I was tidying up my bookshelf this week and I found my little black notebook from 2007-2008 in which I kept many spiritual gems I experienced from my master, Paramhamsa Nithyananda (fondly known as Swamiji). In that book, I remembered a mind-blowing discourse titled “Vedic Renaissance” which he delivered in USA in 2007. That extraordinary discourse resonated with me and awakened the seeker in me – a time in my life stage when I was suffering from spiritual poverty.
Just barely 2 weeks into the New Year, I am seeing a consistent mental pattern among modern city dwellers especially working women or working mothers who tend to be very hard on themselves and their bodies. May be it’s because woman is traditionally perceived as the “weaker” sex; hence she has to try so hard to prove herself in the male-dominated society. In attempting to prove her mettle for survival, woman tends to drive her body-mind to the breaking point despite a constant plea by her body intelligence to slow down. Society has taught her to be so goal-oriented and driven by the “more & more” mentality as defined by society (better lives, better grades for children, more business, more contracts, more expansions etc); she works her body like a machine. By and by, her body develops certain chronic fatigue and body aches, subsequently her mental and emotional health also take a toll with an increased stress level, a constant restlessness, irritability and mood swings. Many women drag around with a pain body and a battered consciousness in life but they are unable to get out of the vicious cycle in which they are stuck in. Her sleep pattern also gets disturbed which denies her from the natural self-renewal process she gets during deep sleep state. When sleep is deprived, her ability to concentrate begins to wane; eventually complex mental disorders such as chronic anxiety, depression or fear psychosis begin to set in including physical diseases.