Column

Sometimes we are so used to living a certain way that we can’t look at a better way to live. Worry is one habit that keeps us from living to our full potential and invites disease into the body. Disease starts in the mind.

There once was a doctor famous for his extraordinary and effective treatment for arthritis. He always had a waiting room full of people.

One day an old lady with a bent back entered the clinic, with the aid of a stick. When her turn came, she went into the doctor’s room and amazingly, came out within five minutes, walking completely erect with her head high.

A woman in the waiting room ran to her and said: “It’s a miracle! You walked in bent in half, and now you are walking erect! What did that doctor do?”
The old lady replied: “He gave me a longer cane.”

Thoughts and worries arise from the navel region. As you create more thoughts inside you and worry, the load on the naval region increases, and you’ll feel heavy in your stomach.

There is an energy centre in the navel area called the manipuraka chakra. This energy centre begins to shrink when there’s a lot of worry, as it responds directly to worry, and affects the stomach. That’s why when you’re worried about something, your stomach feels uneasy. Or when you hear some shocking news, you say, ‘I can’t digest it.’ Any disturbing news causes your stomach to churn. The stomach is very sensitive to your thoughts.

You may have observed that those who are very ambitious, who are perfectionists, end up with ulcers. Too much perfectionism leads to stomach troubles and ulcers. Ulcers happen when people continuously suffer from worries. When worry becomes a habit, it causes many psychosomatic diseases, including cancer.

Worry can affect any part of the body. Psychosomatic diseases don’t have any carriers. They occur purely due to the way the mind and body of a person interact. That is why worry needs to be addressed and removed from the system.

Understanding brings the energy of insight— insight into the flow of time, laws of the universe, and the cause and effect of many things that happen in the universe. Out of this arises a deep peaceful acceptance and reverence for the universe and its ways. Once this understanding happens, you remain cheerful come what may. You live life with laughter and bliss. A blissful person’s life is so rich, there is no space or time for worry.

Swami Nithyananda is a spiritual leader