Everything is connected. We are all linked in one continuous web of energy and vibration. We could put this oneness to great use by collectively choosing to raise the consciousness of the human species. As Gandhi-ji said, first we have to BE the change that we wish to see in the world. We each have to choose to raise our own vibrations.

A good place to begin is in working to free ourselves from all of our addictions. In my last post, I challenged people to give up alcohol, nicotine, ganja, and other substances. In addition to freeing our systems of those substances, we can also choose to free ourselves of addictive thought patterns, relationships, foods, anxieties, and activities such as watching too much television. In this blog entry, I will focus on freedom from the addictions to television and to anxieties.

I copy the following information on television from my website page “Tips from Tejaswini”:

During my grade school years I watched a lot of television, but in high school and college I was too busy with studies and parties. Then in my twenties I got hooked on Seinfeld and thoroughly enjoyed watching it every week, until that last disappointing episode. When Seinfeld ended, so did my television watching. Now I don’t even own a television.

While not owning a television seems completely normal and natural to me, I realize that there are a lot of people who really enjoy watching television. If you watch a lot of television, I invite you to consider reducing the amount of time you spend in front of the TV. Here’s why: regardless of the kind of program you are watching, the speed of the light changes happening on the screen puts your body-mind into a survival state in which your system has to choose between flight or fight. The trouble is, you can’t fight the television, nor can you flee it. You can’t flee it because the speed of the light changes freezes the attention of your survival state brain upon the television screen.

This is why people can’t very easily take their eyes away from a television that’s blaring in the room, even if they are trying to do something else. Advertising companies make good use of this phenomenon: they increase the speed of the light changes during commercials to make sure that they hook people’s attention. 

Watching television is one way to get into a meditative state, but the problem with this form of meditation is that it creates stress in the body-mind. Once the speed of the light changes on the screen puts you into the survival state, then the stress hormone cortisol gets released, and that hormone is responsible for a lot of health problems.

A healthy alternative to TV meditation is sitting in silent meditation. Many people think that they need the outside stimulation of the television to feel happily entertained, but once they try sitting in silence, they find so much relief in taking a break from all of the outer stimulation. To learn how to begin a regular daily meditation practice, check out my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living.

Also,when you watch less television, you will have more time to pursue other interests... and those interests might bring you much joy.

When we pursue interests that we enjoy, we lessen the addictive anxieties that cycle around inside of us. Freedom from anxiety is not easy to achieve. We live in a time when anxiety is increasing all around us, and when we consider that we are all linked in one web of energy, then we understand that each person's anxiety affects everyone else.

I endeavor to lessen my personal anxieties so that I stay open to receive the guidance that the Universe is continually giving us. It is difficult to hear our inner voice of wisdom when we are blocked by anxious energies. This past week I witnessed a lot of anxieties in my system, and while I watched them I also took actions to reduce them. First I focused on trusting in my own ability to heal myself and to free myself from the anxieties.

Next I followed my intuition as to what herbs and scents might assist me. I chose a tincture called Lavender Spirits Compound (a liquid herbal extract by Herb Pharm, www.herb-pharm.com), which contains cinnamon bark, nutmeg seed, lavender flower, clove flower bud, and rosemary herb. (I am not a doctor, so please consult your healthcare practitioner before taking herbal remedies.) For aromatherapy, I enjoyed the scents of jasmine, sandalwood, patchouli, and ylang ylang.

Along with the herbal and floral medicines, I continued to sit still in my regular, daily meditation practice, and I watched the anxious energies move around in my system. I repeatedly brought my attention back to my breath to calm my body-mind, and I kept telling myself, “this too shall shift."

Each day I focused my attention on cultivating the witness. The witness consciousness is that part of ourselves that objectively watches everything that we are. We can cultivate the witness during sitting meditation practice and during our daily lives. This practice of watching ourselves gradually trains us to accept and allow all parts of ourselves, so that we can relax into the love in our hearts. Cultivating the witness is a gradual journey into the healing experience of true self-love. As we gradually forgive ourselves, we begin to love ourselves unconditionally.

Two other self-healing remedies are affirmations and inspirations. Saying positive affirmations out loud is a great way to calm ourselves while re-training our brains. Try saying this affirmation out loud three times: "I trust that everything is happening perfectly in each moment." How do you feel when you say that? If we say affirmations daily, over time they really do change our ways of thinking and feeling.

When we are serious about raising our vibrations, we also need to continually find things that inspire us. A friend recently referred me to a website that really inspired me, and I typed a section about that website for this blog , but for some reason I can't get that paragraph to upload. After spending a very frustrating hour on the computer just now, I am laughing at the irony in me posting a blog about reducing anxieties while I am watching my anxiety rise over this computer problem!

In my next blog I will write more about inspirations, healings, and exercises to reduce anxiety. For now, I'm off to take my lavender spirits remedy!

As we each commit to being the change that we wish to see in the world, may we each work steadily to free ourselves from our unhealthy addictions. May we heal ourselves so that we can help raise the consciousness of the human species.

May all beings everywhere know Peace and Happiness.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini


Photo of blue flowers by Richard Broderick, CC license.