When I heard about the tragic incident of a soldier losing control and killing innocent civilians in Afghanistan, I wondered what state of mind could have possibly contributed to this horrible action: Stunned friends recall good deeds of Afghanistan killings suspect - CNN. While we may never know this, I thought of the problem of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Intense experiences such as wars, natural disasters, car crashes, and domestic violence often lead to this mental condition. As a consequence of some traumatic event, thoughts pertaining to this event insert themselves into a person’s consciousness. Mental images and the accompanying emotional responses wreak havoc in the present, causing distress and imbalance. These intrusive thoughts disrupt daily life, even though the actual traumatic event can be days or even years old. Going through the traumatic experience once was horrific, yet unfortunately the replay loop runs continuously.
PTSD illustrates uncontrolled thoughts and emotions’ destructive potential. Although PTSD represents an extreme example of invasive thoughts, we can also become consumed in our own way. For example, we may awaken one night with fearful and anxious thoughts about a particular circumstance. Dire thoughts and emotions fill our minds. We feel scared and out of control. The power of these intrusive thoughts to override reason humbles us, yet we seem powerless to change them.
Yet within each unwanted episode lies an opportunity for change. As distressing thoughts occur, at some point awareness can arise of an observer and the observed (the distressing or intrusive thoughts). A shift can occur from identifying with thoughts to observing them. Though still very troublesome, through this separation these thoughts no longer completely possess us. We recognize them for what they are: thoughts distinct from us as we observe them pass through our consciousness.
Though at times a difficult struggle, this separation of the observer from the observed offers a surprising opportunity: we can free ourselves from the perils of uncontrolled thoughts and emotions! Otherwise, whatever thoughts or feelings possess us at any given moment determines our quality of life. Since we all occasionally suffer from dysfunctional patterns of thoughts and emotions, unconsciously identifying with them ensures periods of misery. While strong thoughts and feelings have the potential to overwhelm us, through concerted awareness practices we can overcome their influence to achieve emotional and mental balance, bringing with this some welcomed sanity.
3/26/12
3/15/12
Food Slippery Slope
For those of us aiming to live healthfully, we face a formidable challenge daily. Yet this health hazard comes from something we must have and can’t avoid: food! For foods have transformed from nutritious, natural products to ones acknowledged by health experts as ongoing public health risks. The availability of food tilts heavily towards unhealthy processed products, containing food additives, salts, sugars and fats. As an example, yogurt started out as a health food, simply prepared through fermentation. Now, it has transformed into something in a tube, full of sugar and additives. This preponderance of unhealthful food in our society poses a problem for people wanting to eat well, as eating healthy can at times seem radical and anti-social. When I travel through mainstream grocery stores and fast food restaurants, I feel like a stranger in a strange land! If I haven’t prepared myself properly for travel, finding healthy food is akin to finding water in a desert: either you bring it with you or you may find yourself very thirsty or drinking from questionable water holes.
Especially when the effects of a poor diet may not make themselves felt for decades, it might be hard to see why it’s such a big deal to eat certain types of food offered to us. It becomes all too easy to rationalize just a ‘little bit of this’ and a ‘little bit of that’ when we’re presented with some unhealthier fare. We don’t want to appear difficult, rejecting others’ food they have often spent time preparing, or needing to look elsewhere for a meal. Additionally, it can be tiring to focus all the time on eating good food, as we don’t want to make this the be all and end all of our lives. So eating cake at the office party, or a little candy bar or soda in the afternoon becomes justified, and this may be OK if done sparingly. However, this can start us on a slippery slope, as we may find ourselves eating nothing but questionable foods without too much trouble! This issue becomes larger as we look at the number of times we find ourselves eating foods we know we shouldn’t. Our society as a whole has a terrible diet, so these foods present themselves everywhere, at all times. It becomes all too easy to eat what we see in front of us every day, ending up with a diet we know isn’t good for us.
So when do we start refusing/creating alternatives to these poor options? It takes time and energy to eat well, to eat natural foods low in fat, sugars and salts, so we must make a conscious choice to move in a new direction. We need to be aware of our routines, our old associations with foods, our old desires, to challenge these and start creating new, healthier patterns of eating. Through awareness, we can see many of our ingrained responses to particular foods (must dessert follow every dinner?) and then decide to choose differently. Equally as important, as we move towards a healthier lifestyle, we can notice our body respond to certain foods in various ways: some foods will make us feel light and energetic, while other foods (even if we like how they taste) will cause us to fall into a stupor for several hours! We always face this slippery slope towards a poor diet, but with awareness we can more easily see (and literally feel) the effects of both healthy and unhealthy foods. This certainly makes the choice of eating well much easier.
Especially when the effects of a poor diet may not make themselves felt for decades, it might be hard to see why it’s such a big deal to eat certain types of food offered to us. It becomes all too easy to rationalize just a ‘little bit of this’ and a ‘little bit of that’ when we’re presented with some unhealthier fare. We don’t want to appear difficult, rejecting others’ food they have often spent time preparing, or needing to look elsewhere for a meal. Additionally, it can be tiring to focus all the time on eating good food, as we don’t want to make this the be all and end all of our lives. So eating cake at the office party, or a little candy bar or soda in the afternoon becomes justified, and this may be OK if done sparingly. However, this can start us on a slippery slope, as we may find ourselves eating nothing but questionable foods without too much trouble! This issue becomes larger as we look at the number of times we find ourselves eating foods we know we shouldn’t. Our society as a whole has a terrible diet, so these foods present themselves everywhere, at all times. It becomes all too easy to eat what we see in front of us every day, ending up with a diet we know isn’t good for us.
So when do we start refusing/creating alternatives to these poor options? It takes time and energy to eat well, to eat natural foods low in fat, sugars and salts, so we must make a conscious choice to move in a new direction. We need to be aware of our routines, our old associations with foods, our old desires, to challenge these and start creating new, healthier patterns of eating. Through awareness, we can see many of our ingrained responses to particular foods (must dessert follow every dinner?) and then decide to choose differently. Equally as important, as we move towards a healthier lifestyle, we can notice our body respond to certain foods in various ways: some foods will make us feel light and energetic, while other foods (even if we like how they taste) will cause us to fall into a stupor for several hours! We always face this slippery slope towards a poor diet, but with awareness we can more easily see (and literally feel) the effects of both healthy and unhealthy foods. This certainly makes the choice of eating well much easier.
3/5/12
Awareness and Death
Life wanders along many known and unknown paths, full of surprises, trials and tribulations, joy and sadness. However, no matter how mundane, sorrowful, rewarding or spectacular, each life arrives at the same destination: at death’s door, or as Hamlet so eloquently put it, facing ‘the undiscovered country’. We see our energy diminish, our body betray us in little and big ways; we realize the completion of life tasks, and the limitations of our personal efforts. As our life progresses we may find ourselves turning more and more towards that part of ourselves that seems to endure and remains unaffected by our personal successes and failures. The mystery of life surrounds us, but becomes infinitely more compelling as we face the final unknown of the ending of our body and personal identity. This gets our attention! What happens to us after the body dies no one knows, though we hope for many things.
I have been present at many individuals’ deaths, but one I recall truly demonstrates there appears to literally be a ‘light’ of awareness in each of us. An elderly lady lay on her deathbed riddled with cancer, waiting on her son to arrive from a long distance. Finally her son arrived, and he bent over her, calling out to his mother to acknowledge him. As I looked on (right over her face) I observed a tiny light grow in her eyes, until they assumed a brightness; her face reanimating. It was literally as though someone had turned up the dimmer switch on a lightbulb. She finally saw him, smiling faintly with love and affection. Her son conveyed his love for her, which she received graciously and warmly. She smiled once again, then the dimmer switch in her eyes got turned down, the light in her eyes faded again into nothing, and her features returned to lifelessness. She died a short while later, but she vividly showed me her inner light.
One of the first lessons I learned from experiences such as the above-mentioned old woman concerns the presence of awareness. This ‘light’ of awareness is with us during the course of our life, as everpresent as our heartbeat or breath. Many traditions assert that increasing your knowledge and experience of awareness brings with it a sense of wholeness and well-being. We can choose to spend some time discovering whether or not this has any truth to it (there are a lot of practices designed for this), then decide for ourselves its’ place in our lives. Additionally, reminding ourselves about the transitory nature of our lives helps keeps things in perspective; we can participate and enjoy the present moment more fully when we keep this in mind. Increased awareness and remembering the message of death can give us more balance and wellness in our lives when we have contact with them.
I have been present at many individuals’ deaths, but one I recall truly demonstrates there appears to literally be a ‘light’ of awareness in each of us. An elderly lady lay on her deathbed riddled with cancer, waiting on her son to arrive from a long distance. Finally her son arrived, and he bent over her, calling out to his mother to acknowledge him. As I looked on (right over her face) I observed a tiny light grow in her eyes, until they assumed a brightness; her face reanimating. It was literally as though someone had turned up the dimmer switch on a lightbulb. She finally saw him, smiling faintly with love and affection. Her son conveyed his love for her, which she received graciously and warmly. She smiled once again, then the dimmer switch in her eyes got turned down, the light in her eyes faded again into nothing, and her features returned to lifelessness. She died a short while later, but she vividly showed me her inner light.
One of the first lessons I learned from experiences such as the above-mentioned old woman concerns the presence of awareness. This ‘light’ of awareness is with us during the course of our life, as everpresent as our heartbeat or breath. Many traditions assert that increasing your knowledge and experience of awareness brings with it a sense of wholeness and well-being. We can choose to spend some time discovering whether or not this has any truth to it (there are a lot of practices designed for this), then decide for ourselves its’ place in our lives. Additionally, reminding ourselves about the transitory nature of our lives helps keeps things in perspective; we can participate and enjoy the present moment more fully when we keep this in mind. Increased awareness and remembering the message of death can give us more balance and wellness in our lives when we have contact with them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)