Creating Healthy Habits Helped Me Experience More Peace
By Virendra Ishaya
Healthy Habits has become a widely used phrase for managing or transforming our lifestyles.
The term usually refers to a good diet, plenty of sleep, enough exercise and perhaps de-cluttering our house to free ourselves from unused things.
All of the above are very important parts for living a healthy life, but I would like to talk a little about other types of healthy habits we can practice besides these obvious ones.
I’m Talking About “Healthy Mind Habits”
When I was still an Executive Chef, working in big Hotels, I would always describe myself as a hunted animal. I had no time – the entire day, where I could take a moment to collect myself. All day long, I would get bombarded with questions, problems, people and a buzz of general activity that I had absolutely no control over.
At times, I would live at the hotel too, so even during the night, occasionally, the phone would ring, and I would be summoned to work.
That kind of environment did not give me any chance for peace and brought me close to complete mental burn out. So, when I did my Ascension Meditation course a couple of months later, and the teachers asked me what my highest desire was, I naturally said: “Peace!”
And with that, I started forming healthy habits that would help me have more peace in my life.
A Simple Choice For A Better Experience Of Life
From then on, whenever I found myself at a crossroads where major or even minor decisions had to be taken, I would remember my highest desire – peace – and I would make decisions on the simple question: “Will this give me more peace or not?”
This simple and straightforward directive for life, paired with my Ascension practice, gave me a naturally more relaxed attitude towards any kind of problems that would arise during the day. Plus, it gave me an underlying feeling of contentment and trust in life that I had never felt before.
The thing is, when we are clear on what we want – the Universe will go out of its way to give us exactly that. All we have to do is to remind ourselves, ever so often, of what we want in order not to get swept up by the drama.
Try These Tips For More Contentment
Here are a couple of “healthy mind habits” I would like to share that will hopefully help you bring more peace and contentment into your life.
Surround yourself with uplifting people
Some of the people around us always seem to have drama going on in their lives, and they tend to include us in it, while others enjoy life as it comes and rarely complain. Some people always tend to give, and others seem to take more than they give. Wise sages would say: “Love all of them but choose which ones you would rather spend time with.”
Find a meditation practice that works for you
Meditation works! Ascension works for me, and it keeps giving me more to explore every day. I tried many other things, and I would encourage everyone to try out as many as they like until they find a practice that works for them too.
We tend to browse a lot on the buffet of spiritual practices because there are so many things on offer – which is great. From my experience, however, true spiritual practice never happens on the outside! So, no matter how many crystals we buy or how many workshops we attend, we will always have to work on and with our own self.
Practice your meditation regularly
Like with everything, if we don’t practice regularly, with stubborn discipline, we won’t make any progress. Just like sport – if we want to get good at it, we must practice.
Also, good to remember: there is nothing to be achieved with meditation. There is no goal - the journey is the goal, and all else follows!
Have uplifting conversations that leave you and your opposites invigorated rather than exhausted
I remember coming out of meetings and having to take that big, deep breath of relief that this conversation was over, almost like having to shake off the heavy energy. And then, there were times when I would leave a conversation smiling, with a spring in my step, inspired and ready to get onto new things. I’ve learned that I can decide what I want to talk about.
People like to gossip, but it’s the lowest form of conversation available, and it never leaves me feeling great. So, I don’t gossip and if I’m in a conversation that doesn’t make me feel good, I change the subject or leave.
If I have to sit through an unpleasant conversation, I try not to take any of it personally and put myself in kind of an observer role – like watching a movie. It's super easy and takes the edge off!
There are many more things you can do like:
- Keeping a check on the thoughts that pass through our minds. I.e. observe what is happening in the ‘old attic and avoid getting swept up in thoughts
- Take a step back from difficult situations and observe from a distance
- Never take anything personally
The list goes on…
You Have A Choice. Try It And See
I hope these tips for creating healthy habits are helpful to you, and I can say from experience to anyone who is willing to try those things out, that it gets easier with time. We are creatures of habit, and so we are free to give ourselves healthy habits if we so desire.
