Santa Clara Meditation Improving Your Mental Health – Which ones are the best exercises in life to get more mental strength, and why?
Many things can happen to you in life – some good, and some bad. It would be greedy to expect only good things to happen all the time. Wouldn’t it be best if I am equipped with wisdom and courage that can overcome any misfortunes? So, if you want to become mentally strong, you first have to cleanse your mind. This is the most powerful and effective way where you will see results soon. I’d like to talk about how meditation strengthens you both mentally and physically.
- If I have a lot of thoughts in my mind, my body will not move.
Before meditation, I would sleep in until late every morning and did not exercise at all. I couldn’t control my body as I wanted to because there were too many things going on inside my head. All the worries and concerns that I repeated in my head every day were all worthless – I had them yesterday, last month, a year ago, and even when I was young.
- Strength to overcome unfortunate events comes from your mind, not your body.
I overcame the misfortune in my life through meditation. Now in hindsight, those misfortunes weren’t misfortunes after all. It was like a gift to me, so that I can reflect on myself, become humble, and feel grateful about life. It actually gave me happiness. And you would already know that mind has much more to do with this whole process than your muscles.
- Let’s just start moving your body rather than having to do a full exercise.
Yoga, running, pilates, hiking…anything. As a housewife, I wake up 6:30 in the morning, make breakfast, do the dishes, clean, do laundry, go grocery shopping – these are the ways for me to diligently move my body. And when I have time, I get a cup of tea, and if the neighbors ask for my help, I go and help out. If there is a request to teach meditation in a school that is distant from my neighborhood, instead of saying no, I go there and give courage and strength to the students. Rather than spending money and time to try and exercise, I prefer to make my own house clean and be helpful for my neighbors. After diligently going about my day like this, when I check my counting app, I have usually walked more than 10,000 steps.
Everything is up to your mind. Ordinary is the extra-ordinary. Through meditation, let’s discard the false mind, regain the Truth that is hidden within our minds, and let’s live new lives.
by Donna Seo
