Emotions and the Mind/Body
With all of the events in the world right now, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. The 24-hour news cycle that is constantly in our face on our devices, on TV and print, affects us more than we realize. Our thoughts about these events produces an emotional response that can cause the original thoughts to spiral out of control and prevent us from seeing things objectively.
Humans are emotional creatures. It feels good when we feel happiness, joy, love for friends and family. The brain and body produce serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin when we are in a positive emotional state. These emotions and experiences tend to be cherished and even sought after.
But, negative emotions, like fear, anxiety, anger, guilt, inferiority and uncertainty often could our minds and we can often feel stuck with no way out. Modern life can keep us in a constant fight-or-flight state which causes the body to produce hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. While these hormones are important in life or death situations, if we are constantly in that state for the long-term, it causes damage to the body. The body, brain and unconscious mind get so used to this state that it doesn't know anything else or how to react to situations in a healthy way.
Meditation Saves the Day
We no longer have to be a slave to our minds. As we begin to meditate on a consistent and regular basis we can identify and learn to let go of the root causes of these negative emotions. Meditation changes the brain and helps us to not only calm the mind during meditation, but, as these changes occur, we can take that peace of mind into our daily life.
We can learn to see our experiences from an expanded perspective and appreciate our daily life in a much deeper way. We free up the mental energy that was being wasted on negative thoughts to increase our productivity, creativity, equanimity, and general well-being. We might even start being nicer to others and thus start to change the world, as well.
Positive change must start with us. Let meditation be that first step.