Think better, live better : PARTHA PRATIM BOSE

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is talking therapies that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave. It is most commonly used to treat  anxiety and depression, but can be useful for other mental and physical health problems.

CBT cannot remove your problems but it can help you deal with them in a more positive way. It is based on the concept that your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions are interconnected and that negative thoughts and feelings can trap you in a vicious cycle. CBT aims to help you crack this cycle by breaking down overwhelming problems into smaller parts and showing you how to change these negative patterns to improve the way you feel.

Unlike some other talking treatments, CBT deals with your current problems, rather than focusing on issues from your past. It looks for practical ways to improve your state of mind on a daily basis. CBT has been shown to be an effective way of treating a number of different mental health conditions. In addition to depression or anxiety disorders, CBT can also help people with obsessive disorder, postphobias,eating disorderssuch as anorexiaand bulimia, sleep problems such as insomnia, problems related to alcohol abuse,,irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

CBT can help you to change how you think (cognitive) and what you do (behaviour). These changes can help you to feel better and breathe better. Once you are de-stressed, there is less cognitive load and your breathing centre in brain is relaxed and less stimulated. It looks for ways to improve your state of mind now.

A situation – a problem, event or difficult situation.

From this can follow thoughts, emotions, physical feelings and actions. Each of these areas can affect the others.

How you think about a problem can affect how you feel physically and emotionally. All these areas of life can connect like this: fiveareas.

What happens in one of these areas can affect all the others. There are helpful and unhelpful ways of reacting to most situations, depending on how you think about it. The way you think can be helpful or unhelpful.

The Situation: You have had a bad day. You are fed up? Go out shopping. As you walk down the road, someone you know walks by and, apparently, ignores you.

This starts a cascade of thoughts, emotions and action which can range from concern for the other person to actually getting in touch with the other person to find if all is well with him.

The negative way of dealing with it involves being down on yourself imagining the person does not like you, complaining of cramps or illness and finally going home to avoid the person.

The same situation has led to two very different results; depending on how you thought about the situation. How you think has affected how you felt and what you did.

So, in case you thought negatively, you have to change your thoughts and actions, pinpoint the problem, address it and find goals.

Then move towards achieving them. Evidence shows CBT works.

Heart over head…

Emotions can be understood from a solid tree. Roots tell about the foundation and values, stem its integrity,branches its behaviour and flowers are its emotions. If a tree attracts bees, birds and human beings it is magnetic and that is its emotional wellness. Emotional wellness makes you magnetic.

Like tree, emotions cannot be permanent. That is why they are called “emotions”– the word comes from motion,movement. They move; hence they are emotions. Emotions are dynamic like waves on water, they change continuously. This moment you are sad, that moment you are happy; this moment you are angry, that moment you

are compassionate. This moment you love, another moment full of hatred; the morning was beautiful, the evening is ugly. And this goes on.
This cannot be your nature, because behind all these changes something is needed like a thread that holds all of them together. You continue as an entity – so what is the thread, the polestar? What is permanent in you? There are two types of emotions – expressive and repressive. Expressive emotions might hurt others but repressive emotions will hurt you. The root of all illness and disease is repressive emotions, if you are repressed; it slowly hurts you in aholistic way and eventually affects your expressive emotions. The key to success is to create a balance between these two emotions like riding a bicycle.
Emotions have to be relieved, relaxed. When you feel like crying you have to cry; when you feel like laughing you have to laugh. You have to drop this nonsense of repression; you have to learn expression, because only through your sentiments, your emotions, your sensitivity, do you come to that vibration through which communication is

possible. If one has to choose between the head and the heart, one should choose the heart, because all the beautiful values of life belong to the heart. The head is a good mechanic, technician, but you cannot live your life joyously just by being a mechanic, a technician, a scientist. The head has no capacity for joy, for blissfulness, for silence, for innocence, for beauty, for love, for all that makes the life rich — it is the heart that has this capacity.

You have been taught never to be angry and you think that a person who is never angry is bound to be very loving.

You are wrong. A person who is never angry will not be able to love either. They go together; they come in the same package. A person who really loves will sometimes be really angry. But that anger is beautiful – it is out of love! The energy is hot, and you will not feel hurt by the person’s anger. In fact, you will feel grateful that the person was angry.

Have you watched it? If you love someone and you do something and the person is really angry, frankly angry, you feel grateful because he loved you so much that he can afford the anger.

If you love yourself and that is a must in life, you will never be repressive, you will be expressive of whatsoever life gives: its joys, its sadness, its peaks, its lows, its days, and its nights. Remember, all negative emotions need energy;

they drain you. And all positive emotions and positive attitudes are dynamos of energy; they create more energy, they never drain you.
If you are happy, suddenly the whole world flows toward you with energy, the whole world laughs with you. The whole existence goes on giving you more. You are not a burden, you are a flower, you are not a rock and you are a bird. The whole existence feels happy about you.
Being emotionally well is more than just handling stress. It also involves being attentive to your thoughts, feelings and behaviours, whether positive or negative.

Emotional wellness implies the ability to be aware of and accept our feelings, rather than deny them, have an optimistic approach towards life, and enjoy life despite its occasional disappointments and frustrations.

The path to emotional wellness may involve awareness of thoughts and feelings, having a positive attitude, seeking support and expressing emotions in a suitable manner. Setting priorities, accepting mistakes and learning from them are other factors.

Practice a few steps like protect your self esteem, take control after a failure, distract yourself from brooding thoughts and find meaning after a loss. Practice physical wellness by doing breathing exercises and manage your daily stress.

Humble, humane and happy

A journey to total wellness needs a positive environmental wellness. The home, the office and the work place should have positive vibes. This energy is cosmic and it improves your mood, morale and health of the place. When you succumb to recurrent problems in your life and fail to pinpoint the answer the reason could be wrong wind flow and magnetic radiations. Its cosmomagnetic and one can sense it through regular healthy practices. Our environment influences our temper, emotions and it has all kinds of energies. We need to improve the positive energy flow in our environment.

First and foremost is right flow of oxygen. The air flow should allow cross ventilation so that we get oxygen enriched air and wash out carbon dioxide adequately. Indoor plants and nurturing greens around the environment bring more oxygen to the ecosystem as plants take carbon and release oxygen in the environment. Indoor plants also help to increase the indoor energy and help to control humidity.

Brahmasthan, the centre of the house, should not be cluttered with kitchen, bathroom and furniture. Create a lot of open space in the centre of house or workplace so that you enjoy right flow of energy and oxygen. Bring sunshine in. Sunlight is cosmic and it brings wellness and also detoxifies the system.

Surya yoga is a breathing exercise which helps to bring cosmic energy to your system. Take slow and deep breath in early morning during sun rise. Feel the oxygen and sun to each and every part of your body. Speak energy in and evils out. It helps to energise your system and improve your environmental wellness. Our other-senses like of smell, auditory, visual, taste and touch can also play an important role in augmenting environmental wellness.

Healing through visualisation. Visual imagery plays an important role in bringing alpha activity. Visual imagery is a method where you sequentially brush through pictures of events and places, which slowly connect us you to your nostalgic wellness. Pictures depicting nature and spirituality brings positive energy and improve environmental wellness.

As bathrooms bring negative energy always keep your door closed and keep your toilet seats covered. Use crystals, plants, bright colours to bring positive vibes. Never sleep towards West as it brings restlessness. Never sleep towards North as our head is in North Pole, north and North Pole repel each other; it may cause resistance and high blood pressure. Mirror should not face your feet in bedroom; this brings negative energy and stress. Carpets and heavy upholsteries are the harbinger of dust mites. Minimise dust and dust mites. Dust mites are responsible for allergies and asthma attacks.Bed linens should get regular sun exposure. Sunlight kills germs and improves wellness and sleep. East areas of your homes are considered energy generators. Sit in a comfortable position and feel your breath and take slow and deep breath and feel more positive energy inside. Bulbs should have less emission standards, preferably LED bulbs. Prefer yellow light over white. Yellow light brings wellness. Study area should use proper white light and light should fall from a height.

Study area should give maximum relaxation to eyes as they are the true extension of our brain. Stay away from WiFi power generators and never keep phone in your shirt pocket or sleep with it. The energy is electromagnetic and can affect your cardiovascular system. Kitchens and bathrooms should not be in opposite direction. Keep both doors closed while in use as energies are opposite in nature. Relaxing music improves wellness. The music with which you are connected is the music of your environment wellness. Classical music brings positive vibes and improves wellness. Foods play an important role in wellness. Food rich in saturated fat, high in simple carbohydrates, rich in preservatives, low in fibres, less in fruits and vegetables, rich in red meat affect your wellness and digestion.

Clothes play an important role. Cotton, recycled, natural clothes improve wellness. Avoid wearing synthetics and tight undergarments. Use recycle things and go natural. Feel good artefacts in different corners resonate environmental wellness.Imagine your house is surrounded by a blue circle, think about your guru or master. Visualise each and every aspect of your house and feel all other members are performing tasks. Speak positive words and say my house is protected, my house is divine. Environmental wellness is the cornerstone and plays an important role in journey to total wellness. If you enjoy environmental wellness, you will be humble, humane, and happy and always be in humour.

The balancing act

Spiritual wellness is a kind of balance between inner self and outside world, a kind of absolute self contentment and inner bliss. Spiritual wellness is the ultimate form of wellness. If you have nurtured your journey from physical, mental, emotional, environmental and social wellness you will reach spiritual wellness. Spiritual wellness is a process of nurturing mind, body and soul so that you are connected to yourself as if you feel none. Restlessness, distrust and poor tolerance are the signals of poverty or poor preparation for spiritual wellness.

For example, if you have bought a new car and park in a non-parking area you will be disturbed and restless. Spiritual wellness is a mind parking where you park your mind and forget about it. To achieve this one should make two circles one on left where you accept things which we cannot change i.e. No point in brooding about the past, no point thinking about the future. Right circle will contain what we learn from the past and plan for now better so that the future becomes today.

Spiritual wellness not only allows you to seek meaning and purpose in human existence but it also allows you to appreciate your life experiences for what they are. When you find meaning in your life experiences, you will be able to develop a harmony with your inner self and the outside world. In simpler terms, spiritual wellness grants you balance.

Signs of spiritual poverty are negative thoughts, being judgemental, not able to accept failure, jealousy and having materialistic approach. Not able to balance inner self with the outside world results in anxiety and depression, eating disorder and sleep disorder.

Spiritual wellness is a process of thoughtlessness where you slowly understand and nurture methods to decongest your negative thoughts of mind and become very positive, joyous and sublime into good thoughts and feel very relaxed and refreshed. It is a journey and the day you start enjoying this process you become cosmic and magnetic.

This is about a 45-year-old lady suffering from major depression, sleep disorder, eating disorder, negativism and hyperventilation syndrome subjected to 360 degree wellness systematically from physical , mental, emotional, environmental to social wellness. She was subjected to following sessions to prepare her for spiritual wellness. She is now practicing these methods and is out of these symptoms and feels very relaxed and enjoying her spiritual wellness.

Regular 40 minutes physical wellness in the form of brisk walking, right nutrition, specific muscular training and toning. Mind full breathing to de-stress, ten minutes of chanting and yoga.

Diaphragmatic breathing exercises for five minutes to promote abdominal breathing. Abdominal breathing gives more breath and parasympathetic meaning it conserves energy and relaxing.

Progressive eye and cervical exercises for five minutes. Active and passive Savasana for the same time. Progressive muscular relaxation therapy twice a week for six weeks. Good sleep habits by per sleep habits. Stick to one time o beed, stay away from caffeine in last six hours of day, shower, music, visual imagery techniques before sleep Nurturing hobby to relax the mind. Good hobbies are painting, cooking, gardening, reading, photography, potteries, games any hobby which relaxes you. Chanting for five minutes in the morning.

As this lady was involved in the community service, she started teaching underprivileged students.

Practicing meditation in the morning and bed time focussing your third eye on your strength. Practicing deep slow breaths with mind chanting “O Lord give me serenity. I shall accept the things which I cannot change. Give me the courage to change the things which I can and wisdom to know the difference.”

krishna Consciousness

Today as always, man seeks God – and often without knowing he is doing so, all human activity – good, bad or indifferent is actaually misplaced search for God. The fact is that man in his true nature is already divine, but  this divinity is covered. Life’s one purpose is the realization of divinity. Realization of this-divinity is religion of man or ultimate wellness. This realization can be practiced by yoga of knowledge, conscious control of mind, selfless work or karma .

Krishna is our inner conflict, our consciousness , our emotional wellness. He is a true balance between our expressive and repressive emotion. A right balance, as if riding a bicycle where we are maintaining our balance in momentum. Life is flowing, a momentum. Krishna consciousness accepts life in all facets, in all elements and colours. It is a small bundle of joy dancing and celebrating in this mundane world of sadness and madness. Krishna consciousness means accepting life in duality, be a yogi and bhogi  simultaneously at two different planes of life.It is really arduous to under stand Krishna consciousness. It is easy to understand that a man should run away from the world if he wants find peace but is really difficult to understand that one can find peace in the trunk of market place.A flame of candle can remain smooth and steady way from wind and storms, but how is it possible that a candle can still burn steadily in midst of storms .

Krishna consciousness says fight , fight with absolute surrender to God. Become a vehicle.surrender means absolute awareness. Surrender means dropping the ego and ego is our unconscious state of mind,Krishna consciousness is egoless ness and sublimation to your inner god and then leave it to him. Then asking your awakened mind . If your mind tells you to become a monk, be a monk. If he says be a warrior be a warrior.

When Arjun was in distress in battlefield. Krishna says ” give up everything and come to my feet” surrender and sublime into me,I am in you , I means I which permeates whole cosmos, surrender means surrendering to the primordial and mysterious energy that permeates the vast cosmos, Krishna consciousness has taught us that a man can hold to his love and compassion even in battlefield. It has a huge relevance for the future mankind.

Krishna consciousness is a art of living where your mind body and soul remain calm, positive yet in tandem in the cyclone of our life. Its like a lotus in water unattached, untouched while living in the life with fullest spirit.

Krishna consciousness is happiness in sadness, non violence in violene, beauty in ugliness, love in hatred. It’s an awakened mind like Buddha. Krishna consciousness cannot be experienced in piecemeal. Krishna is wholesome.Krishnaconsciousness has to be accepted entirely in all weathers, in all situations of life. It’s a wellness in paradox, peace in war, love in hatred, light in darkness, life in death. It is our inner consciousness, our altered ego, our repressed emotions. It has to be expressed in an awakened mind not in an unconscious state of  mind.

To under stand Krishna consciousness we have to accept man learns by act of commission not by act of commission, These steps help to attain Krishna consciousness

1. Learn empathy, feeling into a human being
2. Practice conscious control of mind by breathing techniques
3. Know your repressed emotions and try to express it in a harmonious state of mind
4. Be momentous and pamper yourself
5. Be always positive and practice happy thoughts , happy mind
6. Be rational , don’t bejudge-mental
7. Practice 360 degree wellness ie physical, mental, emotional ,environmental and social wellness
8. Practice social services and dedicate part of your life for downtrodden
9. Show gratitude to nature , for being you life support,i.e.  air, light, water ,soil ,heat and wellness
10. Practice spiritual parking. Learn to surrender and sublime to your mystique master.