Professing belief is easy, but our behaviors prove whether or not our words are true.
I have been thinking about how we fall back on our established patterns when the big moments come, which is why it pays off to establish helpful patterns before the big moments occur.
Meditation and pranayama are two practices in Ayurveda that help us to establish healthy responses to stress. In my own life, these two practices have been essential to guide me through some very tough times. Daily practice for me has changed my stress response habit from panic to calm breathing and meditation. When I was going through all my pancreas issues so many years ago, I was not only in pain, but I would go into blind panic states over what was wrong, what could be wrong...now when difficult situations arise, I just breathe.
I remember a couple of years ago when I lost control of my car after someone cut me off. I have written about the full incident elsewhere on this blog. I was heading straight into the concrete highway barrier and I said out loud, "Well, this is it. My last moments. Moment of truth: What am I going to do? Panic or be at peace?"
I chose to maintain my calm, think about my happiest moments in my life, hold the images of my family in my mind, and rationally do what I could to minimize the crash. That was a life-changing experience for me. I made peace with my own death. And after doing that, I am free to really live.
This month, I got a biopsy on my back to test for skin cancer. Before everyone starts to question me, yes I use sunblock, but I grew up spending a lot of time at the beach, and there's not much I can do to change that. Anyway, the last two weeks I was healing from my biopsy and I didn't feel nervous until yesterday, when I started to think about my impending follow-up appointment. I decided to go outside for a long walk and clear my head instead of indulging the "what if" cycle of what I could do if the results came back positive. Since I got the biopsy, my caring friends had been asking about the results, and they seemed surprised that I was not concerned about what would happen. I kept saying that nothing could be gained by my worrying about it, so I was just going to keep loving my life and doing my normal things, dealing with the results when they came. I am human, so that little voice saying, "What if the results are positive," did run through my head now and then, but I was not taking that idea and expanding upon it. I acknowledged it, reaffirmed my commitment to not indulging it, and then re-focused on my meditative practices.
Today when I got to the detmatologist's office, they told me they had tried to call me to talk to me about my results, but they had written down my number wrong. I am not accustomed to patients getting a call about good lab results, so I felt my stomach flutter. Istead of getting all worried and thinking about "what ifs", I just meditated and did nadi shodhana right there in the office until they came to talk to me. I chose to focus on my breath instead of on the endless possible scenarios. When the medical assistant called my name, I kept my focus on the breath, following her to the exam room. When she closed the door and said the words, "your path results were negative", I was relieved. I was also happy that I hadn't wasted energy and given my body the negative health effects of stress by spinning out of control over a possibilities. I also believe that when we attach
We can say that we believe in a practice, but do we follow thorough? I witness many healthcare practitioners, CAM and mainstream, who recommend things to others but don't practice them in their own lives. If we believe that something is worth recommending, we should be doing it ourselves. How we face the big moments in life will show whether or not we practice what we preach.
I have been thinking about how we fall back on our established patterns when the big moments come, which is why it pays off to establish helpful patterns before the big moments occur.
Meditation and pranayama are two practices in Ayurveda that help us to establish healthy responses to stress. In my own life, these two practices have been essential to guide me through some very tough times. Daily practice for me has changed my stress response habit from panic to calm breathing and meditation. When I was going through all my pancreas issues so many years ago, I was not only in pain, but I would go into blind panic states over what was wrong, what could be wrong...now when difficult situations arise, I just breathe.
I remember a couple of years ago when I lost control of my car after someone cut me off. I have written about the full incident elsewhere on this blog. I was heading straight into the concrete highway barrier and I said out loud, "Well, this is it. My last moments. Moment of truth: What am I going to do? Panic or be at peace?"
I chose to maintain my calm, think about my happiest moments in my life, hold the images of my family in my mind, and rationally do what I could to minimize the crash. That was a life-changing experience for me. I made peace with my own death. And after doing that, I am free to really live.
This month, I got a biopsy on my back to test for skin cancer. Before everyone starts to question me, yes I use sunblock, but I grew up spending a lot of time at the beach, and there's not much I can do to change that. Anyway, the last two weeks I was healing from my biopsy and I didn't feel nervous until yesterday, when I started to think about my impending follow-up appointment. I decided to go outside for a long walk and clear my head instead of indulging the "what if" cycle of what I could do if the results came back positive. Since I got the biopsy, my caring friends had been asking about the results, and they seemed surprised that I was not concerned about what would happen. I kept saying that nothing could be gained by my worrying about it, so I was just going to keep loving my life and doing my normal things, dealing with the results when they came. I am human, so that little voice saying, "What if the results are positive," did run through my head now and then, but I was not taking that idea and expanding upon it. I acknowledged it, reaffirmed my commitment to not indulging it, and then re-focused on my meditative practices.
Today when I got to the detmatologist's office, they told me they had tried to call me to talk to me about my results, but they had written down my number wrong. I am not accustomed to patients getting a call about good lab results, so I felt my stomach flutter. Istead of getting all worried and thinking about "what ifs", I just meditated and did nadi shodhana right there in the office until they came to talk to me. I chose to focus on my breath instead of on the endless possible scenarios. When the medical assistant called my name, I kept my focus on the breath, following her to the exam room. When she closed the door and said the words, "your path results were negative", I was relieved. I was also happy that I hadn't wasted energy and given my body the negative health effects of stress by spinning out of control over a possibilities. I also believe that when we attach
We can say that we believe in a practice, but do we follow thorough? I witness many healthcare practitioners, CAM and mainstream, who recommend things to others but don't practice them in their own lives. If we believe that something is worth recommending, we should be doing it ourselves. How we face the big moments in life will show whether or not we practice what we preach.