How to Slow Down and Find Your Inner Voice
Most of us work way too hard to achieve goals that are not aligned with who we really are. We are driven by the energy of our corporations or our bosses. We are driven by the energy of educational systems that are behind in giving us what we really need. We are driven by the energy of other people we interact with at a coffee shop or who we call our friends. We are driven by the energy of the people we date.
And yet, somehow, we assume that we are always right on track and that, if there is any trouble, it is someone else’s fault. Or the system’s fault. Or the barista at Starbucks who got the order wrong. Or the jerk who ghosted us. We vent with our friends and talk about what is wrong with other people, our job, or our political system. Everyday we incubate and train our minds to be swept away with not only our chatter but the chatter of the rest of the world.
We very rarely, unless we have gone through the process of training our mind and body, connect these moments of negative thinking with a sign that we actually need to slow down and perhaps stop what we are doing. Or we should be spending more time alone in stillness to clear other people’s thoughts out of our mind. This is what meditation is really about and why it is so needed in modern day Western culture.
Today, millions of people are interested in meditation as a way to help combat anxiety and stress. I think it is wonderful that there is not a wider acceptance of such ancient practices and that our scientific community has made it easier for even the most skeptical person to give meditation a try. However, what we don’t always discuss is the real purpose of meditation. It is not just about feeling better, it is about learning to return to who you really are in moments of stress.
A state of anxiety is not who we are. A state of anxiety is a symptom that we need to pause to return to who we really are and often the only way to get there is with a little stillness and a moment alone.
Go within every day and find the inner strength so that the world will not blow your candle out. -Katherine Dunham
Our Anxiety and Depression Epidemic
Why have we had such a huge increase in anxiety over the years? The truth is our…
