Are You Emotionally Weatherproof?

Sometimes we get caught in an emotional rain storm. It happens. To all of us. Because we’re living in the material fast-paced world and the weather can get rough.

You may be reading The Secret, and you may be someone who tries to look on the bright side, but sometimes a negative emotion cloouds your sunny horizon. Here’s a few tips on coping with emotional bad weather from Ayurveda India’s ancient, but always relevant, science of self-healing.

1. Take a deep breath and a step back. Wait a few minutes and breath deeply, sometimes the clouds will blow over. If they don’t then it’s time to observe the unwanted feeling. Ask yourself some questions about it. Know that it comes from somewhere and that the somewhere is always to do with you. Which leads to point 2…

2. Accept response-ability. That doesn’t mean you have to blame yourself for how you’re feeling or give yourself a tough time. But it does mean that you should never blame someone else. Your feelings are just that your feelings. Others around you might be involved but they can not make you feel the way you do. Your response to any given situation is always your choice. Which leads to point 3….

3. There is always a choice. You don’t have to react on auto-pilot. You can choose, for example, to feel sad, furious, victimised etc etc or feel detached, calm, humorous even. It’s not always easy and sometimes we lose the plot but it does become easier if we look after our mind and give it some time out which leads to point 4…

4. Emotional weather proofing. Being emotionally weatherproof simply means having a roof and having some shelter in the storm. It doesn't make you hard or un-empathetic; on the contrary, when your mind is supported by taking time off-line to meditate or relax it can stop fire fighting and have some room to breath. That room tends to make us more compassionate and gentle people. It enables us to consider others rather than constantly tripping over our apparently mountainous molehills.

When you respect your mind and care for it with deep breathing exercises, meditation or walks in the countryside it will reciprocate with you by giving you emotional strength and stillness and a good waterproof layer. And for anyone wanting to move forward as a developing human being that’s essential.