Where does happiness come from?
As humans we naturally seek to be happy, and somewhere along the way we learnt that happiness comes in the form of a perfect partner, looking a certain way, having a certain job, circle of friends, car, house and other ‘things’.
Although some of these can provide joy too, don’t we want a constant flow of happiness, not dependent on what we have or what is or isn’t around us?
We plan, orchestrate and play out our lives in the pursuit of obtaining all of that which we believe will ‘make us’ fulfilled and happy. Without realising that we are already actually that.
We are that unbounded state of infinite happiness, creativity, intelligence and love, but what inhibits us from experiencing all of this on a daily basis is stress, stress that’s built up in the body. This is stress we may have experienced this morning, last week, last year, five years ago, when we were a little kid, stress we even experienced lifetimes ago, if you’re open to hearing that.
Stress in the body plays out as the frustration, impatience, worry, anger, sadness, fear and doubt. It can overwhelm us a lot of the time and it holds us back from the natural, uplifting evolution of life, which is actually always moving in the direction of greater happiness and flow – whether we’re aware of it or not.
So how do we access and enjoy – on a daily basis – that infinite reservoir of potential, all of the good stuff, and let go of the old habits and behaviours binding us to an irrelevant, unsustainable and predictable way of life?
We transcend; we move beyond our thoughts and ideas (the ideas we have about ourselves and the world around us), we move beyond our worries, doubts and habits, beyond all of it, and allow the mind to settle down to its least excited state. This is the deepest state of awareness that you are, it’s unbounded and full of unlimited potential.
By making contact with that state each day we begin to draw upon all of our natural resources, our innate qualities, again and again, and this is what allows us to move through life in the most powerful way possible.
When the mind settles down, the body also follows, sinking into a deep state of rest – a level of profound rest we don’t usually access in a day - initiating complete head to toe relaxation.
This is Vedic Meditation, and there’s no focus, concentration or control needed.
By meditating in this way, very naturally and easily the body simultaneously lets go of the accumulated stress and fatigue and whatever else is no longer relevant for us to be carrying around (see examples above), and automatically we start shifting out of the habitualised stress state, back to our natural state of Being, where infinite happiness resides.
We transcend, we meditate, for 20 minutes, twice a day, everyday. It’s easy, effortless and extremely effective.
We do this everyday, because we’ve got a backlog of stress to clear from our system and it keeps coming in (think work, family, relationship needs, financial pressures, social expectations, traffic, pollution, EMFs, emails, texts, lack of sleep and so on). We might not be used to it, but we prioritise some stillness, some time for ourselves, we sit down, get comfortable, be quiet, close the eyes and allow that deep healing process to take place, everyday.
We do this not just for ourselves, but for everyone we come into contact with. This practice of letting go will be the most powerful and beneficial thing you ever do for your own health and happiness, and the health and happiness of those around you.
We weren’t built for stress and stimulation 24/7, which without realising it, is actually what most people living in modern times are experiencing, and that’s where the world’s chronic mental and physical health conditions come in.
When you begin to practice Vedic Meditation each day you’ll find you are:
Feeling less stressed and anxious and more calm and relaxed
Feeling less tired and more awake
Thinking more clearly
Breathing more easily
Sleeping better
Getting sick less
Smiling and laughing more
Happy for no reason
More confident and capable
More patient
Less reactive and not getting as triggered as you used to
More observant and aware
Experiencing greater stability – mentally, emotionally, physically
Experiencing greater depth of understanding and appreciation
Able to let go of things a lot more easily
Having great ideas throughout the day
Experiencing greater connection in your relationships
Experiencing greater subtlety and sense of perception
Sensing and feeling what you actually need
Experiencing greater freedom, ease and flow in life
Anyone can practice Vedic Meditation, and you can do it anywhere (chair, bed, bus, car, couch, park, train, tram, and so on), anytime.
If you’re interested in gifting the powerful practice of Vedic Meditation to yourself, or a loved one, please get in touch, I’d love to hear from you and share it with you.
I run regular Learn to Meditate courses on the Sunshine Coast and other parts of South East Queensland and we can easily work out some dates and times that will suit you. I can also put you in touch with another teacher in your area – we are all around the world.
Where does happiness come from? From within. You just have to let go and allow yourself to experience it.
With love and Jai Guru Deva,
Steph