultivate your peace of mind through spiritual meditation. I believe that as we organize our minds, get understanding, grow in maturity, peace of mind and spirit envelops us completely.
Are you enough to sleep? How much time do you need for sleep? four hours, five hours, six hours or even seven hours. It depends on us, because we have different schedule of work. Sometimes we can predict when do we sleep? But I often meet the people who have regularly schedule for their sleep. When work over time, it can be sure we less in sleep, right! Maybe we sleep just for three hours or four hours. But do yo know that from sleep can restore the vitality of someone getting better. From the National Sleep Foundation, USA. said that babies must sleep around 80% a day. And then for adult, they need 30% from twenty four hours. It is around 6-9 hours. we don't need only a sleep, but the important thing good quality of sleep.
However in situation right now, everyone is required to work hard with high mobility and busy schedule, to meet the time sleeping for 7-9 hours a day as recommended was not easily fulfilled. In fact, there are many people who sleep only 4-5 hours a day. Of course, this can trigger sleep disturbances while reducing the vitality. Some impacts may be felt if we did not get to sleep enough or less in a quality of sleep, like:
Impact on the influence of memory.
Concentration and thought to be declining.
Influence on the people's behavior, like easily tempered, less friendly, and tend to be aggressive
Sleep deprivation can also trigger the overweight. Because somebody who sleep less tend to look for sweet and fatty foods.
It also can increase blood sugar in the body, or which in health terms is called with diabetes.
Less in sleep can trigger high blood pressure, heart disease, and depression.
If we have good schedule of sleep. At least we can sleep well around 7-9 hours with good quality. From quality of sleep give us a lot of benefit, especially for health. Like:
Improve the human immune, to make us qualified to see the future.
Improve our intelligence, thoroughness, creativity, increase mental and emotional abilities as well as the mood remained awake and it is going to be developed.
Good quality of sleep can also rejuvenates the body's cells function and it can improve metabolism function.
Sleep can also add vision capabilities and our concentration.
In addition good quality of sleep also useful to get healthy skin, body and face looks fresh.
How to reach good quality of sleeping
Although we don't have time to sleep well, at least we try to make it better than before. But I hope start from now, we pay attention to our sleep. Why I said so, because healthy is kind of investment for the future. If we don't prepare start from now, when do we start? preventing is better than healing, right. Don't worry when we don't get good quality of sleep. Here's the tips we can do to reach that. I hope we can learn and try to practice step by step. We don't have to push our self if we don't get accustomed. But learning from small thing will produce bigger thing next time. Here's simple tips from me:
We can doing light exercise before go to bed
Stay away from things that can make sleep less soundly. Such as: too full to eat, eat that contains high fat and cholesterol and caffeine intake with time 4-6 hours before bed so that it can stimulate your brain. Actually by doing exercise before bed can also make a person reach the quality of sleep. Exercise was recommended before going to sleep for us by doing stretches for the muscles and joints. And this exercise can be done two hours before bedtime.
Healthy lifestyle also needed to reach the quality of sleep
For example during in the spare time of activities there should be an exercise, eating with balanced nutrition, and reducing things that trigger stress, such as smoking.
Avoid watching television in the bedroom
Research has proven that people who frequently experience sleep disorders have a television in the bedroom.
Children and toddlers also need to sleep in a reasonable time.
Enough sleep will make children physically and mentally to become more conducive. Well, this is the condition which affects the child's intelligence. Based on the research, during sleep all body cells, including muscle cells, liver, kidney, bone marrow, and brain cells to recover.
Try a new pillow or mattress.
Is the mattress supports your body correctly? So you do not feel back pain when you wake up? If you don't felt this, replace the pillows so you feel more fresh and new.
Avoid caffeine at night
Be aware that caffeine is 10 to 12 hours before bedtime may cause trouble sleeping. Try to avoid soda and chocolate in order to sleep more soundly.
Listen to relaxation music.
Get accustomed to listening the relaxation music can make the signals of the body to get ready for bed. Dim the lights and play jazz music or relaxation CD to get a good night's sleep.
Try mind and body techniques.
Try to calm the mind and body by creating rituals such as bathing, meditation, and doing yoga poses for relaxation and calm. Ritual repetition will trigger your mind and body that it was time to relax and sleep.
Herbal remedies.
These are natural medicines to get sleep well. You can try the tea of chamomile flowers before go to bed or inhale fragrant lavender essential oil to calm your mind, making it easier to sleep soundly.
This 'Narad Veena' (or Ravan Veena) is in fact the earliest name of the modern 'Rabab', the musical instrument of Bhai Mardana.
It is a historical fact that the 'Rabab' is the invention of Guru Nanak, who instructed another of His devoted Sikhs, Bhai Firanda to manufacture a 'Rabab', which, was later on to be the musical accompaniment of Bhai Mardana throughout hisLife.
Guru Nanak, the saviour of the 'Kalyuga' was the first Guru of the Sikhs and was an epitome of music and poetry, which can be seen from His 'Bani' in the Adi Granth Sahib. Guru Arjan compiled the Adi Granth and the 'Banis' of all Gurus were canonised in the musical stanzas of their original modes.
It was extremely essential that a godly person like Nanak, who was an accomplished musician, divine person and an excellent poet should be accompanied by a person with a similar knowledge of music and poetry. A person who would understand the intricate moods of poetry and divine music and be a constant companion. This person chosen by Guru Nanak was no other than Bhai Mardana.
In the Hindu mythology it is known that all the 'Avtaars' incarnated with their assistants, friends and relations who helped them during their stay on this earth. For example we know that Lakshman and his brothers plus the immeasurable assistance of Hanuman helped Lord Rama on his divine incarnation in the 'Treta Yuga'. It is also an historical reality that Balram and Arjuna etc.were Lord Krishna's best companions in His divine incarnation in the 'Dwapara yuga' Similarly we can assume the characters of Bhai Mardana and Bhai Bala, who were constantly in the attendance of Guru Nanak, who according to the Bhatt's in the Adi Granth, was the incarnate of the Almighty himself in the 'Kali yuga'..
Although there is no documentary proof but I presume that Bhai Mardana was no other than the incarnation of Sage Narad. Both these personalities have exceptional similarities, which cannot be ignored. Their personal characteristics are that of a light-hearted and impish nature, which is an essence of many parables with Guru Nanak and Lord Vishnu. Furthermore let us inspect for example the initials of their names:-
M R D N (Mardana)
N R D Mn (Narad Muni)
As can be seen from above that the names of both these personalities have the same name letters (Co-incidence? May be, but can we shirk away from the fact that both are accomplished divine musicians and both have been given instruments of divine nature by two godly powers?)
Although the characters of Bhai Mardana is not revered similar to the character of Guru Nanak but never the less his importance in the life of Guru Nanak is extremely significant and Guru Nanak without Mardana is something that cannot be envisaged.
