Having A Depressing or A Bad Day? 5 Quick tips to Reverse that!

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in Harmony" 

Mahatma Gandhi 

1. Think Happy and Carry happy thoughts. 

When you're fighting against depression or a bad day it is easy to think negative and continue to be in the deep dark whole of feeling down. If you believe that your thoughts can come true, then begin to carry happy thoughts even if it is extremely hard, have faith in yourself that things can changes, happiness can return. Go back and think about when you were the most happiest. Go back to that reality for a minute or two. Close your eyes and imagine yourself back in that happiness. Carry that happy moment with you today Every time you catch your self with a negative thought go back to that happy thought.

2. Hear Happy, See Happy you Will be Happy. 

 Often when people are sad they revert to sad music, sad movies anything that they can relate to increasing their heaviness of their hearts and the pain. When you recognize your emotions and you are feeling down listen to something more refreshing and uplifting. Stop your self from listening to that sad song. Watch a happy comedy movie that will make you laugh for an hour two. Remember folks what we surround ourselves with  is what we carry in our minds and carry through out the day!

3. Be Happy in Silence . 

When you begin to feel that rush of emotions coming your way, take three deep breaths and close your eyes. Let go of every thought, relax every muscle in your body. Tell yourself silently carrying a smile on your face,

 I am Happy And I only carry the cause of Happiness Inside me. 

I am Happy And I only carry the cause of Happiness Inside me. 

I am Happy And I only carry the cause of Happiness Inside me. 

4. Live in The Happy Moment.

 Somewhere through out the day, take some time out and put that cell phone away, hide that laptop in your closet. Lose your self in the concept of not measuring time. By doing this you actually begin to realize how great you'll feel just living in the moment. That could be cooking dinner and listening to an uplifting song. Take a nice warm bath and light some candles, go outside and go for a walk. Serve yourself and Love yourself. You are very important and don't forget about yourself.

5. Talk Happy and You'll be happy 

When your having a bad day and everything just seems to be horrible, we often like to share how miseries with others. By doing this we are only feeding those bad thoughts and increasing negativity. Next time you feel upset stop your self and talk about the good things that are still yet to happen,  precious moments you still look forward to. Its really easy to think negative and talk negative. When your having a bad day talk about something happy and positive to distract yourself and slowly change your thought patterns. 

"People Are Just As happy As they Make Up their Minds To be." Abraham Lincoln 

Love. Peace. Harmony. 

Dr. Sania A.

Is Anxiety Woven into your soul? Let's Meditate it out together!

"When You realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky." Siddhartha Gautama 

Namasté,

Been getting a lot of positive feedback from my previous posts and its only appropriate that I take some time out and talk a little bit about anxiety and how we can meditate out together!

Anxiety can take over our lives and hold us back from loved ones and hold us back from what really matters. The Buddha stated,

“To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him." 

 Anxiety is just a reflection of our thoughts, a dark shadow that we create within our minds. Anxiety is one the causes of suffering. We should all remember that our mind does not control us but we control our mind. We are what we think, so if we can change what we think then we can cultivate in the positive channels within the Divine source of the Universe where we can find peace.

So how can we change our thoughts? With meditation, so lets meditate out that anxiety together, and live a peaceful and serene life that we deserve to.

1. Find a comfortable place to sit, placing your palms on your knees.
2. Take three deep breaths, slowly inhaling from your nose, and slowly exhaling out from your nose.
3. Slowly and mentally say:

May I be Free From Anxiety and the Cause of Anxiety. 

May I always be In control of my thoughts that only bring me happiness. 

May I carry positive thinking with me everyday that knows no negativity. 

May I be healthy where I am Always In Control and free from Anxiety. 

4. Take Another 3 deep breaths, slowly inhaling and exhaling from the nose. 

5. Again Repeat slowly and mentally in your head, 

May I be Free From Anxiety and the Cause of Anxiety. 

May I always be In control of my thoughts that only bring me happiness. 

May I carry positive thinking with me everyday that knows no negativity. 

May I be healthy where I am Always In Control and free from Anxiety. 

6. Once again for the last time take three deep breaths inhaling and exhaling from your nose. 

7. For the last time repeat slowly mentally in your head: 

May I be Free From Anxiety and the Cause of Anxiety.
May I always be In control of my thoughts that only bring me happiness.
May I carry positive thinking with me everyday that knows no negativity.
May I be healthy where I am Always In Control and free from Anxiety.

You Can repeat these mantras first thing in the morning before you start your day and right before you end your day. Before you take your lunch break at work just take 5 minutes and repeat these beautiful mantras to your self!!! Repeat them on your way to work or on your way back from work! Whenever you need to repeat them, carry these words with you to prevent that Anxiety that shouldn't control your life! 

 I hope this post is useful to all of you that are suffering from anxiety, please do share your feedback. Don't forget to share this post to others who you know that will benefit from this mantra meditation to eliminate Anxiety! Hope you all have a beautiful day! Om Shanti Om! 

In Metta to All my Friends. 

Love. Peace. Harmony. 

Dr. Sania A. 

Suffering & Practicing Metta

"Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for attachments to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities." 

~ His Holiness The Dalai Lama~

Suffering is the ultimate lead to depression, the reason behind why an individual cannot find happiness. The Buddha stated, "You lose what you cling on to."

The Buddha's first teaching about Dharma was the 4 Noble Truths: 

1. The truth of suffering 

2. The truth of the origin of suffering 

3. The truth of cessation of suffering 

4. The truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering. 

**Reference: "In My Own Words An Introduction To My Teachings And Philosphy." His Holiness The Dalai Lama. Edited by Rajiv Mehrotra. Hay House, Inc. 2011. 

The Pali Word for Suffering is Dukkha. Why do we suffer? What causes suffering? How do we end suffering? How do we stay on the path of not suffering? 

We suffer because of attachment, anger, anxiety, desire and disappointment. 

We suffer when we cling on to something or even a person and then one day have to lose that material wealth and that person, since life is constantly changing. When we are not serene and patient we lose our temper during stressful situations and that can make us suffer. When we worry about the future and dwell over the past we get anxiety and suffer. When we desire something and don't receive it in return it leads to disappointment which leads us to suffer. The pattern goes on and on! 

If we can recognize what is causing us to suffer in life, whether it is attachment, worrisome, anger or disappointment we can slowly begin to eliminate the cause root of our suffering. 

Somewhere along our lives we all can become victims of suffering and let our lives slip away in the wrong direction that can put us behind in life. I would like to mention after many years I have realized there is no such thing as wasted time, its only lost time! Don't forget that!

When we can recognize that we are suffering or just simply don't want to become victims of suffering, one should practice the Art of Metta. There is a way to end the suffering of anxiety, anger, disappointment that one may be carrying inside them. Now some of you are probably wondering what is Metta? And maybe some of you are like "Yes I know What Metta is!"

Metta is the Pali word for Loving-Kindness. The Tibet Buddhist traditions teach the essence of how and why we should practice Metta. In simple laymen's words Metta is the practice of giving kindness and love to yourself and to others. Often it is hard to give love and kindness to our selves. If you can think about the root of your suffering perhaps it could be an anxiety provoking situation, a person that may come across as your enemy, or even something or someone that you may be attached to and be afraid of letting them go, give love and kindness to that suffering.

When you convert suffering to happiness that is filled with love, then there is no enemy within you and no one from the outside world can hurt you. It's like what I mentioned in my previous posts, If the Divine source of the Universe is for you then who can ever be against you?? The more you practice on meditating and giving love and kindness to others, to your your enemies, and to the the root cause of your suffering, soon the enemies will become our friends, the suffering ends and slowly our life begins to flow in effortless ease.

So the next question that arises is, how do you practice Metta? It's very simple. Every morning before you start your day give Metta (Loving-Kindness) to others and your self. You can start off by saying:

May all Beings be happy. 

May all Beings be healthy. 

May all Beings be free from danger. 

May all beings live at ease. 

If there is a person that you have had a difficult time with or maybe a person that may come across as your enemy or even a person that you have trouble letting go of, say there name and repeat :

May you be happy. 

May you be healthy. 

May you be free from danger. 

May you live at ease. 

Lastly don't forget to meditate on yourself and offer Metta to yourself. You can do this be repeating: 

May I be Happy. 

May I be healthy. 

May I be free from Danger.

May I live it at ease.

From my own personal experience with practicing Metta I find that, 

1. I am Able to fall asleep a lot easier!

2. Wake up in the morning filled with energy!

3. More concentrated and focused through out the day! 

4. Importantly, carry this sense of peace inside me! 

5. More aware of the small things in life that are just as important and beautiful!

If every day for 5-10 minutes if we offer Loving kindness to others and ourselves slowly we only begin to see everyone as one and love them just as they are. When we cultivate how to love our selves and fulfill our own needs we begin to see peace in others and accept everything as it is. Remember life is always changing that is inevitable. When you begin to practice Metta, everything in the Universe begins to favor you because there is no enemy within you. 

In Metta. 

Love. Peace. Harmony. 

Dr. Sania A. 

Meditation = Health Benefits.

There are many Health Benefits when it comes to practicing Mindfulness Meditation. I'm sure many of you already know them and for those who are new to the Journey of  Meditation,  here are a few health benefits that meditation can bring to your life.

1. Meditation Reduces Stress levels.

 When the body undergoes physical and mental stress there is an increase in plasma levels of the Hormone Cortisol, which is produced in the adrenal glands. When abnormal levels of  cortisol begin to increase during stress, the high levels of cortisol begin to effect different physiological systems of the body, such as; blood pressure, where your blood pressure may start to rise, sleep disturbance, disturbance with the human circadian rhythm, weight gain, fatigue, muscle aches, dehydration and many more!

When one practices mindfulness meditation this relaxes the mind and the body, releasing any tension found in the muscles bringing cortisol levels back to baseline. When the brain and the mind is calm this also calms the nerves and decreasing the excessive release of catecholamines which are heightened during an Anxiety Attack.  A study was held at the University of California, Davis Centre where they conducted a study showing the direct correlation of decrease in plasma Cortisol Levels with Mindfulness Meditation. Have A Doubt? Look up the Shamatha Project held at UC, Davis!

2. Meditation Boosts Up Your Immune System.

A study was conducted at the University of Wisconsin where the study concluded that mindfulness meditation increased the electrical activity of the left side of the brain. The left side of the brain is responsible for the command center  for the Immune System. Meditation increases the production of antibodies and enhances brain function, which both help in strengthening the Immune System, fighting against external viruses and bacteria! So Boost it up with some meditation!

3. Meditation can help control your weight. 

Mindfulness meditation leads to "mindful eating." A recent study was done at the University of California, San Francisco where they conducted a randomized trial with 48 women. Half the women were put in the experimental study where they meditated 30 minutes a day and the other half were part of a control group where the women did not meditate. At the end of the study the women that meditated 30 minutes a day, were able to recognize their cravings and habitual eating patterns and were able to control their weight.

The goal of the study was to notice the habitual patterns that an individual carries when it come to the body's response to it's emotions and eating habits. With mindful meditation one becomes more aware of their emotions such as anger, sadness, depression, anxiety which are emotions that can lead to over eating or slowly become leaning towards "comfort food" in response to our emotions. If we can  stop and recognize our emotions then we can control over eating and cravings adapting ourselves to "mindful eating."

4. Meditation Helps With Anxiety. 

During an anxiety attack there is a Lactate increase in the blood which is produced from skeletal muscles due to insufficient supply of oxygen that occurs during the state of panic!! The parasympathetic system is heightened and increases our heart rate during a panic attack. Dr.Herbert Benson who is the founder of Mind Body Medical Institute in Boston which is Affiliated with Harvard University, conducted many studies of how meditation helps those how have anxiety traits. Studied showed that patients that meditated had lower levels of lactate in the blood compared to those who did not meditate. During meditation, one practices deep breathing techniques which helps balance oxygen demand through out the body, hence decreasing levels of lactate in the blood.

5. Meditation and the Brain. 

Meditation alone has many benefits when it comes to the brain. Did you know that a person that mediates regularly begins to shrink the amygdala inside the brain which is responsible for controlling reaction to fear? Another fun fact is that during meditation the hippo-campus enlarges which is responsible for controlling our memory and context for our emotional response. Therefore improving our memory and having more control of our emotions. At Yale University a research study was done that concluded that people who regularly meditated had an increase of serotonin levels by 22% compared to people who did not meditate. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is decreased in patients with depression, anxiety and other mood disorders.

6. Meditation is FREE!!!!!

Meditation is free! It doesn't cost a thing!!!! So take out some time today and start practicing Mindfulness Meditation and begin your journey to a healthy lifestyle!

Hope you all enjoyed my article on the Health Benefits of Meditation. Please feel free to share your comments.

Love. Peace. Harmony.

Dr. Sania A. 

Mantra For Abundance

Greetings to All,

Today's Mantra is a Mantra that comes from the Ancient Hindu Scriptures. This Mantra is chanted to bring Abundance in our lives.

"OM SHREEM MAHA-LAKSHMIYAE NAMAHA"

MEANING:

I give my Salutations to the Goddess Lakshmi, she who provides abundance. 

This Ancient Mantra can be chanted when you feel like you lack abundance in your life, such as happiness, joy, material wealth or even spiritual wealth. This mantra is said to bring good fortune in your life!!! 

If you can try to chant this mantra 108 times. I have provided a link to Deva Premal's - "Mantras For Precarious Times." You can follow along with her and for those who can't pronounce the words just close your eyes and allow the sounds of the mantra to flow inside you. Hope you all enjoy this mantra. Have great weekend and may your life always be filled with Abundance! 

Click Here for Abundance Mantra - Om Shreem Maha Lakshmiyae Namah

Namasté. 

Love. Peace. Harmony. 

Dr. Sania A.