Reflections on happiness and mental health:
The bottom line is to be harmony with the flow of mind and matter in reality as it relates to self, others and the rest of reality. To do this you need to come in touch with inner source of reality that protect us and cares for us while we are awake , asleep, conscious or unconscious, whether we are or choose to be aware of it, or not be aware of it. The more we think of the self and put the self as identified as the “I” or the ego before others , the greater we make the distant from the true inner self the source of life. This distance results in sense of deficiency and vulnerability causing us to want more than we need, and to avoid all we perceive as negative before we can judge its goodness or badness for us, and to further ignore that which seems neutral or boring.
Too much auto pilot, too much habitual reactive behavior, based on emotions and thinking, acting out without awareness of the underling motivations and driving feelings, psychosomatic equivalents like, headaches, sleep difficulty, rashes, stomach and intestinal problems, all are sources of continuing unhappiness, that you may not be aware of. Become aware of them and deal with them to lessen your suffering and increase happiness.
Deal with them by becoming aware, re establishing connections between thoughts, feelings, and body sensations, working with the motivating feelings, by using other emotional anecdotes, burning up the feelings by experiencing them, and using them directly in skillful and helpful ways, and applying the results of your practice and work, to your self, to your relationships, and at work and play and to life and living in general.
Use mindfulness applied to breathing as an exercise in itself, mindfulness based self hypnosis, and general and applied meditative techniques to help with these problems.
Maintain the flow between mind and matter , between self and others, between body, mind and emotions, between past, present and future. In the ultimate reality there is no separation between these. There is only constant flow and change, and it is to our and everyone benefit to go with the flow of these inseparable elements of conventional and ultimate reality.
When thinking and doing is no longer helpful, switch to the experiencing mind of which mindfulness is an example. Many mental health and physical problems get worse when we lose the connections between emotions, physical sensations and thought, and their representations with others. We make what is impermanent and changing and connected and not belonging to our real self, permanent, enduring, lasting longer than it need be or should, taking away its changing nature, and its multiple if not infinite connections, and make it solid, we isolate it, as a thing, and then incorporate it into our self by thinking about it and retaining it, emotionally reacting to it, and hold on to it by active and passive resistance. We personalize things and break the connections they have with all others, as we freeze the flow.
We need to move freely between the thinking mind and the experiencing mind, between self and other, between now and the future, what is in the best interest of every one now and forever, this dictates the right course of action.
To be happy one needs to be centered, grounded and stabilized in the reality of the moment. To do this one must have ones body, mind and emotions stabilized. First one must be aware of what is happening moment by moment, that is be and stay in the present moment, then one must stay grounded and centered by accepting reality for what it is, and allowing it to unfold, moment by moment, and when pulled of this center and grounding, by something which we will call a distraction, to not to become de stabilized by this but to deal with it, in a manner that allows one to return back to the center, become grounded again, and re establish stability of body, mind and emotions.
There needs to be harmony and balance between the thinking doing mind and the experiencing mind, between the conscious and unconscious mind, and its representations in work, play and in relationships. This flow of mind and matter needs to constantly followed by mindfulness in daily living and helped along or healed for self and other with mindfulness meditation or using similar methods such as mindfulness based self hypnosis.