Thoughts are powerful and the inherent truth is we are the product of our thoughts. Our feelings, emotions, words and behaviour are influenced by our thoughts which in turn shape our life. To bring about a change in our life, the change has to come from our thoughts first. It is however easier said than done! To understand how we can bring about this change, Brahma Kumaris’ sister Shivani was invited as a guest on The Navhind Times, Talk from the Heart show that aired on the Goa 365 channel on Sunday, July 11.
A teacher in the Brahma Kumaris’ spiritual movement in India, sister Shivani completed her undergraduate and postgraduate in electronics engineering at the Savitribai Phule University where she was an academic gold medallist, then completed a master’s degree in computer engineering from the Maharashtra Institute of Technology. Recounting how she began her spiritual journey, she said, “I started the journey twenty five years ago to create a shift within. My mother who had begun going to the BK Raj Yog centre wanted me to go along with her but I was not keen. I thought my life was fine and I did not need a change. However seeing the difference in my mother’s demeanour, how she became emotionally stronger and was worrying less by using her thoughts correctly, I wanted to learn what she was learning.”
Expounding on the importance of using the mind correctly, she said, “The mind is energy, it is not physical and is said to create about 75,000 thoughts in a day. Every thought is a quality and creates feelings. However if the thought is negative, it causes negativity. Negativity in turn even causes illnesses. But most importantly, our thoughts influence our relationships.” She also mentioned how our thoughts influence the environment. “If you create the right thoughts, then you can create happiness, health, harmony and heaven in your life,” she added.
Training the mind and controlling it, is far from easy. The mind likes freedom and will resist our efforts to discipline it. “First and foremost we need to understand, that we believe our mind is dependent on people and situations. We blame the world for everything that we feel, and put the responsibility on the exterior. So the first step is to shift from a life of blaming the outside to remembering that the exterior is just a stimulus and we alone are the creator of our every thought and feeling. And secondly that we have a choice of which thought and feeling to create and then consciously shift throughout the day from anger, stress, anxiety, etc, to creating feelings of empathy, calm, compassion and stability.” With various examples, she explained how practising this process over time increases emotional fitness level along with will power.
Positive thinking was another aspect she spoke about at length and illustrated how we can think positively and use it to our benefit. “Positive thinking is not only about thinking positively before a situation but accepting that whatever has happened is for the best,” she stressed. Prayer, meditation and daily practice of spiritual studies/reading she said helps in times of despair or negativity. “Every word in a prayer is high vibrational pure content and is a diet for the mind. Hence when we pray, we get nourishment for the mind and power from God which increases our emotional fitness,” she added. She also highlighted the importance of daily prayer and meditation.
Along with prayer and meditation, she also recommended change in what we read, watch and listen to. “The quantity and quality of what we are consuming is important as if we are watching, reading or listening to content that has more of violence, greed, lust or competition then our emotional health will be low,” she explained. Starting the day with prayer, mediation or reading or listening to pure content that teaches compassion, gratitude, acceptance and faith is what will keep us emotionally fit, she emphasised.
Make emotional health a priority, take charge of your emotions and consciously create healthier thoughts with a minimum of thirty minutes of self care daily through prayer, meditation and good content, was her advice as she signed off. “Sleep right as it has a vital role in the health of the mind and body. Sleep early and an hour before sleeping disconnect from content consumption which gives your mind a chance to slow down and go in to the alpha stage and then when you go in to the delta stage you are energised,” she added.
