Steps To Rid Stress, Anxiety, and Depression
Fulfill Your Daily Life
How often we feel that life is an endless sea of misfortunes with only few islands of joy? Are there days which seem particularly hard? Until few years ago, I would have dismissed these questions as depressive talk. Life while not perfect was not too bad. Then suddenly, it seemed like I moved from a placid lake to turbulent ocean.
Last few years of my doctoral research became very stressful and anxiety provoking. Even after graduating with a great resume, I lurched from rejection to rejection on the job market. I returned to India (I did my education in Israel) and co-founded a startup with a friend.
After devoting everything to the growth of the startup, I was unceremoniously kicked out of my own company. When things seemed to not get any worse — my home town in central India was devastated by a once in a lifetime flood. These life events left me despondent, anxious, and exhausted. Somehow, I could only focus on the negatives in my life and everyday seemed burdensome.
As I was somehow piecing my career together, the world was hit by the pandemic. Feeling angry at life, shut down in my home, I chanced upon some books on ancient Hindu scriptures. It was in here that I was reacquainted with the ancient practice of meditation — as an Indian I always knew about meditation but never practiced it in earnest.
To be very honest, meditation was hard at first. Perhaps, it was the lack of other things to do in the COVID-19 lockdown that pushed me to continue my practice.
After almost 100 days of trying, I started to feel calm and focused through meditation. While not easy to follow, I do want to outline the steps I follow in my meditative practice below in case it is useful for others -
Step 1. Take a break from the external world
Sit in a cross-legged position or on a chair in a quiet place. To isolate yourself from external world, close your eyes and use breathing techniques like Kapalbhati pranayam (breath of fire) for 10 mins (rapid exhalation and inhalation pushed by your stomach).
This practice can be alternated with a long-relaxed breathing one nostril at a time. Few rounds of this should have a calming influence.
Step 2. Feel your Breathe and lose control of thoughts
In this step, take deep but slow breaths. Feel the coolness of the air as it fills your lungs and its warmth on your face as you exhale. When exhaling, let all your thoughts subside.
A profound lesson of this exercise is to not attach oneself to a single thought. This step is challenging at the start. You will feel diverted in few seconds, if so, bring your attention back to the breath. After practicing this for few minutes, gently move to a mindfulness exercise. Here you focus your attention to each part of your body one by one — scanning the body from head to toe.
Step 3. Bring your attention to a color or light to get into a meditative state
Once your attention is secure, try to focus on a not so bright color or light — light yellow, green, keeping your eyes closed. Start visualizing a picture (a place, a deity, or even a word). If your attention starts to break, gently return it to your breath. Repeat it for five minutes, then slowly open your eyes without rushing. It may also help to chant your favorite word, prose, mantra, or the name of God.
While it may not seem easy at the outset, meditation can be life transforming. For me, it has done wonders keeping me calm and relaxed most of the time. I do feel stressed and depressed sometimes but having a daily meditative practice gives me the energy to live through these episodes without burning out.
Written by Salman Hasan, PhD.
You can reach to me on twitter.
