When you have low self esteem, you tend to question your ability most of the time. Most people around seem to be doing better than you, and you don’t see enough competence in yourself.
The tough part about having low self esteem is that you tend to go on for several years in life believing within that you are not good enough. You feel inhibited in some situations…
When you are upset, tired or stressed, it becomes difficult to focus at work. You are more vulnerable to distractions and everything takes twice as long to do.
“I have been going through a difficult time since the past couple of days. I am shifting to a new house and there are soooo many things to take care of. It is very stressful and it is creating a tense family atmosphere as well. There are projects to finish at work but I find my mind drifting to these problems. It is becoming really difficult to concentrate at my job. My personal problems are starting to get the better of me. It’s affecting my work now! I don’t know what to do about it…”
– Mr.K.L, Senior Manager.
“It’s affecting my work.” Most of us have used this line at some time; generally, when something is going wrong in our personal life and it is starting to affect our productivity at work. It could be a fight with a friend. A neighbour who is causing you unnecessary trouble. Or like Mr. K.L, a tense family environment.
We feel stressed and our mind seems in disarray. It becomes difficult to focus on the task at hand. You don’t feel like working and you struggle to make it through the day.
It’s that time of the year again when every building is dotted with lanterns, diyas and lights…and not to mention, when it’s okay to eat as many sweets as you want to!
Diwali is here! The festival of lights is a much loved one across ages and communities. No wonder then that no exchange in these 3-4 days would be complete without “Happy Diwali” 🙂
Apart from the festivities and fire crackers, there is a deeper meaning that Diwali would hold for each of you. To some it would mean hope, whereas for some, joy.
For Diwali, we at Inner Space decided to come together and share with you what Diwali means to each of us in the team. Penning this down was a soothing experience and helped each of us connect with what Diwali truly meant to us.
Imagine you are a ship. On a voyage. Swayed by gentle breeze or choppy waves everyday. You feel pulled back or pushed ahead. At times, you find it difficult to stay on course. Wouldn’t you want to have an anchor, to keep you steady?
If the ship is your mind, the breeze and waves are your thoughts which take you to the past and future… but what is the anchor??
The anchor is something that is with you all the time – it is the ‘present’
Discovering the Present through Mindfulness
Mindfulness means paying attention to the present, completely and fully. It is a moment-to-moment awareness of one’s experience, be it of what you see/hear/smell, or your breath or even your thoughts.
We promised you that we’d share our experiences at the Mental Health Awareness Weekend 2013 (MHAW) with you. We’re a little late; ’cause we were catching up on some rest after the hectic preparation.
So here goes…
The Mental Health Awareness Weekend begins tomorrow, and we are looking forward to it!
For today, we decided to share with all of you a little memento that we’re planning to give away to those whom we meet tomorrow.
But first, some background about the memento…
It is World Mental Health Day!
There wouldn’t have been a better time to talk about one of the most common afflictions as far as mental health is concerned, something that almost all of us face – ‘Anxiety’.
Be it seeing after your children or making it on time to work, several situations give us the “on the edge” feeling.
When we talk of dealing with or managing anxiety, we think about it the mental way. We try to take things easy, we try to consciously ask ourselves to ‘calm down’ and stay focused.
However, what we tend to ignore is that –
Anxiety is as much in the body as it is in the mind
Through our posts, we’ve been talking about how it is okay to seek help and how seeking help is a sign of strength, not of weakness.
We understand that even then, when you do decide to go in for counseling, you might have some doubts or apprehensions-
“What really is counseling?”
“What happens in these sessions?”
“Will it actually help?”
These are real questions and a lot of people we interact with do voice them as well. So, we decided that real questions deserve real answers; we asked some of those who have been in therapy with us, to share what therapy or counseling means to them.
Yesterday, we spoke about how consciously taking care of your emotional health goes a long way in nurturing and strengthening yourself.
Today, we address a slightly deeper issue.
What happens when sometimes, you feel stuck at an impasse? When you know internally that something is not quite okay… that you’re feeling a certain way and you don’t want to continue feeling like that?
You try to resolve it. Yes, it’s good to do that. You’d try and check what’s going wrong; you’d try to correct it.
What happens if still, those stresses or feelings don’t get better? Then what do you do? Turn to friends, family and other people you can trust. This is also good. People who know us act as sounding boards and support us.
But sometimes, even after talking to them, you feel that things are still not okay; like there are some knots that are entangled, and just won’t loosen up.
What then would you do?
To all of you who have been reading what we share, and to those who have stumbled upon our website more recently – World Mental Health Week is here!
We’ve always been excited about this week… more so because we hold mental health very close to our hearts. So over 2011 and 2012, we have been posting something special for all of you throughout this week..and the tradition continues this year as well.
Before we share what we are up to for Mental Health Week 2013, we want to ask you – what does mental health mean to you?
A young woman from another country moved with her family to live for one year in a town near the monastery. When, in the course of the year she discovered the monastery, she would periodically visit to have discussions with the Abbess. The Abbess introduced her to meditation, which became very meaningful for the young woman.
When the family’s year-long stay was drawing to an end, the young woman asked the Abbess, “In my country there is no Buddhism and no one has even heard about meditation. How can I continue to learn and deepen the practice you have started me on?”
The Abbess said, “When you return home ask far and wide for who, among the wise people, is recognized as having the greatest ability to listen. Ask that person to instruct you in the art of listening. What you learn about listening from such a person will teach you how to further your meditation practice.
― Gil Fronsdal, A Monastery Within: Tales from the Buddhist Path