Distracted by anxiety {yoga and psychology}

until disruptive energy is discharged

I am distracted often. Yes, it gets in my way when I feel I’ll be in trouble if I don’t accomplish a certain goal. Yet, with my life of freedom—more so, the art of distraction itself—I wouldn’t have it any other way. There is a beauty and inherent intelligence in distraction.

anxiety

Why does a distracted mind cause anxiety? So many people are taking medication for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as if to cure this ailment; it’s as if they are being taught that they cannot live adequately in our society without the maximum ability to hone in on a specific task and fulfill it without question, without delay. It’s now, or else.

Why is this? People with ADHD focus intensely on their own topic of interest. They are highly focused. They are exceedingly intelligent because of this disordered ability to focus. This activity is peaceful because it is naturally-driven and full of integrity.

Don’t we each want to live a life that is fused with our innate, inner desires?

happiness

Mindless distraction that is all about doing “something”—anything to cover up frustration or sadness—is different. It is actually an escape. Training the mind to focus instead alleviates the escapist mentality and therefore contributes to a euphoric state of mind.

The mind that is free to wander to its own desire of focus is a happy mind.

Often times, anxiety arises about the inability to focus because we feel like we are doing something wrong by not getting something productive done. Lose that worry and the anxiety dissipates though… and watch what happens next. The mind is more naturally apt to zero in on what’s important to it (turning the expectation into a personal aspiration).

focus

Are we happiest when we feel focused and capable or is it that, in these sharp moments, we are simply content knowing that we are accepted just the way we are—distracted mind and all.

Medication for ADHD does, in fact, create a euphoric state of mind. It’s a stimulant, yes, which often can engender happiness, but the bliss emerges from elsewhere as well. Worries that something is wrong are dissolved.

And, aren’t we happiest when we are most present in our favorite moment—which means free from worries! This occurs when we are totally involved in an activity.

Concentration is being one with something, yet the object is not as important as concentration itself. While concentrating, thoughts calm down. If we view a distracted mind as bad, this judgment disperses our pure state.

pure state of being

We are each distracted by our own unique lives—histories and circumstances. The more in tune we are with our true selves, the better off we are. We don’t want to change that which distracts us and that which disallows us to focus; if we attempt to change something, we infer that it is bad.

We should just understand all of it as a part of us, and use it to allow our purest state to prevail. We are happiest being ourselves.

yoga and psychology

Psychology analyzes how our past affects the present, and how our defenses protect our current reality. In psychology, we want to illuminate these defenses in order to bring them out of the shadows so that we can see them and deal with them.

Yoga attempts to get us to pay attention to our bodies and spirits, so that our natural defenses (mind) don’t get in the way. In yoga, we don’t want to follow our thoughts and stories that play out. Instead, we want to dissolve defenses so that they don’t get in our way.

Yoga and psychology complement each other although they appear to do the opposite of each other with regards to distractions and defenses.

Yoga can, in fact, be an essential lens from which to see psychology. It helps us not just spin in our mind’s childhood and analyses. Remember, our goal is that of liberation.

Everything from the unconscious is locked in the body. To unlock all that distracts us from being authentic with life, we don’t want to simply change inherent parts of who we are. Instead, we want to hold these precious parts of us and let them know that everything is ok and always will be.

emotions

Emotions are awesome! It’s great to truly feel. But, we want to feel what is authentic—not the stories that create a fictitious inability to make dreams come true.

Emotional traumas that go unresolved leave energies inside us that can rule us, acting unconsciously from the mind and held like trolls in the body. We think they are no longer there and that we “let go” at the time. We thought we truly did let go and moved on. Did we?

The heartaches, tribulations, sorrows, and agonies that remain within us are gifted beyond measure. They remain silent. They do their work unnoticed. Until we call them on their shit, they remain solo behind dark cloaks.

Distractions can simply be the mind-body’s instincts telling it that something lurks below, unresolved, and that until the energy of the unresolved stress has been discharged, unrest will continue…

You are in charge of your life.

Through yoga much of what ails me is released in postures that twist out toxins, stretch out the rivers inside me that flow and extend the heart’s lifeline. From this revitalized place, I have clarity. I am not distracted from my pure thoughts. There is no anxiety. There is no stress. I am true to who I am.

I know deep down that only the right thing is happening to me. I speak now to you, my dream, my core desire, my distraction, which will tie us together in a balanced state. In my search, I have been sad because of the inability to find the part of you that is me. But now I have it. When I can see your face in the present, in person, I am not worrying. You tell me not to fade away, to rest and so I do. ~ r.e.l.