Chapter 4
Get Rid of Stress
You may be asking yourself, “What does this have to do with freedom”?
Stress comes in all forms. It can come from your job, your family, or a thousand other places.
As I write this, I am taking a break from something that is causing me a ridiculous amount of stress.
I am in the middle of building a mini barn. I have never done this before, so I am learning as I go. There are a few sections that I built, realized I built it wrong, took it apart, and built it again.
I was asked by a friend today if I enjoyed building the barn. My answer was “no”. I will enjoy the end result and be proud of my work, but I am frustrated with the entire process. I just want the barn to be done.
What does this have to do with freedom?
Freedom is not just about time or money. You may be wealthy enough to do whatever you want every day. However, if you are stressed out, you are not truly free.
You are not free because you are constantly thinking about whatever is causing the stress or drama.
No matter what you do, there will always be something that will cause you stress. It may be a certain person or it may be watching your favorite sports team. Try to figure out what causes you stress and limit the existence in your life.
I’m not saying if your kids cause you stress that you give them up for adoption, but you can reduce the amount of stressful interactions with your kids.
You will have to come up with solutions in your own life. Even if your situations are the same, we may have two completely different ways of eliminating the stress.
One big way to reduce stress is to meditate. The following is an article I had planned for my blog before I decided not to blog and just write this book.
How Meditation Can Create Freedom In Your Life
You are most likely physically free. You are not chained to a pole or locked up in a dungeon. However, you may struggle to feel that freedom in your mind. The knowledge that you are physically free, does not automatically remove all the mental barriers to freedom. Stress, tension, concern and anxiety can make you feel more trapped than any physical barriers, and can be harder to deal with. So how do you address these unseen forces?
One of the simplest and most effective methods to getting in touch with your mind is meditation. It has been used for thousands of years around the world to focus and relax the mind, and restore calm. Regular meditation can give you emotional freedom to focus on the thoughts and activities that make you happy.
Understanding Meditation
Meditation is often misunderstood. When you think of meditation, you may have an image of a monk in an orange robe in the lotus position. This is the stereotype of course. Meditation isn't just for Buddhists. Simply put, meditation is the practice of paying attention and focusing awareness, being fully conscious in the here and the now. It can be practiced by anyone in any stage of their life.
Benefits of Meditation
Meditation, when practiced regularly, can give you a sense of calm, and clear away an overload of information. It can help you to focus on the present and reduce the stress that may be cycling around your mind. It reduces negative emotions and increases self-awareness, allowing you to identify and address the causes of any emotional issues.
Meditation can also help you sleep better, be more productive at work and have better relationships with others.
Practicing Meditation
With the advent of the internet, meditation is now more accessible than ever before. There is a wealth of free meditation guides online that will walk you through your first attempt. For first timers it can be difficult to
stay focused for a lengthy period of time, so there are sites like Headspace
(http://www.getsomeheadspace.com/) and Art of Living (http://www.artofliving.org) that break it down into manageable pieces.
There is no right or wrong way to meditate, and there are many different methods out there. Experiment with the different options and find out what works for you. However it is important to practice regularly (daily if possible), as you will only start to feel the deeper benefits after about 10 days of meditation.
Meditation is a simple and effective way of finding emotional freedom in your life. The positives of regular practice far outweigh any negatives. Once you start, you may find yourself wondering how you ever lived without it!
Resources: