all you need to know about worry

WHAT IS THe rooT of Worry?

V o l u m e 2

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

How does Worry take root?

Worry takes root from your own thoughts or words. There are two things that continuously happen in you. The first is dialogue, and the second is monologue or what I call 'inner chatter'. You either talk to people outside or you continuously chatter within you. In any case, words and thoughts are the 'building blocks' that make up worry. When you speak to others, what you say is strictly governed by societal rules

You automatically don't use prohibited or 'politically incorrect' words. But what you say inside yourself, no one except you knows. The thoughts that you generate inside constitute your real worries. Khalil Gibran , a Lebanese poet, beautifully says, 'You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts!' and 'Our very verbalization is because we are not able to handle ourselves peacefully within us.' It is like this: there is a continuous current of chatter happening in you twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. From this current a few spikes rise.

These spikes are what you feel and express as worries. Worries are nothing but spikes in the current of thoughts constantly moving within you. These thoughts are mostly negative. That's the problem. If I ask you to write your life story in a few pages, you will write a few incidents highlighting how and when you struggled.

You will not highlight the many joyful incidents that happened in between. The mind is trained to record only negative things. Even when something joyful happens, you remember only the moment when it ended, never the moments when you felt joy. Because even when you are at the peak of joy, you are always worrying about when the joy will end! The mind is trained from a very young age to think that life moves from one worry to the other or from one pain to another, never from one joy to another.

To make them aware of the causes of the worry about negative thought, how worry differs from person to person

v Why do we worry?
v When do we have negative thoughts?
v How is inner chatter related to worry?
v What are the building blocks of worry?
v Do worries differ from person to person? Is there any big worry better than small worry?
v Does worry speed the process of solving our problems?
v When do we start worrying?
v What can change worrying?
v What does a black dot on the white board signify?

Conclude the topic by reinforcing the fact - start looking at the happiness around us instead of thinking the minute worries. Try not to allow your mind to wander to the past/ future.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Plain sheet,
Worry chakra picture (Manipuraka)
Sketch pen or

Pencil
Poster colors

PROCEDURE:

Give each child a plain sheet and ask them to draw the worry chakra by seeing the picture or give them the chakra picture and ask them to color with poster colors or crayons.

The Manipuraka chakra is located in the navel region. In Sanskrit, Manipuraka means 'The City of Jewels'. This chakra is locked when you constantly worry and it flowers when you stop worrying about your worries!

PROCEDURE:

Most of the time, we talk in the air without getting down to the actual facts. If we get down to the bottom of our so-called worries, we will understand that we are simply magnifying things that are not so bad at all.

Alright, now let us analyze what actually happens inside your mind when you are worrying. Just watch your mind when you are worrying about something.

You will see that a continuous stream of thoughts is being generated in your mind - totally disconnected thoughts - and usually negative thoughts. An influx of negative and repetitive words will be like a current in your mind.

MATERIALS NEEDED: One balloon per person

PREPARATION:

Gather everyone together and give each person a balloon.

PRESENTATION & DISCUSSION:

Ask each child to blow the balloon as big as they can and then tie it. If they want they can also create a face on the balloon using a sketch pen.
Now explain that they are going to shout, rant and scream at the balloon, talk in gibberish about all the nonsense that is stored up inside. Then take the balloon and burst it. This is letting out with it pop all the built up stress in us and we feel free. While they are getting out all the negativity, they can be standing in separate corners in order to lessen the feelings of self consciousness.

DISCUSSION:

If we keep adding on more stress, eventually it will break our system. Burst the stress and be free from worry and any thoughts, get it out of your system and you will be instantly lighter and more clear. After that let them talk about how they felt and what was their experience. Lots of noise is stored in our mind and this helps us let it out.

What was your feeling inside your stomach?

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Pieces of paper
Pencils

Container or Jar

PREPARATION:

Have enough pencils and small pieces of paper for everyone. Make a label "WORRY-JAR" for the Jar and stick it on. PRESENTATION & DISCUSSION:

Talk about how we are always carrying around our worries and it blocks up the path to happiness. How can we be in bliss if we are thinking like "Oh I'm so blissful! But Tommy really made me angry yesterday by calling me names!" We are constantly thinking about the past or the future, but what about now? Let's focus on what we are doing today and leave the past behind and we'll cross the bridge of the future when we get there.

Show the worry jar and give each person a paper and pencil. Ask them to write something that is bothering them right now. Ask them if it is a real worry or something that is not worth worrying about. If it is not worth worrying about, write it down and drop it in the worry-jar and don't worry about it again!

KAILASA's NITHYANANDA RAJAVIDYA GURUKUL

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