anshuljohri.com

Tag: mind

  • A Journey without Gadgets

    Recently I had the most amazing and relaxing journey so far I remember in recent time. Around a week back on my family vacation I did the most memorable flight journey with my son. Why this journey was so special and worth talking about it? How this journey was different from my past trips? Why do I want to share this with everyone? I am sure these must be the questions in your mind while reading this, I will answer each one soon but before that I want to share something which I read in a book before starting my journey.

    One day before my trip to Lucknow from Bangalore I was reading a book and was impressed with one line sentence “Savour Your Environment To Live Your Life Happily“. This one line made a big impact on me and made me think that how many times do we miss the present moment which we are living in worry of future or in regret of past. We actually miss to live in the present moment whether we are having breakfast/lunch or dinner, drinking coffee, talking to our partner, walking in the garden/road or travelling with our family. Try to observe that we do not live in current moment, our mind is always busy in thinking about future or must be in memory of past. So I decided to give my best to live in present moment and see if I notice any change, do I enjoy the current moment, do I feel good.

    A Journey Without Gadgets. Next day family vacation started from Bangalore. I did my packing previous night which include all my gadgets; camera, phone, Ipod, Kindle, macbook, ear phone, selfie stick and other essential items required in the trip. Our first flight was from Bangalore to Lucknow and I decided to use this time with my family and specially with my son (Adi), this was Adi’s first flight when he can actually enjoy it, his all previous flights were mostly in his mamma’s lap or in stroller. Adi’s curiosity is increasing day by day as he is growing. I wanted to live this moment with him.

    I saw my son’s reactions on almost every thing whether its Uber ride till airport, putting luggage on airport trolly, getting into the gates, passing a smile to police person, getting his boarding pass and so on. The moment I got into the Uber cab from home, I stopped checking my phone and during whole trip first time I did not use any gadget. Generally I browse songs on Ipod to listen my favourite playlist, clean up my phone by deleting old messages, docs, notes. I also browse offline videos or read books on my Kindle. But this time I just savour it every bit with my family. I savoured everything around me; Adi’s naughtiness, my coffee at airport, my fellow co-passengers and much more. I saw one lady must be in her sixties looking out her window in airplane, she was smiling alone quite often. Sometime she used to stare outside window for a long time and in between she used to smile; may be she was also savouring the present moment and her time alone, remembering good old days or may be she is excited to meet her loved ones at the end of this flight. Even without knowing her or talking to her I was happy to see her smiling. Someone has truly said that “happiness is hidden behind small things around you”.

    My son Adi did not sleep for a single moment during whole journey and so did I. He was curious to know every thing around him; tray table, seat cover, seat handle, push button, seat belt, window shutter, light above his head, aircraft sound, crew announcement, pilot announcement, food served and so many other things. He asked so many questions and I just savoured that moment. I was smiling on his curiosity and his reaction on every answer.

    Anshul Johri and Adi

    I must say that this was the most amazing flight journey I had so far. I generally hate boring flight journeys; sitting at one one place, hearing same kind announcements, seeing same hand gestures of crew members. I used to plug my ear phones the moment I used to enter in flight, but this time it was different, I did not realize that I was sitting at same place and almost same sitting posture for last 2.5 hours. And when I landed in Lucknow (capital of Uttar Pradesh, a state in India), I was very relaxed, my mind was like I took a long deep sleep though I did not sleep a bit. Whole journey my mind was busy doing something at that moment. I asked my self why I am feeling so relaxed, light and fresh; because I lived in present moment, no thought about past, no worry about future, no phone, no music, no Kindle, no any other gadget. I lived in that moment with my son and family. I savoured the time, the meal, the journey and the place.

    Art of savouring; give time yourself to savour the environment around you. When you are drinking a coffee; don’t just drink it while checking your emails; instead savour the coffee and its flavour. Savour the environment around you while drinking coffee, see the people around you. Savouring helps in relaxing your mind, it helps in keeping you in present moment, living the current moment and focusing on present thing. Its one kind of meditation where you focus on only one thing at a time, just one thing which you are doing in current moment.

  • Meditation and Its Methods : My Favourite Notes from Book

    Recently I finished reading an awesome book on meditation and its technique. The book “Meditation and Its Methods” by Swami Vivekananda. The book is written specially for beginners in meditation. The book is written in two sections, first section talks about what is meditation, why it is important and how it is performed. First part covers the very basic techniques of meditation. Second part is devoted to spirituality and how meditation is the best way to connect with God.

    As I have a habit of collecting good notes, thoughts and quotes from every book which I read so here is highlights of my favourite notes from the book.

    • The mind is like a lake, and every stone that drops into it raises waves. These waves do not let us see what we are. The full moon is reflected in the water of the lake, but the surface is so disturbed that we do not see the reflection clearly. Let it be calm. Do not let nature raise the wave. Keep quiet, and then after a little while she will give you up. Then we know what we are. God is there already, but the mind is so agitated, always running after the senses.
    • What right has a man to say he has a soul if he does not feel it, or that there is a God if he does not see Him? If there is a God we must see Him, if there is a soul we must perceive it; otherwise it is better not to believe. It is better to be an outspoken atheist than a hypocrite.
    • According to the Yogis, there are three principal nerve currents: one they call the Ida, the other the Pingala, and the middle one the Sushumna, and all these are inside the spinal column.
    • Make it a rule not to eat until you have practised; if you do this, the sheer force of hunger will break your laziness.
    • Tell your body that it is strong, tell your mind that it is strong, and have unbounded faith and hope in yourself.
    • First hear, then understand, and then, leaving all distractions, shut your minds to outside influences, and devote yourselves to developing the truth within you.
    • To control the mind you must go deep down into the subconscious mind, classify and arrange in order all the different impressions, thoughts, etc., stored up there, and control them. This is the first step. By the control of the subconscious mind you get control over the conscious.
    • The living God is within you, and yet you are building churches and temples and believing all sorts of imaginary nonsense. The only God to worship is the human soul in the human body.
    • Do you feel for others? If you do, you are growing in oneness. If you do not feel for others, you may be the most intellectual giant ever born, but you will be nothing;
    • Feel like Christ and you will be a Christ; feel like Buddha and you will be a Buddha. It is feeling that is the life, the strength, the vitality, without which no amount of intellectual activity can reach God. It is through the heart that the Lord is seen, and not through the intellect.
    • The cause of all miseries from which we suffer is desire. You desire something, and the desire is not fulfilled; and the result is distress. If there is no desire, there is no suffering.

    Photo by evoo73

  • Success Mantra – Slow down your mind

    Every day more and more people are becoming depressed and unhappy with their lives. The reasons are many: amongst them are financial worries, work related problems, family problems, weight issues, health issues etc. Your mind is running fast, is disturbed and is not focused on the job. Have you ever observed your mind? Just observe your mind, is it running fast, thinking so many things at a time and because of that you are unhappy right? Have you ever observed that whenever you are happy, your mind is always calm focusing only on one thing that time, that happy moment. So it means the solution of your problem is slowing down your mind. What happens when you slow down your mind? You become happy, yes happy.

    Slow down your mind, if you truly want to be successful.  Its called slowdown therapy. Lets see how can you slowdown your mind –

    Slowdown Therapy

    • Slow down; you are not responsible for doing all by yourself and right now.
    • Recall a happy, peaceful time experienced in your past. Be there in that moment, rest there.
    • Set you own pace. Do not run and try to compete with every other person with you.
    • Take nothing for granted, watch the water flow, wind blow, corn grow.
    • Savour the taste of your food.
    • Notice the sun and the moon as they rise and set. They are remarkable for their steady pattern of movement, not their speed.
    • When you talk with someone, don’t think about what you will say next. Thoughts will spring up naturally if you let them.
    • Talk and play with children. It will bring out the unhurried little person inside you.
    • Create a place in your home, at your workplace and in your heart inside you where you can go for solitude and recollection.
    • Allow yourself time to be lazy and unproductive some time. Rest is not luxury, its a necessity.
    • Be in your present and just feel the things which you are doing right now.
    • Talk slowly, talk less, don’t talk. Communication is not measured by words.
    • Give yourself permission to be late sometimes. Life is for living, not scheduling.
    • Take time just to think. Action is good and necessary, but it’s fruitful only if we muse, ponder and mull.
    • Find time for play or any thing which you like to do.
    • Watch and listen to night sky. It speaks.
    • Listen to the words you speak, specially in prayer.
    • Learn to stand back and let others take turn as leaders. There will always be new opportunities for you to step out in front again.
    • Divide big jobs into little jobs.
    • When you find yourself rushing and anxious, STOP. Ask yourself ‘why’ you are rushing and anxious. The reason may improve your self understanding.
    • Take time to read.
    • Direct your life with purposeful choices, not with speed and efficiency. The best musician is one who plays with expression and meaning, not the one who finishes first.
    • Take a day off alone.
    • Work with your hands. It frees your mind.
    • Take time to wonder. Without wonder life is a mere existence.
    • Sit in dark sometime. It will teach you to see, hear, taste and smell.
    • Once is a while turn down the lights, the volume, the throttle, the network, the invitations. Less can be more sometime.
    • Take a walk without any destination in mind.
    • Count your friends. If you have one you are lucky. If you have more you are blessed. Bless them in return.
    • Count your blessings – one at a time and slowly.
    • Meditate daily.