– Kamlesh Patel (Daaji), Global Guide of Heartfulness

My friend greeted me today, “Good morning Daaji. How are you?” We automatically respond, “I am alright,” and as an afterthought remember that we have some ailments or worries about work or family. Things are never almost fully alright.

Often we permit our experiences and circumstances to create anxiety, nervousness, and restlessness. Unconsciously, we seek peace and in its absence, we react, rather than act or respond. Peace empowers us, and without that, we feel a lack of control in our lives.

To feel peace, let us go to the roots of emotional and mental restlessness. Apparent feelings of insecurity, uncertainties, and desolation have an underlying foundation. I want to explore that with you today, and I have found three interesting ideas.

1. Embrace Earth School

Generally we examine our lives from a certain angle. We view it as a success or failure in financial or spiritual or relationship matters. Here again, some think of the big picture and some others are worried about details. All these perceptive differences are natural, as we have our own personalities and tendencies. We have a short stay here on planet Earth. So if we consider Earth as a school that educates us, if we open our eyes, heart, and mind, and embrace, readily and lovingly, our life lessons, without approaching it from a viewpoint of failure or success, desolation or pride, then we become free to expand our mental and emotional perceptions. We rewrite the personal narratives of our life stories.

In every life situation we consciously learn. Love, empathy, resilience, fear, grief, generosity, jealousy, loyalty, desolation – it is not that we do not feel or face any of these. But we do not stay there for long but quickly go to the next stage. We may not always be ready for that special moment when Earth-school decides to make us wise, however our efforts to remain open and accepting, instead of feeling helpless or fearful gives us peace. It allows for hope of all good things to come into our lives. It is not easy, but expanding our perspectives gives us insight and inspiration. Mental peace is a choice we make, when we view Earth as a school.

2. Encounter Pockets of Nature

Why do people crave holidays or set off to the Himalayas? Natural human tendency is to be close to mother nature akin to a child’s in the lap of its mother. We feel peace in the lap of mother nature too. My spiritual teacher Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur said that trees retain the spiritual life force of Pranahuti and give it back to us. That energy makes us feel peace.  But we have jobs, we need to earn our livelihood, and we can afford vacations only when we can. If I were to tell you that you can feel the same peace that you feel in the middle of the woods or at the top of a mountain, right in the middle of NY Times Square on the opening day of an IPO, would you believe me?

Nature is all around us. There are meaningful ways to bring nature into our lives, in the middle of bustling cities. A mini-garden with potted plants in your apartment balcony can attract squirrels, tiny insects, and butterflies. Waking up at the crack of dawn and spending time in the roof or terrace and watching the sun rise, after a few minutes of morning meditation, creating a herb garden in your kitchen sill and tending to it with love, creating a jogging routine in the city garden, placing a bowl of water in your bedroom balcony for occasional birds to quench their thirst are just a few ideas. I am sure you can come up with unique ways to bring nature into your life. This connects us back to the physical elements of nature – birds, bees, plants and animals. Nurture the nature in your neighborhood, and feel part of a larger symphony, that connects you back to a world that is deeper than you anticipated. Peace is a sense of larger belonging that can come with connecting to tiny pockets of nature, even in the busiest of cities.

3. Expand Your Inner Light

There is already a light in your heart. You must have surely experienced that feeling, though you may infer or articulate it differently based on your cultural upbringing. It can be a spark of inspiration, or a source of compassion, or a peaceful meditative routine. When you are cared for, and nurtured with joy and love, you would feel that beautiful energy in your heart. When you dip into this inner light or energy, you can feel enriched with your own power. This sense of spiritual empowerment will leave you with a feeling of mental and emotional well-being. But how can you dip from it at your will and pleasure or pain? By making meditation a habit. Availing Yogic transmission or Pranahuti of the Heartfulness system of meditation, makes it easy and natural to develop this habit.

Now what do I mean by this personal spiritual fortification? I meditate on the source of this light, or the essence of love in my heart. It started as a routine, became a habit, and now it is an unconscious process during the whole day. To begin with, a meditative routine makes us lighter, calmer, more peaceful, and gives us a rejuvenation when we need one. To go deeper into this practice and make it our conscious lifestyle helps in opening up our minds, broadening our perspectives, improving our cognizance and elevating our awareness. Peace is now a mere by-product. Mental and emotional wellness is a guarantee. With a heart based meditation system like Heartfulness, I have experienced a deep and profound soulful connection with the heart of the universe. With that infinite source of well-being at my disposal, life is an inspiring journey of hope, joy and creative growth.

Kamlesh Patel, known to many as Daaji, is the fourth Global Teacher of Heartfulness meditation, who teaches simple heart-based meditation practices to suit the busy lifestyle of today. He brings forth the essence of yogic spiritual practices in a scientific way to help in emotional self-regulation and elevate one’s consciousness to the highest possible levels. Learn more at www.heartfulness.org.