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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