Edward’s Diary Entry 61 – Virtue 14. Tranquillity / Peacefulness (of mind) / What to do about nervousness?

Agitation, nervousness, anxiety, stress, worry, mind drifting, mind wandering…

Virtue 14, Santi, means “serenity, peacefulness or tranquillity of the mind“. Its opposite is agitation. The root of the agitation or nervousness problem is a lack of connection with something deeper within oneself. The superficial ego, untrained, like land untilled and left to grow wild with weeds, gets agitated and anxious, fuelling worrying thoughts and never keeping still, like the traditional monkey of Indian tales grasping after coconuts without holding onto them even for a second. Identification with this superficial mind is the problem.

Let me tell you the story of the multiflora rose, an exotic invasive perennial shrub native to China, Japan, and Korea, but introduced into the United States in the 1860s. By the 1930s it was widely planted in the Midwest and northeastern states at the encouragement of the USDA Soil Conservation Service for erosion control, wildlife habitat enhancement, and as a natural barrier to roaming farm animals (i.e. “living fence”). During the 1960s, conservationists were warning of the dangers of this plant to unmanaged natural areas. The USDA failed to take action, however, until it was too late. Today, many states have banned the sale of this plant, as it is just too invasive for proper control. It turned out – as in many cases of either intentional or unintentional “imports” into the New Continent – that no natural predators were available to check its propagation. Goats are the only solution, but Americans don’t have too many of these, so rooting it out or cutting it back is the only solution, as this plant produces millions of seeds that fall off and create dense thickets of thorny bushes, taking over habitats and choking out other species.

This plant was promoted for the wrong reasons, and its dangers were not seen. Even experts in agriculture are sometimes short-term thinkers and lack an awareness of natural ecology. If you fool around with nature, she’ll fool around with your intentions. But today, people are learning. See the US Invasive Species list here, if you want.

Sometimes we cannot see that there is often more intelligence in a working local eco-system than in our own human brains.

Now read instead of “multiflora rose in America”, “agitation in the mind”, and you’ll get the message. Our minds are calm, receptive reservoirs of the running waters of intelligence when we are young. The soil is ready, and what is planted in us, and what we later plant ourselves, is what we will reap. Society in the form of some well-intentioned, no doubt, but all-too-smart "educators" starts importing noxious weeds into our systems, and these quickly put out roots and start generating seeds. The flowers come, but along with them, the thorns and the red berries that will drop off and bring up many more clumps of thorny bushes. Agitation, nervousness, anxiety, stress, worry… all these things, which have always existed in the human mind, take over the calmness and run rampant in the brain to produce thoughts, emotions and actual physical and chemical changes in the body. When someone is stressed out, you can see the results in trembling, hunched shoulders, a look of fear in their eyes, foreheads creased, fingernails in mouth, feet twitching and all kinds of fidgeting. It’s a wonder people live so long what with so much energy going into useless activity!

What are the remedies? Here are a few:

1) Set up a mind enhancement programme: Find out about meditation and yoga and do some exercises for at least 15 minutes a day.

2) Wait 2 seconds before reacting. Decide not to “import” anything into your mind without a thorough “thought health inspection” first. Are these thoughts or ideas valid? Where do they come from? Are they useful? Does thinking help? How much thinking is good thinking? When does useful thinking turn into useless worrying?

3) Take 7 deep breaths. In times of trepidation, just “relax” by following your breathing. Close your eyes and take a break for 5 minutes and sense your breath coming in and out. Listen to your surroundings and accept everything. Just let it flow.

4) Think about your mortality. Contemplate how lucky you are to be alive today. You don’t know when you’re going to die. So live fully now. Life is a treasure. But it’s a treasure you don’t get to keep forever.

5) Observe yourself and get a sense of presence. Try to promote a sense of “awareness” of yourself. What is your mind doing now? Watch what it is thinking. What is your body doing? Watch how it is moving. Why are you biting your lips? Picking your fingernails or cuticles? Biting your nails? Scratching your head, flapping your hands around, clenching your jaw, twitching your legs up and down? These are habits, so new habits may have to be installed, but meanwhile, just watch and see what happens. Get out of your petty ego, look at a tree or a cloud, or a rose in a vase, and just breathe and smile.