Peace. There are songs written about it. Everyone wishes for it. And yet, it eludes us. We all say we seek peace, and on a theoretical level, we do. But if you don’t practice being peaceful, then you violate the very principle you claim allegiance to. If you can’t apply principles to real life—then you are not living congruently with them, and they have little value.
In “real” life, there is no such thing as “reality”—there is only perception. Reality is created, to a large degree, in the way you think– how you filter what enters the door to your mind, what you believe, what has value, and how you represent it all to your self by your “Self Talk.” It is far easier to preach peace, than it is to feel it when faced with another’s anger. Most of us get drawn into the emotional heat of the moment, and react with the same, rather than staying in our own peace.
These emotions of anger, resentment, and fear– rob us of peace and over time rob us of our health. Resentment affects every organ of the body. When you continually feel emotions of fear, or anger, you pay the penalty with neuritis, arthritis, and rheumatism or in my case– years ago–gallstones—for inharmonious thoughts produce acid in the blood, and these unnatural deposits eventually settle in joints or organs. Every “dis-ease” is caused by a mind not “at ease”. Every disease manifested on the outside, indicates that there is emotional disharmony on the inside. “As the within, so the without.” “As is the blood, so is the body.”
All healing begins with our thoughts. Thoughts of anger beget anger. You can’t have vibrant health if you are always thinking about illness. Your thoughts shape/decide your reality. You can’t have peace if your thoughts are constantly jumping from one thing to another—creating chaos and without your intention, creating your reality.
Ancient healers knew that the most effective way to have clarity of mind and eliminate all the external chatter was to meditate or pray. Both practices are designed to “still” the mind. With practice, you eventually gain enough control that you create your reality from inside (your essence), rather than external appearances. Holding the thought of peace, and reacting peacefully when everything outside of you is in chaos, is a most difficult thing to do.
We come into this world with everything and nothing. We are born into a family–become part of a community and rely on them to nurture and teach us. All of us arrive on this earth as pure essence. Fresh from our Creator–we have no possessions, nothing to defend, no religious or political agenda, know no hatred, greed or prejudice, see all colors as equal. All of these values are downloaded after we arrive. Most of our beliefs are learned within the first years of our life and remain with us into adulthood. Our deepest “core” value, or pure essence–is love. Every single being on earth has this innate pure essence. Some people call it Spirit, Soul, or Conscious. When we react to the emotions of others, we often lose our connection to this place of love within us. When we get drawn in to their emotions we often mirror their behavior. These are learned behaviors. The mind often obscures your true nature from you. The ancients used the metaphor—“dust on a mirror.” So in order to change our behavior, we have to first change our outdated and pre-conceived or “downloaded” beliefs. We need to clear away the dust from the mirror.
I find it hard to meditate. My mind wanders (chaotically for sure!) and often I fall asleep. Prayer has always helped me “still” my mind and bring me peace. Throughout my life—with the death of both my parents by the age of eight, the tumultuous and lonely years that followed, through the untimely and tragic death of my oldest brother, the death (from cancer) of his wife–who was like my sister—the cancer diagnosis of my husband–all the times the world outside of me spun chaotically out of control, prayer has been my refuge. I am a “cradle” Catholic. I love being Catholic. Mother Teresa is my greatest inspiration. Her words, “Do small things with great love,” are my daily mantra. Mother Teresa spent most of her life in an external world of poverty and certain chaos. But always, she brought every life she touched into her peace. Mother Teresa was pure love.
In her book, Left To Tell, Immaculee Ilibagiza talks about how praying the Rosary brought her great peace as she endured the horrible events of the Rwandan Holocaust.
“Immaculee Ilibagiza was born in Rwanda and studied Electronic and Mechanical Engineering at the National University of Rwanda. Her life transformed dramatically in 1994 during the Rwanda genocide when she and seven other women huddled silently together in a cramped bathroom of a local pastor’s house for 91 days! During this horrific ordeal, Immaculee lost most of her family, but she survived to share the story and her miraculous transition into forgiveness and a profound relationship with God.” (from her website)
Immaculee is a strong, beautiful, compassionate woman–and truly an inspiration. Through her example, I have found great peace in the recitation of the Rosary. These two women exemplify the true meaning of peace.
When I write my blogs, I always try to include the scientific research supporting my healing practices. What the ancients learned intuitively from their ancestors, modern science is finally proving with advanced technology. In a video clip from thebestdayever.com, I listened to an audio recording from Mark Robert Waldman titled, Neuro Wisdom 101. The website is for members only, but I have included a video link to the TED talk he gave a few years ago that is very much the same. He also wrote several books including How God Changes Your Brain, with Andrew Newberg, MD.
This research from leading neuroscience studies of the brain scans of Nuns, Buddhists, and Atheists shows that instead of focusing on the negative differences that could easily cause conflict among such diverse human beings—if each person focuses on their “deepest innermost value” –their brain scans all show the same positive changes. Waldman says that focusing on one “value word” like peace, love, or compassion—turns on 1200 stress reducing genes. So whether you are a Catholic Nun or an Atheist, your brain reacts the same if you both focus on a value you hold very high. You can take two people in conflict, and ask them, “What is your deepest personal, relational, or communication value?”—and everyone tends to be supportive of each other. In this way, each comes from their true essence, and breaks down religious, political, and racial barriers, so as to interrupt conflicts before they begin.
Mark Waldman has taught this simple exercise to a quarter of a million people around the world who continue to practice it:
Before you enter a conference room or before you open the door to come home after work, stop outside and close your eyes. You need to relax very quickly, and Waldman suggests you stretch your body and yawn like you are just getting out of bed. Yawning is proven in studies to be the fastest way to relax. Yawn five or six times and gently stroke your palms or forearms. Ask yourself, “What is my deepest value that I want to bring in to this interaction?” Next—you want to “build an image that you hold that will build neurological trust in anyone who sees your face in seven seconds or less.” As you close your eyes, think about someone you deeply love, or an event that holds great meaning to you. The expression on your face is truly real, and generates deep trust. If you enter every interaction in this manner, you will be coming from your true essence and focusing on that one value word like peace, compassion, or love. This exercise has been proven to be effective with most everyone—documented by positive changes on brain scans.
Imagine if every one of us did this simple exercise as we got out of bed each morning. If we picked one special word, like peace; and focused on that word all day—we would turn on 1200 stress reducing genes. Imagine how peaceful we would be, and how we would intentionally inspire that same peace to all with whom we interact. This one simple shift could change the world!
Here is the video from the TED talk by Mark Robert Waldman:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvhCLXEeSDQ
RESOURCES:
http://www.randomhouse.com/book/120938/how-god-changes-your-brain-by-andrew-newberg-md-and-mark-rob
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvhCLXEeSDQ
