HEALTH + WELLNESS
CHANNEL YOUR
INNER ZEN
You may think karma’ s a load of claptrap, and perhaps manifesting your intentions by way of a mood board isn’ t for you, but … Zen – a Japanese school of thought that emphasises the value of meditation and intuition over ritual worship or study of scriptures – is more about rethinking your state of mind to stay more in control of your mental and physical health. It’ s easier than you think to channel your inner Zen; we’ ve all got it happily lurking somewhere, and there’ s no harm in adopting simple strategies to deal with life’ s stresses, so we’ ve put together a few pointers to help you be the most peaceful version of yourself. BY POLLY HUMPHRIS
Resolve conflict
Conflict within relationships – be that with your partner, a friend, or a stroppy teenage child – is inevitable for most people and can be a huge source of stress albeit a fleeting and infrequent one.
How you view conflict, however, plays a huge role in how you let it affect you. If you view it as wholly detrimental, it’ s more likely to become a self-fulfilling prophecy, but if you flip that and view it as a necessary, even positive step towards development in a relationship, when resolved it’ ll serve to enhance your awareness of one another and reinforce your bond. Try and think through why the conflict has elicited such strong emotions before you attempt to work it out and the outcome will be a far healthier one.
Let it go
When you hold a grudge, your body( as well as your mind) actually holds the grudge, which can lead to physical symptoms like panic attacks and an unsettled stomach. Forgiveness isn’ t the easiest thing in the world, but holding a grudge is pointless too and will just cause you more stress in the long term. Letting go of any anger or negativity that you associate with a person or situation frees you up mentally to work out whether you want to try and resolve the issues that have occurred, or just walk away – letting go doesn’ t mean you have to be best buds with someone who’ s hurt or hugely offended you, but it does mean giving yourself a break from the burden.
Stop complaining
What with thoughtless memes and outright trolling, there’ s a lot of ugliness that’ s thrown at people by people that don’ t even know said people these days. It’ s not good, for anyone, so flip it and start upping your positivity quotient. OK, there might not be any cucumbers left in Tesco, it might be cold and rainy outside, or Monday morning might fast be approaching, but every time you complain, you’ re heaping a big dollop of negative energy not just into your life, but into the world overall. Complaining breeds complaining, so before you start waxing lyrical about your peeves, stop and try to think of a way to solve the problem – there will be other cucumbers; you’ re lucky to have a warm, dry home; and, Monday marks a fresh week full of fresh opportunities. If you can’ t solve it, move on. Life’ s too short.
120