Mental Fitness

Concentration is one of our most potent mental tools in developing mental fitness.

It is our main faculty we use when learning or reading and when we are in a receptive or listening mode. We use this faculty to help us focus upon important personal interests in everyday life and we employ concentration in some measure every day.

Concentration is mind power. It is the element we require to accomplish anything.We use it to pin-point our energy and thought upon one particular selected subject.

The principle is simple. If you keep your thoughts upon a particular aim you will succeed. But this is determined upon our choices, ambitions and desires and also our patience as we cannot always expect immediate results. A definite aim will ensure that any concentrated thought will bear fruit. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: anxiety, Meditation, Mental Fitness, mental health, relaxation, Stress

Anxiety is the enemy of peace.  We cannot feel enjoyment of anything in life if it suffers the taint of our anxiety or exaggerated concerns. Anxiety prevents us feeling satisfaction and can cause us to establish patterns of emotional and mental concern over everything if we are not careful. The tentacles of worry and anxiety can spread like a cancer to spoil your life. Then we are a long way from mental fitness.

So we must become free of the early symptoms and learn how to prevent any small concern growing and magnifying to get out of proportion.

Fears of any kind will leech away your energy. If you sometimes feel the symptoms such a vague or extreme fear of some kind – that a catastrophe of some kind is about to occur, or you feel depressed for no reason at all, or you are in a mood of total lack of motivation in your day, it is likely you are already suffering what is currently diagnosed medically as anxiety. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: anxiety, Meditation, Mental Fitness, mental health, relaxation, Stress

We cannot experience mental fitness if we have resident fears in our mind that refuse to go away. Understandably many suffer certain fear about contracting disease and some hold extreme fear of developing cancer.  There is so much written about cancer.  There are so many people suffering from cancer. And there are millions more who are fearful of getting the disease.

Although there is a great deal known about treatment of the disease both by orthodox and by naturopathic medicine, the public is somewhat confused. A person when diagnosed will usually play safe and follow the accepted present medical system that uses drug therapy and surgery in spite of having no guarantee of a cure. The cure of cancer remains an elusive medical problem.

As individuals however, we are best to focus our minds to a healthier pursuit in finding methods of prevention. Any fear of cancer diminishes to the extent that we accumulate knowledge and are willing to put into practice information that we genuinely feel has value. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: anxiety, Meditation, Mental Fitness, mental health, relaxation, Stress

Everything that is alive draws in life energy and expresses it in a process corresponding to respiration. 

Our life begins at our birth with an inhalation and our life will end with our last exhalation.  From cradle to the grave our breathing function does not let us down except in times of respiratory malfunction or disease.  Throughout the whole period of our life-span the breath will continue without a pause, in its interminable rhythm keeping us supplied with oxygen, giving us life energy whether we are aware of the process.

The majority of these breaths we take unconsciously, with many being taken in the hours of sleep. But we expect that when we go to sleep, the breath will continue, and that when we awaken, the process will have been maintained through our sleep and naturally be resumed.

It is a potent reminder of the absolute faith that we place in nature every time we go to sleep. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: anxiety, Meditation, Mental Fitness, mental health, relaxation, Stress

There are many techniques and suggested methods which assist one to meditate.

Because it is the most private of any ‘practices’, requiring a withdrawal from outer activity and retreat into one’s innermost being, it is essential that each chooses their own way – a way that feels natural and appropriate.

Generally, however, the simplest preparation and technique is best. An example will most likely be something like this… Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: anxiety, Meditation, Mental Fitness, mental health, relaxation, Stress

So how do we free ourselves from old habits and reactions to life and to people? How do we develop a stress-free mind, one that is mentally fit? 

The art of relaxation does not demand new effort and strain – it’s easy. A good teacher will teach you simple techniques, that can be subsequently followed at home. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: anxiety, Meditation, Mental Fitness, mental health, relaxation, Stress

It is well known that repetitive learning works.

Auto suggestion is the art of self persuasion – of utilizing the power of repetition to achieve a state of mind one desires. In the science of yoga it is known as the technique of  japa. It is considered to be an important tool in achieving mental fitness.

In practice we must thoughtfully prepare the words that we will silently repeat in our minutes of privacy. These words need to encapsulate what we are trying to achieve and should be as simple as possible.

We use our strength of thought or the power of concentration to maintain a focus upon our goal as we employ auto suggestion.

Imagination is the additional tool used in programming our minds. It is vital in helping us build the picture we want whether that is external, or related to our own personal self image. It is the faculty that helps to make effective the method of repetition and has the potential to help us develop our own character or to realize our dreams and plans.

In relation to personality self culture we will find after some time of repeating “I am strong and self reliant” for instance, that we can expect to feel independent and strong.

In regard to physical abilities and sports we can repeat training directives as we mentally repeat over and over our coach’s instruction as we visualize the perfect execution of our skills.

Auto-suggestion has many appropriate applications but all are directed at you alone and to benefit you without impinging your thought upon others.

Then it would seem that there is nothing to stop us becoming as we wish and achieving whatever we desire  – if we are willing to determine and keep our goals in clear focus  and visualize them as a future reality.
 
Sally Janssen’s wonderful book Mental Fitness: A Simple Self-help Guide, offers simple and timely solutions. Read more…

Technorati Tags: anxiety, Meditation, Mental Fitness, mental health, relaxation, Stress

Stillness is universally used as a simple prelude to meditation

The mind and body are closely related. To keep the body still helps the mind follow suit. Expect good results after giving your thoughts a little time to slow down.

Just take a minute to put to the test your ability to do nothing. Sit upright and still, preferably with eyes closed and see how long you can remain absolutely still, without any involuntary muscle movement other than that involved in normal respiration.
Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: anxiety, Meditation, Mental Fitness, mental health, relaxation, Stress

Anxiety attacks might be treated in many different ways. Some people might take the approach of changing their lifestyles for the better, while others will take medications prescribed by a doctor. No matter what you choose, it’s important to go about taking the correct steps in the correct order.

The very first step is diagnosing your condition. Panic disorders are normally diagnosed when a trained professional looks through your medical history and gives you a physical exam. Your doctor will ask you questions to get a feel for your symptoms. They will also listen to your heartbeat and probably do blood tests.

The next step is deciding which method of treatment you’d like to pursue for controlling anxiety attacks. Different medical professionals utilize different methods to treat these frightening episodes. Some of these techniques will require that the patient take medications and some techniques make use of therapy. Yet still, some medical professionals use a combination of both schools of thought.

It is believed by many that anxiety medications can be good for a quick fix, but it doesn’t address the root problem or do anything to treat it. Another problem with prescribed medications is that they could cause multiple severe side effects, some of them being severe.

The most common side effects are nausea and dizzy spells.

Another popular method of treating panic attacks is hypnosis or self-hypnosis. This alternative therapy doesn’t work on everyone, but many people have reported outstanding results with it.

One of the reasons hypnosis is so useful for treating anxiety is that panic attacks are largely caused by thoughts and reactions taking place within your mind. The force of the mind is greater than most people can imagine, and can help or hurt you in major ways.

Stress is the reason behind many mental ailments like phobias anxiety, depression, and panic attacks, among many others. If you can successfully do away with the root cause you can get rid of the unpleasant symptoms that go along with it.

Stress can often lead to anxiety whether you realize you’re anxious or not. This anxiety can lead to bigger problems like panic attacks. All these problems can arise from too much stress, but you may never even realize that you were stressed out in the first place.

Since stress plays such a big role in anxiety disorders, it makes sense that treating panic attacks by reducing stress may help. Some excellent methods of reducing stress are meditation, yoga, hypnosis (as we mentioned earlier), visualization, affirmations, exercise and learning the art of practical relaxation methods.

Overcoming panic attacks and finding a real cure for anxiety disorder is no longer unattainable, but within your reach. Keep working at analyzing the events occuring in your mind and refining your reactions to those events. Before you know it you’ll have reached your goal: curing yourself of anxiety and panic attacks.

Sally Janssen’s wonderful book Mental  Fitness:A Simple Self-help Guide, offers simple and timely solutions.  Read more…

Technorati Tags: treat anxiety attacks, treat panic attacks, treating anxiety attacks, treating panic attacks