Mental Fitness

In conjunction with our efforts to lead a practical life and fulfil personal aims and ambitions, we have the accompanying additional shadow that is there to remind us to look after and cultivate our minds so that our thoughts can project a constructive influence.

It is a magic occurrence to experience the difference that a positive tonic thought can have upon your emotions and mental state.  There is no secret about the power of self persuasion. It is only the practical application that can present a difficulty in with-holding benefits. It is offered as a ‘technique’ in many mind-training programmes and cultures including the practices of the yogis. 

As the system of Yoga is one of self culture, all the techniques are basically designed to help the individual help himself. The wonderful thing to realize is the scope for creating our own tonic thoughts. We have freedom to employ conscious concentrated thought to build up our mental strength without any censure or limitation imposed by others.

A basic elementary application is the inward affirmation applied in building up our own self image through focus upon each of the good qualities we wish to express in our personality and being. For instance we may aim to reduce a lack of self confidence by affirming all our  own recognized strengths in which to feel proud.  Another may deliberately work to strengthen in turn all the qualities that serve as their ideal.

The exercise is known as Japa. This is done through silent mental repetition in privacy and ideally in circumstances similar to meditation that requires peace and quiet. 

Additionally we can draw upon the powerful wisdom inherent in the literature of our culture, and the wealth of knowledge we have inherited from others who have experienced similarly and have overcome and prospered.

Some examples of fine ideas are offered in the Page on Quotations on this site, but each must choose for themselves the simple, tonic thoughts that affirm what they seek in self culture and that result in a sense of true well being.

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As we all strive towards enjoyment of physical health, free of ailments, we also wish to experience a comparable state of mental fitness.

Pride in ourselves comes more easily when we know that our body is in good shape, vital and functioning freely without impediment.

Similarly, our self confidence increases when the same principles are applied to our psychological health, when positive, creative thoughts and ideas govern our emotions.

Mental health is becoming recognized as an issue that threatens to dominate medical issues in the community in the future with serious personal ramifications even more distressing than physical disease.

Prevention is the wisest path to follow. This is a relatively simple matter if each of us chooses to become as focussed on the natural rules that must be followed to establish mental fitness as we do in our disciplines to create physical fitness.

       The rewards are great!

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Physical fitness is a common subject and can be described relatively easily as a state of well being without pain or disease and an ability to participate in physical activities.

Mental fitness is more subtle but equally is a state of mental comfort, without stress or psychological disturbance, and an ability to participate in intellectual exchange and activity.

Both aspects of health are expressed in an abundance of energy both in physical vitality and in mental interest and enthusiasm.

Although there are many factors to consider in the concept of a healthy mind, basically it is a state where all mental faculties are functioning well. The mind is capable of rational decisions as well as being able to utilize its creative faculties. We would also include in our expectations, that a person who is mentally well is relatively free of stress, is inclined towards optimism and is kind, and able to express the finer qualities of human character.

Most certainly mental fitness is a condition where the mind is also free of fear, violence and moods of depression. The owner of such a mind knows no inward mental or emotional disturbance and finds their inner world comfortable.

Mental health is a positive and pleasant state of being when life seems good, when we are enthusiastic about our life enjoyments and enterprises and can face its challenges without shirking.

We express our vital mind by evidence of its creative ability in planning or designing, or just producing wonderful, new ideas.

Personal fitness of mind we display by our intellectual ability, our common sense, emotional control, kindness, humour in a confident, decisive and balanced personality. Are you in that category?

Sally Janssen’s wonderful book “Mental Fitness: The Complete Self-Help Guide”, offers simple and timely solutions. Read more…

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Thousands of people suffer from stress, depression and mental disorders of various kinds. There are many attempts by individuals and groups in the community to answer their calls for help. But if we are personally seeking assistance we must have confidence that the doctors, psychologists, therapists and organizations offer treatment methods that have proven to be effective. We must explore the nature of their services and use discrimination in our selection of professional therapy.

Some organizations offer systems based upon technology that works with the brainwave patterns of consciousness with promises to ‘increase longevity, slow ageing and lower stress’ and we can understandably be a little sceptical. However new approaches may advance to have the answers and perhaps will be able to  ‘…put you safely, quickly and easily into states of deep relaxation and stress release’ so that we will have immediate ‘increased feelings of well being.’

However with basic systems upon which we have relied for decades and that have proven to be effective we cannot go far wrong. We would not be inclined to doubt a system of mind training that was based upon simple disciplines embracing relaxation, concentration and meditation. Relaxation therapy is always a pleasant learning experience and effectively reduces stress in our psyche. Concentration helps us improve in self confidence as we gain in mental strength and positive self image. Meditation helps us to arrive at new and stimulating states of mind as we allow our ego tensions to melt away to enjoy the peaceful consciousness of just being.

Whatever system we choose to follow, we must undertake some form of mind training that will equip us to maintain our mental faculties and intellectual structure, as we must do when training for physical fitness. Just as we must have a picture of our aim for physical fitness, we must also have a concept of our aim for mental fitness. As exercise plays a dominant role in keeping physical health, so it is important in acquiring mental fitness as we seek through movements and contractions of thought to extend both our strength and our flexibility as we acquire greater development of our minds and consciousness.

 We cannot however expect instant success as we have to have time to develop different habits of thinking and feeling. Above all, we need to learn to be good friends with ourselves.

Sally Janssen’s wonderful book “Mental Fitness: The Complete Self-Help Guide”, offers simple and timely solutions. Read more…

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The healthy state of a child’s mind begins at home. Early years are very important both for the development of emotional life as well as thought patterns and intellect. All development is easier if there is a foundation of robust physical health.

When infants display signs of irregular or erratic behavior, stress reactions and nervous problems that are indicative of some imbalance in the psyche it can cause parents great concern as to the means of correction. Sometimes the causes are not known or whether the problems are the result of physiological chemistry or deeper neurological or psychological factors.

In seeking a remedy, the obvious first attention is to nutrition. Although parents try their best to provide good food and sufficient for their children’s health, basic poor nutrition is frequently unrecognized but must be addressed. For decades the familiar cry of nutritionists that American and Australian children are ‘overfed and undernourished’ has failed to be generally understood as being based upon the necessity for quality. It refers to the need for natural, fresh, wholesome and unprocessed or vitamin -rich food that provides nutrients for the brain as well as body.

The psychological needs of children although simple and well known in theory, are sensitive issues in practice when family life is generally complex.

Comparatively little quality time is given by busy parents to nurturing the subtler aspects of each individual soul in the family group, through private discussion, generous affection and personal encouragement to each. How to accomplish this is the task of each family aided by the hard won experiences of previous parents, grandparents and by reference to the enduring values common to every generation.

However, without discipline in the home it is not possible to fulfil any parental plan and modern life presents many opportunities to exercise extensions of it in dealing with such new factors as mobile phones, television, electronic games and all other technological toys and ‘advances’ that we are persuaded will make our life happier.

There are some people who offer hints to remind us of some success in households that have instituted quiet meal times and disciplined conversation to provide one answer as does the bedtime story tradition, now often rejected because of television.

It may be easier to consider the nature of our home care opportunities to fulfill the child’s needs than be able to find the time and the wisdom in applying the theory. It is our ability to achieve time management that will influence the results and give evidence in happy, well adjusted children.

Reminders are simple –

Need to give and receive affection

Instill the values you believe are a priority – kindness, truth, helping others etc.

Encourage the exercise of their natural skills and talents Provide opportunities for them to develop constructive and creative hobbies

Nurture their self understanding and self confidence Give them a concept of potential careers and work requiring present and future skills

Help them to formulate simple mental affirmations to strengthen or assist their needs and desires

Read to them thoughts that will help them later formulate their own philosophy

Provide a sense of security in the home that protects them and encourages a sense of self worth both as an individual and within the bounds of family life.

Sally Janssen’s wonderful book “Mental Fitness: The Complete Self-Help Guide”, offers simple and timely solutions. Read more…

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“Growing up” is a common term referring to the process towards maturity. It relation to human beings it implies ‘upwardness’ – not only uprightness of body but also of mind and character.   It is regarded as a process that occurs gradually over a number of years, by which time our individuality is determined and we have gained a degree of self confidence born of self knowledge and self determination.

We have not as yet completed our ever and on-going growth upwards, towards becoming an example of the true and excellent type of human being that we most admire.

Sally Janssen’s wonderful book “Mental Fitness: The Complete Self-Help Guide”, offers timely solutions. Read more…

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When it comes to our self image we are pretty much dependent upon our own sense of self value and self respect. Others can help us in building up a personality but can equally destroy the image we would like to hold as a genuine reflection of our true nature. It is with faithful friends that we feel secure, aware that they have some understanding of this picture of ourselves that we cherish. Those who do not perceive the goodness or reality of our inner nature tend to make us defensive and uncertain.
What we have each to do is to hold a plan of our ideal – the personality we wish to use to express ourselves – and programme ourselves to relate to this, regardless of circumstances or outer relationships. The old wisdom “Be true to yourself”… applies here.
We have to make this important plan, just as we would have to do if we were acting out a role in a theatre drama.  It will involve spending a quiet time gathering your thoughts to focus upon the most important components you wish to build into your self image.
The people we look up to can assist us in forming a foundation. Heroes and heroines serve us in two ways by offering us a chance to admire them from afar, or to stimulate us to emulate certain similar talents and qualities.  But care is needed in patterning yourself in this way without first deciding for yourself what are your own unique qualities. These may be very different from the ones you may feel that you admire in your heroes, but who is to say that they are not even more admirable?
It is the Vedic literature that reminds us that within us we have the seeds of every human trait or quality, with none of us favoured over another. It is only a case of each of us making choices as to the seed energies and powers, talents and qualities that we choose to cultivate. It is this that makes the differences between us in our external personalities. Regardless of hereditary factors, environment, education and many other influences that obviously are also involved, we have the reminder here that we have free will. It is this that is used by us to help determine our future.
A good astrologer can guide you to feel more confident of the positive planetary and zodiacal influences that became inherent in you at the time of your birth and capable of reflecting particular virtues and talents.  It can also be clearly defined where your inherent weaknesses are likely to manifest.
But this, although a wonderful starting point is only a beginning. You must be willing yourself to build your image, develop the talents you feel are dominant in your nature, follow the work that you know you will love to do, and with all the positive encouragements as well as criticism, remain true to creating a personality you would most admire – yourself.

Sally Janssen’s wonderful book “Mental Fitness: The Complete Self-Help Guide”, offers timely solutions. Read more…

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We cannot experience something for nothing, even though we may feel we deserve it. We are required to work and work of any kind is always rewarded. Our attitude to work has a great influence upon outcome. The poet Kahil Gibran reminds us that “Work is love made visible….” and we would all rather work creatively at something we love to do.

It is then our hard work will become evident to others who will be inclined to react to us in ways that improve our relationships and encourage us to continue our work in building personal mental fitness.

Sally Janssen’s wonderful book “Mental Fitness: The Complete Self-Help Guide”, offers timely solutions. Read more…

© Copyright Sally Janssen 2000

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In our goal to understand and control our minds there are certain principles that are evident in the yogic system known as Raja Yoga, or Royal Yoga.

The control of the mind is very difficult, both in the external expression of its talents and skills as well as in the restful states when thoughts are stilled. We must be patient and we must not be ambitious. Some people think that mental development is the aquisition of more and more knowledge, thought power, and personal intellectual status. But this could be seen as an ever receding goal as all knowledge can never be the lot of one human mind.

Rather the yogic philosophy, in addition to the ideas and ideals that we hold as worthwhile, instructs us to clear our minds of debris and accumulated information to make way for an inflow of new ideas in a natural flow. This becomes more and more refined as our minds are purified and become, like the diamond, capable of reflecting light and colour rather than possessing the qualities of nature’s truth and seven fold diversity.

Sally Janssen’s wonderful book “Mental Fitness: The Complete Self-Help Guide”, offers timely solutions. Read more…

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In beginning to train our minds we accept some basic needs –to increase our ability at visualisation – to be able to slow down our mental activity – to achieve concentration – and to harness our imagination.

To some extent we must achieve some control of these faculties before employing them to our full advantage in creative thinking. Some of us are better at one or the other and some have a near genius ability where we seem weak. In working to balance them we embark upon an interesting journey in self awareness.

Some systems of modern mind training offer us some special skills and many find that they benefit from a forthright modern approach. However, the yogic system recognizes the subtleties of human consciousness with fewer skills in the outward expressions of thought than upon the inner awareness of the extra senses and extra qualities of the mind that require stillness and a passive state for their appreciation. So stillness is considered an ‘advanced’ exercise in mind control and meditation and spiritual contemplation of the realities of life are the reward.

In simplicity and silence we hear the inner voice of our soul or spirit. So in addition to the basic training of the mental faculties that are more obvious, we give time to listen to our inner voice or intuition that serves as our guardian teacher or angel. This delicate whisper is drowned out by loud sounds, hurry and lack of a state of personal harmony. We have to create the appropriate quietude necessary to experience this higher faculty of our intelligence.

Recognize the different states of consciousness.
Practise remembering your dreams that put you in touch with your subconscious mind.
Develop strong thought power through concentration exercises.
Develop flexibility of thought and expansion of ideas through imagination.
Keep a balance between them.
Practise meditation that puts you in touch with your super-conscious mind.
Become capable of rejecting worthless or ugly thoughts.
Train your memory.
Fill your mind with beautiful, positive, harmonious thoughts so that when idle, you will easily tune in to thoughts that provide a ‘safe house’ for you in the midst of outer confusion and noise.
Allow classical music that is melodic, quiet and uplifting to exert its magic as you surrender to it in relaxation.
Allow the quality known as Ahimsa or non violence, to pervade your mind training – never use force, but rather cajole your old mental habits towards transformation.

Always be sincere, and seek the truth in this as in every undertaking.

……………………………

Sally Janssen’s wonderful book “Mental Fitness: The complete Self-Help Guide”, offers simple and timely solutions. Read more…

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