What exactly does Discipline mean to us.. in the mindfulness space?
Discipline means having the mental clarity and strength to convince yourself to go ahead and do something whether you feel like it or not. For example, meditate ten minutes a day.
It’s easy to make that resolution but kinda difficult to stick to it. That is where discipline comes in. You may not want to do it. It’s always going to be easier to watch fifty minutes of Netflix versus ten minutes in meditation. Yeah?
But making yourself commit to the ten minutes... that is discipline.
Similarly, when things don’t go as per your plan it takes discipline to respond to the new current situation versus just reacting to the fact that it didn’t go as planned.
It takes discipline to teach the same thing over and over again to your child, if they are eight months old or eight years old. Not to lose their cool for the grownup, to not get frustrated at having to explain this yet again is discipline.
It takes discipline to set an example.
You cannot tell someone to eat better if you may be eating something that isn’t necessarily healthy.
To preach you must practice.
It takes discipline for anyone to develop integrity to the extent that they are able to stop themselves before teaching someone else. For example, if I were to teach my students to be mindful of how their anger could affect relationships, would it make sense if I lose control all the time because I got angry?
Getting angry isn’t wrong. But it takes discipline to not lash out at the first person that crosses your path. It takes discipline to not lash out at the very person who got you all riled up. It takes discipline to calm yourself down. To think things through. To understand. To respond.
And for this, we need to practice. Start small. Start with just two minutes if ten seems too long... but stick to it. Make yourself practice it. Until it becomes a habit. Second nature.
Try to apply it to every aspect of your life. And if you think you are failing, be kind to yourself. Make it a habit, being kind also takes discipline and practice
🙏🏽🙏🏽
| Sweta Shah Sakhpara is a pranic energy therapist and a pranic psychotherapist. She also teaches mindfulness and meditation to kids, adults and families. When she is not doing any of the above, she actively practices being a mindful parent to two kids. |
Having learned and practiced pranic healing for ~fifteen years, Sweta has been blessed with the trust of many clients for ailments as simple as a headache to complex ones like Tourette’s syndrome, from depression and anxiety to finding ways to embrace the idea of a new normal with a child being diagnosed on the spectrum. You could read more about her HERE.
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