The World Health Organization estimates that stress costs companies at least $300 billion a year through absenteeism, turnover and decreased productivity. Some studies have even called stress a national epidemic. As such, more people than ever are making meditation a part of their weekly or even daily routine. Businesses are starting to see its impact on work culture, as employee wellbeing can enhance productivity in the workplace.
Water is a common symbol for meditation – it is an infinite flow that moves through blockages and opens inner peace and healing. Water enhances the power of relaxation and brings you deeper into the spiritual realm by calming the overactive mind. This encourages an unattached and weightless spirit.
Earlier this week, I sat in a sangha among a roomful of spiritual seekers, gathered together in pursuit of a shared goal to reset the self. Prior to coming, we were given the task to cut physical clutter from our lives. A few folks shared their experiences: various items of stagnant energy ushered into the forsaken trash - the ex’s toothbrush, the taunting pack of cigarettes, the size 4 pants that paraded in the past - or my personal favorite “an ex-boyfriend’s comforter he got from an ex-girlfriend”… folks were purging it all.
As Director of an after-school program, I have worked with children for many years. During this time, I have come to appreciate the many benefits of yoga for kids. After-school programs offer many varied enrichment opportunities (as they should), but the yoga classes stood apart.
Following a day cooped up at their desks, children usually came to the program rambunctious and with the day’s pent-up energy and frustrations. I would send them into their class with silent sympathy for the yoga teacher. They came out an hour later noticeably tranquil and calmed.
Last weekend, I went home to visit my family. Lately, I’ve felt a change coming—a new adventure waiting for me, manifesting now only as the goose bumps riding my forearms. Knowing that I might soon find myself far from my loved ones, I went home. It rained all weekend—grey skies and even a surprise mid-May snowstorm.
What if your
traditional problem-solving methods were inadequate in dealing with an
uncooperative mind?