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No Pain, No Gain? 3 Body-Mindful Practices to Get Yourself Off of the Hamster Wheel, by Jennifer Kreatsoulas, PhD and Robert Butera, PhD

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

Yoga philosophy teaches that we have everything we need inside of us to tend to all of life's moments, from the happiest to the most challenging. When we slow down, get quiet, and pay attention to our personal wisdom, we can gain tremendous clarity about what we need to improve a situation, make a decision, or solve a problem. In other words, all the answers we seek exist inside of us already; we need only trust in our ability to access them.

This philosophy counters our overly stimulating, consumer-driven culture. As a society, we are conditioned to look outside of ourselves for answers, seeking external validation for our decisions, feelings, and dreams. We are taught to go faster, push harder, buy more, follow others' advice, keep up with trends, chase an ideal. The well-known expression, "no pain, no gain" perfectly captures the social belief that it is necessary to suffer or work hard to be successful. As such, many of us find ourselves in a constant state reaching outside of ourselves to prove our worth. All the striving weakens our connection to our inner wisdom, especially if we do not carve out time daily to pause, get quiet, and all our inner wisdom to reveal itself.

The History of "No Pain, No Gain"
Thanks to Jane Fonda and her popular aerobics videos in the 1980s, "No pain, no gain" has become much more than a household phrase; it has become a social attitude and cultural mindset, a moral code of conduct and measure of a person's work ethic. Pain equals progress, and without pain, success counts less. Accomplishments are evaluated in terms of how much a body can withstand and a mind can endure.

"No pain, no gain" invokes a spectrum of desirable attributes that have become associated with the fitness, athletics, diet, beauty, and fashion cultures, from intensity, focus, and determination to sacrifice, self-denial, and punishment. Related slogans, like, "Just do it" and, "Beauty is pain" are intended to be motivational and inspirational and to push an individual toward a goal that is usually physical in nature.

Although these days, "No pain, no gain" is associated with personal achievement, especially in the sports and fitness arenas, a form of the expression, "According to the pain is the gain" (which appeared at the beginning of the second century in Pirkei Avot: Ethics of the Fathers, part of didactic Jewish ethical literature), taught that spiritual gain is impossible without the pain involved in doing what God commands. The versions of this slogan that appeared in the 1500s and 1600s ring of the familiar modern connotation, which emphasizes that suffering is essential to progress and that hardship and achievement are inseparable. In his 1758 essay "The Way to Wealth," Benjamin Franklin, in his persona of Poor Richard, stated, "There are no gains, without pains," to explain the maxim "God helps those who help themselves."

Ancient Greek thought may be at the root of many fitness slogans that have been reinterpreted in the modern era. All armies from the dawn of time would endure pain and show no sign of weakness to their enemies. Valor on the battlefield was meant to demonstrate not just the willingness to fight when the odds of survival were low, but to fight with courage and dignity. Hence, "No pain, no gain" was an attitude used in military training to prepare for the ultimate potential use of one's life for the sake of one's tribe.

Embracing A New Mentality
The normalized cultural meanings of "No pain, no gain" can be internalized in different ways. For some of us, the slogan truly is motivational and even helpful. But for others, the message might lead to feelings of inadequacy or a need to push past healthy limits. Even if commonly accepted phrases like "No pain, no gain" are popular, they may not be body- or life-affirming.

How do you relate to this slogan in your own life? Are you comfortable affirming yourself or do you find that you need to always strive to prove yourself to others? Do you feel compelled to work hard all the time, or do you give yourself permission to take time to turn inward and let go of being in a "doing" state?

If you find yourself on the "no pain, no gain" hamster wheel, we invite you to incorporate one or all of these visual and auditory body mindful practices into your life. A yoga practice is any activity that guides self-awareness. A body mindful yoga practice adds the dimension of purposefully tuning into self-talk and intentionally using self-affirming language to change your brain, uplift your mood, and ultimately, improve your sense of self. Our book Body Mindful Yoga includes a variety of mental, physical, auditory, and visual practices designed to help you establish an awareness of your inner dialogue and incorporate body mindful language into your life with the intention of improving self-confidence. Over time and with diligent practice, the kinder words will become more readily accessible, and the less kind words won't be as quick to show up.

These three visual body mindful yoga exercises are less language-intensive and more sensory-focused, giving your brain a rest from hard work while nourishing your senses and restoring your energy.

1. Spend time in nature appreciating the colors, sounds, creatures, and mysteries of the natural world. Practice watching yourself observe what you see and hear without judgment. In turn, observe your self-talk as it bubbles up, and practice matching the neutral observing you do of nature with that of yourself. For example, "I see a red bird" is a neutral observation statement. Through practicing neutral observation with nature, you can begin to practice it with yourself.
2. View paintings, drawings, statues, and other pieces of artwork that inspire positive feelings. Notice the colors, textures, and other fine details that capture your attention. What unique qualities do you appreciate about these artistic pieces? If a work of art is especially pleasing to your eye, consider using it as a point of meditation. Gaze at it first thing in the morning for an allotted period of time as you recite your mantra, affirmation, or prayer.
3. Watch or listen to lectures, presentations, movies, and plays with messages that reinforce a healthy mindset toward your body and self. Music also fits in nicely here. You can create a playlist of music that is uplifting and inspires self-confidence and empowerment.

Doing these practices regularly will not only help restore balance to excessive working and striving mentalities, they will also help you reconnect with your inner world, offering you time and space to listen to your thoughts, notice your emotions, and appreciate the world around you. You deserve these few precious moments to unwind, reset, and simply be.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2018. All rights reserved.

For months there have been two or three people controlling my thoughts to get me to feel the way they want me to. They want to punish me or make me think twice about what I'm doing versus what they want me to do. There are thoughts forced into my mind constantly. I can't think for myself and if I try forcing the thoughts away they just get quiet for a while. How can I force these people out of my mental space?

S.

Astrea:

Telepathic messages are picked up by people with various types of psychic ability. Often Empaths will experience people intruding on their thoughts as you describe.

Most of the time, other people drift in and out of our minds or we only get vague impressions from them. We may pick up on their thoughts, but we perceive them with feelings and impressions instead of images or voices. I don't know of anyone getting the winning lottery numbers from something like this, but I do know that numbers are common things to see in this way.

It isn't good for you to feel helpless, especially since no one can punish you except YOU. Please try to grasp this concept! You can choose to stop hearing these voices, but you may need some help.

If you have people in your life you can trust to take this information in the right way, ask them to meditate and pray with you so you can get rid of these telepathic intruders right away. The sooner this is over, the better you will feel.

Also, think about what you did to open the door of your mind and let these intruders into your Harmony. Go back in time to when these voices began. If they seem to be growing stronger or more troubling, it may be high time to get rid of them altogether.

You can quiet them for a while now, and with time and effort, you can learn to quiet them permanently. You simply have to find the strength to close the door you opened in the past. Once you discover when, why and how this all began, you shouldn't have any trouble quieting these entities once and for all.

Most telepathic people must learn to shield themselves from other people's thoughts, but in this case, you've allowed them to take control. If these are living people you know in real life, just tell them to stop. If they are other-worldly people, then you have to get them out of your head.

One way to do that is to replace their voices with the voices of your Guides and Angels. Your Angels can battle these intruders and get rid of them for you, but you have to ask them to do it. Though our Guides and Angels can't force us to take particular action, they can force other beings out of where they don't belong.

You would also be wise to consider that these experiences could stem from a change in any kind of medication you've been taking. If you or your doctor made any prescription changes at about the time this began to happen, talk to your doctor about changing your dosage. If this is altogether a spiritual condition, you might seek support and guidance from a spiritual helper like a healer or spiritual counselor.

*****

Susyn:

This problem is more common than you might imagine. We are bombarded via television, radio and print advertising with commercials, messages and propaganda trying to influence our opinions. We also have ministers, teachers and family members around us who may be trying to influence or control our thoughts for various reasons.

It sounds like there are some people in your life who would like to direct your thoughts, and that you know who they are. In this case, it should be relatively simple to block their attempts.

First, keep in mind that every time you mention others' attempts to control you, you actually give them more power to do so. As long as you believe that they have the ability to do this, you keep the door open and allow this behavior to continue.

I recommend you begin with a daily or hourly affirmation. Each time you feel others' energy coming at you, simply block it with the statement, I am in control. No one has influence over my thoughts or actions unless I allow it.

Next, it would be a good idea to freeze these individuals using a few simple household items. Gather together a white candle, a brown grocery sack, some table salt, and some sandwich size Zip-loc baggies - one for each person you feel is trying to control your thoughts.

To center your mind, light the white candle and take some deep breaths. Tear off a small piece of the brown paper sack and write the name of one person on it. Concentrate on this piece of paper and say aloud, I ask the Universe to freeze all thoughts and controlling behavior emanating from this person, and return those thoughts to them tenfold.

Then fold the paper three times, drop it into the baggie and sprinkle some table salt into the bag. Next, fill the bag two-thirds full with water, seal it, and place it in your freezer. Repeat this ritual with each person you feel is attempting to control you. Within 24 hours (after the bags of water have frozen solid), you should feel better and more in control of your own thoughts.

If these are people with whom you are in regular contact, you can also visualize a small mirror in your solar plexus chakra area when you are with them. When you feel attacked, focus on the mirror and let it symbolically reflect their words and energy back to them.

You can also carry a piece of turquoise or lapis lazuli with you at all times, as these stones are known for their protective powers.

These three methods should help you sidestep any influence these people attempt to wield over you and eliminate the telepathic problems you've been having.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.