The Prisons of Our Minds

In his epic poem “To Althea from Prison”, Richard Lovelace concludes that, “stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars, a cage”. 

We all live with self-imposed emotional or psychological limits, and we can all, at times, allow events to affect our self-esteem. 

Each of us is born with a clean emotional and mental slate – a slate that is ours to fill throughout our lives through education and personal experience.

This slate is exposed to many inputs, from family and friends to school and media.

These inputs create changes in ourselves or in our environment to which we must all adapt in order to thrive and grow. 

Some people can cope well with change, yet others become its victims.

Some can control their reactions while others cannot develop the emotional intelligence to succeed.

How can we develop the tools with which to know ourselves, define what makes us happy, to respect that same right in others and to achieve our inner freedom? 

Until recently, it was not so common to have access to the tools with which to engage in the introspection required for self-realization, or the techniques for creating and deepening our ability to connect with our intuition in order to achieve true inner freedom.

Religion gives many a base for reflection and community but at the cost of locking people into belief systems that create conformity at the expense of personal freedom.

The educational system takes a cookie cutter approach to preparing young minds for their future.

And in many cases, organizations and companies have sought to create a stereotypical employee profile stressing uniformity of behavior as a way to efficiently manage ourselves, especially in larger enterprises. 

This is changing. 

In an article for National Public Radio, authors Anya Kamenetz and Meribah Knight reported that many companies are now providing employees with meditation rooms and techniques so that they can recharge and enhance their creativity. This is especially happening in the high-tech sector where long hours are worked and where maintaining creativity and focus is key to success.

They went on to report that many school systems in the United States are now experimenting with teaching some form of meditation to students from a very young age. According to Warner Arts Magnet Elementary School in Nashville, Tennessee, principal Ricki Gibbs, behaviour referrals at his high school are down 80% over last year. This is but one of the many schools around the world incorporating these techniques into their curricula and providing students with the tools that they need to react differently to emotional challenges or stimuli that can affect their self-esteem.

Erica Sebinga, professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, reports that she has observed mental health benefits among students who have participated, claiming that they are calmer and more productive, more at peace with themselves and their peers, and according to many studies, including a 2014 one by Leiden University, enhance creative thinking.

While what is currently known as “Mindfulness” has its roots in Hindu and Buddhist meditation techniques, all religions have a basis in contemplation and meditation. Silencing our minds is an essential component to self-realization and connecting with our intuition – the basis of inner calm and creativity. 

These techniques are available for all to use and enhance their own perceptions, creativity, and self-worth. There is no doubt that people are happier when they can manage positively their reactions to events around them, and students at all levels as well as adults can benefit from these techniques. 

And mindfulness is an excellent way to manage our reactions to external stimuli so that we don’t lock ourselves in self-imposed mental prisons and emotional cages. 

Edición: Laura Espejo