Meditations For When You Are In Crisis Mode
Every now and then your life can be turned upside down as a result of a crisis situation that needs to be dealt with. While they are rarely something we wish upon ourselves, the opportunity they bring is in terms of what we learn as a result of how we handle them.
I’ve had my fair share of crisis in my life and I’m damn sure there’s plenty more to come. There’s almost nothing that can prepare you for what’s about to unfold in your life when this happens and the timing is never good.
Having said that, I firmly believe that meditation helps. At least that’s been my experience. In every instance where I felt like the rug had been pulled out from under my feet and I felt like I had nothing concrete to cling to, meditation was the anchor that kept me centered.
When you recognize that no matter how crazy life gets on the outside you can still find a place of presence or stillness within, that’s when life starts to get interesting. In fact, even in my darkest hours of despair or pain, I have still managed to experience incredible calm and peace while meditating.
Now don’t get me wrong, when the shit hits the fan it can still mess with your head. Just because you meditate doesn’t mean that you instantly become a zen monk that seems to not be disturbed by anything. It’s quite the contrary really, as meditation makes you even more sensitive to energy. Especially your emotions.
The big difference is that you have less judgment over your thoughts and feelings than if you weren’t meditating. When you aren’t able to separate yourself slightly from your internal chaos then it quite quickly escalates until you feel completely overwhelmed.
What Type Of Meditation Works Best For Crisis Situations?
Consistent mindfulness meditation teaches you to step back from the busy mind and emotions so that you don’t get so easily caught up in them. In fact, you learn very quickly that there is a part of you called the observer that can stay aware of these things without getting drawn into them.
Our thoughts and feelings are like cars traveling along a busy freeway. They are always going to be there because that’s the nature of our mind. The only difference is that sometimes the freeway of the mind is busier than at others times. It’s when we get caught up in the traffic of the mind that our stress and anxiety levels rise.
You can learn to become a watcher of the thoughts racing around in your head, just as you can learn to become aware of your feelings without getting overwhelmed by them. It’s just a simple process of reminding yourself to keep coming back to noticing your thoughts instead of getting lost in them.
It’s the consistency of reminding yourself to keep coming back to the present moment that trains the mind to naturally start to quiet down. As soon as the focus is on watching the mind rather than feeding it, then it no longer receives the fuel that keeps it moving at high-speed.
The more you develop a relationship with that part of you that observes your mind and thoughts, the more calm, clarity, and energy you will experience. Ideally, you’d want to practice being mindful of your thoughts for about 20 minutes a day.
This will help you to start developing a different relationship between you and your mind that is based on awareness rather than being unconscious. The moment you start to bring anything out into the light that was once in the dark, instantly your life transforms.
Neuroscientists estimate that we have approximately 60,000 thoughts a day. Now that’s a truck-load of energy that’s racing around in our mind and body stirring up all sorts of physical sensations and experiences. Most of which result in stress, tension , or anxiety.
Being mindful during crisis situations is certainly a powerful way to give yourself some space to think and breathe before taking any action. Just by creating a gap between thoughts it can help you to view your situation in a different light and make it easier for you to think of potential solutions to whatever problems you may be facing.
I’ve also noticed that the more consistently you meditate, the less likely it is that crisis is going to freak you out. Things that used to deeply trouble me or cause me to go into states of anxiety now feel more like minor bumps in the road that can be easily navigated.
Most importantly, as you become more mindful in everyday life your health, happiness, relationships, career, and quality of life all start to get easier and more enjoyable. This is simply a by-product of stepping back from the busy mind and giving your head and your body and energetic break every now and then.
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Michael Atma
Meditation Dojo Blog
Skype: michaelatma
Email: Michael@MichaelAtma.com
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