Do You Suffer from Spiritual Fatigue? How to Recover in 1 Day or Less

Do you sometimes feel droopy, exhausted, dry, joyless, irritated or anxious? Is life sometimes on fast-forward, and you can’t catch up? Are you sometimes too tired to be inspired, motivated, or uplifted?
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You may be suffering from spiritual fatigue.
It means that your soul is exhausted, not just your body.  Spiritual fatigue is a sign that we have become separated from ourselves somewhere along the way and need to reconnect. Luckily, you don’t need an expensive holiday on a tropical island in order to recover. If you follow the steps below, you will notice a definite improvement after even just one day.
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There is a simple way to replenish our spiritual energy: through stillness.
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Stillness is a beautiful word. It conjures up images of a relaxed body, a peaceful mind, and silence. In the busy world of today, stillness tends to get lost. However, there are simple ways to include stillness in our life. Even just one day with some stillness goes a long way to help you recover from spiritual fatigue.
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To recover from spiritual fatigue is isn’t difficult. All you have to do, is to follow the seven (and-a- half) tips below

1. Rest the body.

When we suffer from fatigue, we feel as if we could sleep for a whole week. But when we go to bed, we often toss and turn and can’t get the sleep we so desperately need. In my experience, it isn’t sleep we need, it’s rest. We need to rest our body, and rest our mind.
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In order to feel rested, power naps are more useful than long sleeps. I use a sleep hypnosis tape in order to relax and nap.

• Lie down and cover yourself to stay warm
• Set your alarm so that you wake up after not more than 30 minutes
• Listen to a relaxation audio. There is a good sleep hypnosis recording, created by Jon Rhodes.

2. Find the mind of peace.

When the mind is at rest, we feel peaceful. But this is sometimes difficult  to achieve in a stressful life. There are so many things that disturb the mind. To find stillness is to be like a rock in the midst of a turbulent stream: we remain steady even when everything around us is turbulent. Here are three simple things you can do to quieten your mind..

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• Spend a day without reading newspapers or watching the news on TV or reading about it on the Internet.
• Spend a day interacting as little as possible with people who make you feel agitated.
• Use the Three Breaths Meditation at least 3 times a day in order to calm your mind. The Three Breath Meditation only takes about one minute. It consists of paying tender regard to three complete breaths (watch the short video below on how to do it).

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3. Let silence heal you.

Noise is a stress factor. If you live in a big city, you are constantly bombarded with noise. We also add to the constant assault of sounds through listening to the radio or TV, playing music, and so on. Silence can heal because it brings us to our center. Here are some simple ways you can invite silence into your day in order to recover:

• Eliminate background music
• Go on a TV diet and turn it off for a complete day.
• Only speak when you really want to communicate. Otherwise be silent. Try to use a smile instead of words.

4. Have a laugh with friends.

Laughter is a great way to let go of tension. And good friends have a way of putting things back into perspective. Ring up a friend, or connect with them on the Internet.

5. Reconnect with nature.

Going for a walk in nature is a wonderful way to connect with ourselves and with the world around us. There are some important points to remember: keep your head up, and let go of anxious thoughts. You can find  tips on how to use walking as a spiritual practice here.

6. Use your comfort rituals.

Each one of us has some private comfort rituals. Maybe you enjoy drinking a cup of tea first thing in the morning, or doing a stretch at the open window, eating something you particularly enjoy, or tucking up in bed and reading a novel. Whatever your comfort rituals are, make sure that you take the time to do them. All to often we forget to take our small pleasures because they seem ‘unimportant’. But actually, they are a way to show kindness to ourselves.

7. Use touch for wholeness

To feel the hands of another on our skin is a basic human need. Babies fail to thrive – or even die – if they are deprived of human touch. In order to recover from spiritual fatigue, it is good to feel the gentle touch of a hand, or a warm, friendly hug. Ask your loved one for a soft embrace, hug a friend, or arrange a massage. It will refresh and relax you.
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As you can see the seven things we need to attend to in order to recover from spiritual fatigue are simple. If we allow the body to rest, the mind to quieten, and let silence be the balm that heals us – we recover quickly. And then there is tip number seven-and-a-half:
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Enjoy stolen moments
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In each day you can find stolen moments. Maybe you get stuck in a traffic jam, or you need to wait at the dentist. Instead of fuming at the wait, close your eyes and enjoy this little gift that life has offered you. These are perfect times to do the Three Breath Meditation, or even have a tiny nap. (I tried the ‘stolen moment’ technique at the dentist today. It worked in the waiting room, but I must admit that once the drill got going, I started to hyperventilate…)

Why Meditation Improves Brain Power

If you meditate regularly, you’ll know that even a short meditation in the mornings has the power to improve the way you experience your whole day. Not only will you feel more peaceful and relaxed, you’ll also be more alert, feel more positive, and have a greater sense of empathy.
That’s why meditation techniques have been refined over thousands of years.
But do you have to meditate for years in order to experience the benefits?

Recent research has proven that there are measurable brain changes after only eight weeks of meditating regularly. The research was conducted at the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness

How we can change our brain

The brain is a complex network. People used to think that our brain is something we can’t influence. But in recent years, research has shown that the inherent plasticity of the brain means that we can create new neurons and lay down new pathways as the result of training.
The brain is like a muscle that we can train
Britta Hölzel, PhD, one of the leading authors of the research into mindfulness meditation, says:

It is fascinating to see the brain’s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life.

Awareness is a key aspect of meditation

Most forms of meditation revolve around awareness training. Awareness is different from concentration. To become aware means that we notice what is usually outside our conscious experience.
So, what does this actually mean? It’s hard to become aware of what seems ‘normal’ to us. If you were a fish, for example,  You wouldn’t be aware of water, would you? In order to understand ‘water’, a fish would have to be outside of its ‘normal’ element.
That’s exactly what meditation training does: we come aware of what is usually hidden by going outside of our ‘normal’ mode of experiencing. If you were a fish, for example, you would only understand water if you were lifted out of it.
In the process of training our awareness through meditation, we learn to understand how our habitual thoughts shape our  reality.
Let’s try a simple experiment:
Stop reading and notice the sounds around you.
When you start to attend to sounds, you’ll notice that sounds were going on all the time around you, but you somehow managed to screen them out.

What if you were screening out most of your experience?

Internal dialogues drown out most other experiences. That means that it’s possible to go through life, and only experience a fraction. If you spend a lot of time listening to your inner dialogue, you may be missing the small beauties of life: the warmth of sun on your skin, the smell of freshly ground coffee, the kindness with which a friend looks at you, or the delicate taste of the meal you’re eating. If you don’t want to miss out on life: start to meditate.
Meditation allows you to experience your life fully

What is your attention default?

What kind of thoughts does your mind return to most often? For most people the attention default is their internal dialogue. But we only notice what our attention default is when we start meditation, and experience inner and outer stillness. Again, it’s like taking a fish out of water in order to know about water.
Meditation helps us to change our attention default because it trains us to be more present. When we learn to become aware of  our moment-to-moment awareness, our life changes. We become more present, and less self-involved.
One of the changes in the brain through meditation is that affects we become more empathetic.  We become more in tune with others. When we emerge from the fog of our internal dialogue are we able to tune into the needs and hopes of others.
Use the breath as an anchor to the present moment

A simple way to retrain our attention is to use the breath as an anchor that brings us back to the present. Whenever we pay soft attention to our breath, it takes us out of our self-involved inner world. It also calms us and steadies us.

Who are you?

One of the main reasons why meditation changes us is because you can get a glimpse of who you really are – when you drop all ideas about yourself.
What you can notice is that we actually construct our sense of self from moment to moment. That’s the main function of the internal dialogue. When we meditate and are able to notice and let go of the constant chatter in the mind, we get to glimpse the reality of who we are in the depth.
Even if you only meditate for a short space of time each day, there will be a definite change in life after only eight weeks. There’s a radiance and serenity that comes with regular meditation. And, most of all, you’ll become present and really experience your life, instead of living in a fog of preoccupation.

How to Meditate: 10 Important Tips

Why meditate? On one level, meditation is a tool. It can help combat stress, fosters physical health, helps with chronic pain, can make you sleep better, feel happier, be more peaceful, as well as be present. But on a deeper level, meditation is a doorway into the unknown. It can help us get a sense of the mystery of who we are.
When you start meditating, you will notice how unruly the mind is. I remember being quite shocked by this! I noticed that my mind was all over the place. Profound thoughts about my past or future jostled with mundane thought clips about what groceries I needed to buy. Some time afterwards I would come too and notice that I had spend 15 minutes running a painful memory over and over. It was like sitting in a crazy cinema!
So, if you’re starting out with meditation, please don’t beat yourself up about your wild mind. It is a natural condition. In time you will learn to work kindly with the barrage of thoughts and you will some clarity and peacefulness.

Here are some simple tips on how to start meditating. Maybe those of you who already practise meditation could please add your comments of what has worked for you.
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1. Posture

Whether you sit on a chair or cross-legged on the floor, make sure that your spine is upright with head up. If you are slumped your mind will drift. Mind and body are intertwined. If your body is well-balanced, your mind will also be in balance. To straighten up, imagine that your head is touching the sky.

2. Eyes

Try and keep you eyes open. Open eyes allow you to be more present. Just lower your eyes and let your gaze be sort. If you close your eyes you will be more likely to drift away on thoughts and stories. However, it’s important to do what is comfortable for you. Some people find closing their eyes much more effective. It’s good to experiment and see what feels best for you.

2. Focus

In ordinary consciousness we are hardly ever present. For example, sometimes we drive the car on autopilot while being preoccupied with thoughts. Suddenly we arrive at our destination and don’t remember anything about the drive!
So, meditation is a wonderful way of waking up to our life. Otherwise we miss most of our experiences because we are somewhere else in our mind! Let’s take a look at what focus is. In ordinary life, we tend to equate focus with concentration. That’s like using the mind like a concentrated beam of light. But in meditation, that kind of mind isn’t helpful. It’s too sharp and edgy. To focus in meditation means to pay soft attention to whatever you place in the centre of awareness. I suggest using the breath as a focus. It’s like a natural door that connects ‘inside’ and ‘outside’. Zen Master Toni Packer says:

Attention comes from nowhere. It has no cause. It belongs to no one

3. The breath

Paying attention to the breath is a great way to anchor yourself in the present moment.
Notice your breath streaming in and out. There’s no need to regulate the breath – just let it be natural.

4. Counting you breath

If you are having difficulties settling, you can try counting the breath – which is an ancient meditation practice. On your outbreath, silently count “one”, then “two”, and up to “four”. Then return to “one”. Whenever you notice your thoughts have strayed far away or you find yourself counting “thirtythree”, simply return to “one”. In this way, “one” is like coming home to the present moment. It’s good to return without a backward glance.

5. Thoughts

When you notice thoughts, gently let them go by returning yous focus to the breath. Don’t try and stop thoughts; this will just make you feel agitated. Imagine that they are unwelcome visitors at your door: acknowledge their presence and politely ask them to leave. Then shine the soft light of your attention on your breath.

6. Emotions

It’s difficult to settle into meditation if you are struggling with strong emotions. This is because some emotions tend to breed stories in the mind. Especially anger, shame and fear create stories that repeat over and over in the mind. Anger and shame make us keep looking at past events of the past. Fear looks at the future with stories that start with, “What if…”
The way to deal with strong emotions in meditation is to focus on the body feelings that accompany the emotion. For example, this could be the tight band of fear around the chest or the hot roiling of anger in the belly. Let go of the stories and refocus on your body. In this way you are honouring your emotions but not becoming entangled in stories.

7. Silence

Silence is healing. I know that there are is a lot of ‘meditation music’ around, but nothing beats simple silence. Otherwise the music or sounds on the tape just drown out the chatter in your mind. When we sit in silence we actually get to experience what our mind is doing. There is steadiness and calmness that comes from sitting in silence. In time outer and inner silence meet and you come to rest in the moment.

8. Length

Start with 10 minutes and only sit longer if you feel that that is too short. Don’t force yourself to meditate longer if you are not ready to do that. In time you might like to extend your meditation to 25 minutes. That’s a length that allows you to settle your mind without causing too much stress on your body. Most importantly, shrug off any ‘shoulds’. Some people enjoy sitting for an hour at a time. Others find that they can’t sit longer than 10 minutes. Do what feels right for you!

9. Place

It’s lovely to create a special place to sit. You can even make a shrine or an altar that you can face when you sit in meditation. You might like to place a candle on your altar and objects that have meaning to you. It’s lovely to find objects for your altar as you walk. Maybe you find stones, or seashells, or flowers that speak to you.

10. Enjoyment

Most of all it’s important to enjoy meditation. You might like to try sitting with a hint of a smile. Be kind to yourself. Start sitting just a little each day. It’s helpful to establish a daily habit.

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Spiritual Game

For each question, select a box for an answer.

Start Again!

Meditation Music

Truly inspired music springs out of the heart or the soul. It is the language of the soul and it communicates itself directly with the heart and soul of the listeners irrespective of the words or the language it is expressed in. Its appeal is universal. Music even in alien words and sounds casts its spell. The secret of its appeal probably lies in the tune, tone, pitch, notes, melody, diction, rhyme and rhythm which constitute the soul or the heart of the music and make the language almost redundant.

Understandable vocal music has its own charm, but these elements of music are an independent entity and can make their impact irrespective of  the words. This probably is the reason why we love to hear the instrumental music of any country or culture. We beat our steps with its rhythm, or, are so carried away that we tend to dance in abandon with sheer joy of its rhyme and rhythm. Words, by their very nature, are inadequate expression of the true human feelings and emotions. A wordless language of instrumental music evokes the feelings and emotions which are too deep for words and gives us wings to fly in unknown regions of joy and bliss. It harmonizes with our pent up wordless feelings and provides them an outlet.

A truly inspiring music is almost a substitute for meditation. Like meditation it transports you to another world. The only difference is that while you have to make conscious effort to arrive at a state of meditation, the inspirational music just carries you off on its wings. It focuses your diffused thoughts at one point which is its central theme. In case the theme of the vocal music coincides with that of your meditation, you are doubly blessed.

To illustrate the point, if you are a Buddhist  meditating on the lines of Buddhism, your process of meditation speeds up if the accompanying  vocal music also has a Buddhist theme. Sometimes the content of the accompanying music itself generates and catalyses the process of meditation and makes it effortless. It has been quite often seen that the very sound of the meditation music triggers meditation. It has something Pavlovian about it. In course of time you begin to mentally associate with the music. It becomes like the ringing of bells in the church or the temple.

Meditation music is composed around many themes. You do not have to sit down in a certain posture at a specific time to meditate. You can meditate even while walking on a footpath in a crowded market place, cycling or traveling in a bus or a plane. Your iPod contains the music and its headphone is plugged into your ears. It prevents your mind from wandering aimlessly, but keeps   reminding you that you are, for example, a quiet and calm soul performing your duty in this world while your mind is connected with the supreme soul. Your hands are at work while your mind is connected with your God. If you are a non-believer, the music invokes you to remain calm and detached and yet blissful even in tense circumstances. You walk around the fish market and yet remain immune to the chaotic and noisy crowds.

Various themes that the meditation music is composed of build similar states of mind. Meditation music can promote constant awareness and alertness with detachment which may culminate in keeping you aware, alert and clam even when your soul leaves your body. You watch it leaving and still remain calm even blissful.

Ancient Indian classical music was famed to be so powerful that it could influence the elements of nature. Raaga Malhaar could create clouds and bring rain. It can create moods and influence them. We have martial music in defense forces.

Meditation on Positive Thinking

sit relaxed
And begin to harness the power of my mind
For this meditation
We will allow the natural thoughts To flow
I have a thought that I am a peaceful positive being
I create the thought that I am a positive individual
And I maintain positive thoughts in every situation
I seek solutions to problems
And I focus in on the answers And not on the problems
I constantly fill my mind with positive powerful thoughts
I focus to replace the negative thoughts with positive thoughts
So that the light of positive thinking empowers me
These real thoughts bring a good feeling in my mind
I am a powerful positive being
I am a being of light
And as light I am carefree
As light I am beyond the dramas and chaos of those around me
The important task is to undertake the powerful positive thinking
When I have tension I should start creating positive thoughts
I do not experience any tension
I am positive powerful being of light
I am an eternal being of light
Any thought that is negative I let it pass
And keep the shining powerful mindset in place
I constantly generate positive powerful thoughts
Positive powerful thoughts are those of an eternal nature
They are who I really am
Just an eternal wonderful, radiant being
Of positive energy
And in this light my positive mindset cannot be shaken
By any adverse or negative situation that is around me
For I am the lighthouse
Shining within the storm of negativity of the world
But this powerful light I will forever keep ignited
And I let love be the eternal oil
That fuels this eternal flame of light
And a love to keep myself illuminated
By this meditation
That I will forever practice.

Hope you enjoy this positive thinking meditation

Meditation to Relax

This meditation is to allow the mind to relax
To relax the mind
We need to let go of stresses
That is causing friction within
As we begin to relax the mind
Try to visualize
That you are sitting on the banks of a stream
And I am a peaceful observer
And the stream is flowing with the thoughts in my mind
Some positive some negative
Some necessary some unnecessary
But I relax
And just watch the thoughts flow by
Like a stream
I watch these thoughts
And I realize that I am separate from them
And I am relaxed knowing that
I just let them flow by
And do not get attached to the thoughts
Sitting on the bank of the river
Like an observer
I can experience a deep relaxation
For I do not need to worry
About each and every thought in my mind
I let the negative thoughts pass
And enjoy the positive ones
And I am the observer of my mind
And as I am the observer
I choose to relax with positive feelings
And the more these relaxed feelings in my heart
I notice the gradual change of thoughts
The change from the polluted negative stream
To a clear flowing stream of positive thoughts
Thoughts such as that I am relaxed and peaceful
No matter what thoughts are in my mind
Or in the mind of the others
For I am a relaxed peaceful observer
Calm concentrated detached