Zen State of Mind

Some people are so calm and collected, while others seem to lose it over the smallest things. I have to say that, thanks to my temper, I tend to be in the first group, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have my &@%*]!# moments. While those can be quite a good way to vent out, I am very annoyed with myself when I let the small things get the best of me. These are the reason I decided to work on my zen skills.

I feel like the term ZEN is tossed around quite easily, and I’m guilty of it too. I kind of have my own idea of what it means, but I never really looked up the exact definition. That is, until I decided to write this article. So my idea was that zen means calm and centered, someone in harmony with themselves and their surroundings. Internet defines zen as complete and absolute peace (among other definitions). While that sounds lovely, I have to be realistic and say that my goal in not complete and absolute peace, but learning how not to get upset and waste energy on small things in life that don’t really matter. Like mixing up laundry and making all of my socks pink. Or being stuck in traffic. I want to learn to how to shake those off and be a zen master (ommmmm).

One thing that I hear everyone recommending is meditation. I tried a very simple version and I really enjoyed it. It helps me when I feel stressed and I guess when stress adds up it can be easy to over-react. If you’re not into full meditation mode, just try deep breaths. This is so good, I promise, you just have to practice it from time to time. My other trick to becoming very calm is “seeing the bigger picture”. When something (or someone) annoying happens I try to ask myself Will this all matter in a week, a month, a year? You’d be surprised how often the answer is no. When you see the things won’t matter in a longer run, why sweat about it so much? And then for those extra cranky PMS days, when none of it works, I suggest good music and some ice-cream. What are your tricks for staying cool?