Increasing incidences of anxiety, worry, and depression pushing a scary number of us over the brink have got us thinking. We are looking for solutions in therapy, counseling or medicines. But few of us have tried to open up the many emotional and spiritual layers to the issue of a worried mind. Here, spiritual master and global humanitarian leader, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, unveils these layers of worrying and how the experience of letting yourself feel emotions can get you out of this cage of worry and set you free!

Gurudev founded the International Association For Human Values with the purpose to replace the conflicts in the world with a peaceful and spiritually uplifted world where human values like peace, love, service and a sense of belongingness are cherished. These spiritual values are indispensable for an individual as much as a society to thrive in peace where there is less fear and violence, something that we are coming closer to realize only now.

“1) The Head Worries And The Heart Feels.

They cannot function at the same time. When your feelings dominate, worry dissolves. If you worry a lot, your feelings are dead; you are stuck in the head. Worrying makes your mind and heart inert and dull. Worry entangles you. Worry puts you in a cage. When you feel, you do not worry. Feelings are like flowers, they come up, they blossom and they die. When feelings are expressed, you feel relieved. When you are angry, you express your anger, or you are upset, you cry and you get over it. Feelings last for some short time and then they drop, but worry chews at you for a longer period of time, and eventually eats you up. Feelings make you spontaneous. Children feel, so they are spontaneous. Adults put brakes on their feelings and they start worrying.

2) Worrying About Anything Obstructs Action While Feelings Propel Action.

Worrying about negative feelings is a blessing because it puts the brakes on those feelings, preventing you from acting on them. Usually one never worries about positive feelings. Worrying takes away your energy; you cannot think clearly when you worry.

3) Offering Your Worries Is Prayer

Prayer moves you in feelings.You simply have to wake up and see the present is inevitable. Just become aware of your own experience of worry and fear- ‘I have gone through this many a times, okay, one more time.’ That makes you numb to it. You become sort of immune to it, if it is happening over and over again.

4) It Is Our Greed, Possessiveness And The Aggression In Us That Brings Us All This (Worry).

If you are content, happy and centered, everything will flow to you. You don’t have to go and grab something; things will come your way. This is why this world is called ‘Maya’. If you try to possess or if you try to grab something, it just runs away from you. If you are stable, still and content within yourself, then everything runs towards you.”

About Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is an international humanitarian leader and a spiritual master who is the global rallying voice of this generation’s collective call for peace. 
Named one of the “Seven Most Powerful People in India,” by Forbes, his world-renowned meditation techniques helped end the 60 year conflict in Colombia. He has been credited in bringing opposing parties together to facilitate meditation and peace talks in Iraq, Cote d’Ivoire and India. 
Founder of the Art of Living Foundation and International Association for Human Values, Sri Sri is leading the way toward peace and tolerance through meditation and humanitarian efforts. Over 35 years, his programs and initiatives have touched the lives of over 370 million people in over 150 countries. 
“Sudarshan Kriya,” the meditation technique introduced by Sri Sri is backed by research and implemented in schools, corporations, prisons, refugee camps and retreat centers around the world. As a spiritual teacher, Sri Sri rekindled traditions of yoga and meditation that have helped millions of people achieve personal and social transformation by relieving stress and discovering inner peace in daily life. 
Sri Sri’s mission is to show the world that through achieving inner peace, we will be able to see our human interconnectedness and become a One World Family