Everything we have ever known has changed in the world of today.
At least in part, all that was is no more. For the most part, our lives are changing while we don’t feel in control of them. Global political unrest is causing a widespread concern that hasn’t yet found a haven and is making us worry about the transience of our means of support. Our physical well-being serves as a perpetual source of uncertainty for us.
However, COVID-19 has shed light on an underlying and powerful epidemic that threatens our mental health, which is fundamental to who we are. Our emotional and psychological well-being in connection to ourselves, others, and our environment is referred to as our mental health.
I am a certified Primordial Sound Meditation instructor via The Chopra Foundation, a professional actor, a lifelong student of Tibetan Buddhism and Vedanta, and the co-founder of Never Alone, The Chopra Foundation’s mental health program. My work at the Foundation has been influenced by my 20-year experience with Buddhist meditation practices, as well as my intense interest in non-dualism, Vedanta, and Primordial Sound Meditation.
Freedom from suffering is the aim of every approach we teach at the Foundation and Never Alone. Over time, I came to see that a very fundamental aspect and distinction—my mental hygiene and the road to self-awareness—depend on how I experience life.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, every 40 seconds someone died by suicide. The pandemic has shown a higher rate of usage of suicide hotlines by 300 percent. One cannot ignore that our mental health is at the center of it all. But what if we were to place our attention on the root of our mind? What if we were to free ourselves from ultimate suffering?
Consciousness is at the center of our being. It is the birth of our mind – images, feelings, sensations, and thoughts are born from this space that is not perceived, yet just is.
In a practical distinction, the need to be free of mind pollution, overriding worries, uncertainties of existence, we must experience our true self, our innate awareness. Our potential is infinite as we start nurturing the pathway to self-awareness. And in that sense mental well-being is essential to all aspects of our daily lives, a closer mental hygiene is key for our physical and social wellbeing, our careers and life purposes, our financial, and community relationships.
