Achieving Emotional Balance through Spirituality
19-Nov-06
Depression, sadness, anger, frustration, drug addiction and alcoholism all stem from an inability to effectively deal with life’s problems and an inability to express pent-up emotions. This is caused by our having too many wants and desires, and unrealistic expectations of comforts and pleasures, and an expected sense of gratification.
To deal with emotions we need to understand how our thinking mind and our emotional mind differ.
Our thinking mind is also known as our intellect or logical and rationalizing mind. It judges and evaluates what is good and bad for us. It is slow in making decisions and is very calculative. It does not believe in taking risks. Decision-making is based on past experiences, value systems and our knowledge-base.
Our emotional mind is a feeling mind, which is very powerful to deciding what we need. It can be impulsive and illogical. Our emotional mind is quicker to make decisions, often deciding in a split second without rational thought of consequences.
The emotional mind is like a double-edged sword. It can be of immense value if managed in a balanced way. It is very creative and its powers are unlimited. Creativity and new ideas originate from our emotional mind.
On the other hand, impulsive emotional decisions can cause a great deal of inner conflict and conflict with other people. This can lead to emotional imbalance and relationship problems.
Our emotional mind is hugely powerful, but it needs to be held in balance by learning to recognize emotional decisions and considering the possible consequences.
In summary:
- Become aware of your two types of thought, and learn to discern whether you are making decisions with your emotional mind of with your rational mind.
- If you’re making a decision with your emotional mind, take time to weigh the risks and possible consequences. Learn to rationalize the emotional brain.
Over the past few years I have developed the practice of analyzing my thinking pattern and processes. To be aware of your thinking or to think about your thinking is called metacognition. This is a powerful tool through which you can learn to understand your logical and emotional decisions.
MANAGING YOUR EMOTIONAL BRAIN THROUGH SPIRITUALITY
Balancing emotions is a big challenge as your emotional mind works in a non-rational way and often overrules rational thought. At one moment we can be reasonable and the very next moment we become irrational and illogical.
I believe psychotherapy and psychoanalytical methods have a limited effect. They try to bring awareness of the emotional mind and its decisions, but fail to provide a way to modulate emotional decisions and make them more intelligent.
Spirituality lends intelligent guidance to our emotional mind. At lower levels of consciousness, we are very vulnerable to emotional imbalance as our emotional mind often overrules logical and rational thought.
In contrast, when our level of consciousness is raised to a higher level we deal with emotions in a powerful and more balanced way. Instead of searching for understanding and depth in our emotional decisions, we must work hard to raise our consciousness and our level of spirituality.
Egoistic thinking focused on seeking pleasure and likes-dislikes keep our consciousness at low levels. In order to manage our emotional quotient (EQ) we need to develop our spiritual quotient (SQ).
Spiritual powers are dormant in all of us and can completely transform a person, taking the individual mind from likes-dislikes to a higher state of love, kindness and bliss. All we need to do is awaken the spiritual powers within us.
The problem with spirituality is that it needs to be liberated from religion and be demystified. There are powerful non-religious ways to increase spirituality, some of which are easy to practice.
I have made it my lifework to find fun and easy ways to help people to raise their level of spirituality. If these can become practiced on a large scale, conflicts and imbalances will begin to resolve, even at global levels, leading eventually to a peaceful and joyful world.
INCREASING YOUR SPIRITUALITY
The following tools are effective non-religious ways to awake our spiritual powers.
Laughter and breathing practices
Yoga and Meditation
Devotion
Surrender to the Universe
Following Spiritual Laws
Practicing Spiritual Values
Understanding and Transcending the Mind
This is the beginning of a series of writings on spirituality. Please post your comments and responses — I look forward to learning through community discussion.
Madan Kataria
From my perspective, you are right on. Einstein said (approximately), “The rational mind is a faithful servant and the intuitive mind is a sacred gift. We live in a culture that has made the servant the master.” At 68, I find my rational mind of limited use and my intuitive mind of great value. I’m pretty sure what Einstein meant by “intuitive mind” is what you mean by EQ guided by SQ. I couldn’t agree more with the necessity of divorcing spirituality from religion, and I look forward to more. Thank you…
Comment by William Idol — November 20, 2006 @ 1:54 am
I would be interested in knowing your definition of spirituality. I went to a lecture by an Australian associate professor, David Tacey, recently, on spirituality and health. He said that he didn’t think you could define spirituality because it is not something we do; rather, it is better to simply acknowledge it. He thought spirituality compels us to search for connection, for wholeness (our deeper self, others and the cosmos at large). He saw spirituality as being the pursuit at all times of a particular attitude to self, others and the world. What are your views on what spirituality is?
Dr Kataria writes: Rather than trying to define spirituality we must strive to experience it. In order to experience of spirituality we need guidance.
I am inspired by your question and I’m going to write an article on what it means to be spiritual and a how to access spirituality. Hopefully this article will inspire more interesting questions and provide us with more insights into spirituality. Watch this space.
Comment by Anne Scott — November 20, 2006 @ 5:32 pm
Regarding laughter and spirituality. I feel we are in ‘overwhelm’ with words, words, always words when it comes to connecting to people of other creeds, faiths, cultures etc. I feel that the problems in the world which are always dealt with using words - the most basic level of communication need to be replaced with something else where we can FEEL goodwill and happiness together, regardless of our differences - get out of our heads. I have felt that music is one way, working together doing things like tree plantings followed by the ritual of eating together, having multicultural children’s activities etc. It seems that the yoga of laughter is a wonderful way in which we can let go of head stuff and just enjoy standing next to other people sharing goodwill — and FUN. Thank you Madan. Pam Engelander
Comment by pamela engelander — November 25, 2006 @ 1:59 am
Hello, thank you for your words of wisdom and inspiration. I am grateful; love, light,
peace, mellanee
Comment by mellanee — November 27, 2006 @ 10:26 pm