When you’re faced with a challenging situation, instead of getting tense and tied up in knots, try to step back from the problem. Allow your energy to flow calmly upward to the third eye. Let your awareness rest there, and trust that you are surrounded and protected by the Divine’s light. In Autobiography of a Yogi, Lahiri Mahasaya says, “Attune yourself to the active inner Guidance; the Divine Voice has the answer to every dilemma of life.”

Perhaps you’ve had a difficult encounter with another person. Instead of reacting emotionally and exchanging angry words, inwardly withdraw for a moment and take a few deep breaths. Become aware of the energy in your heart centre, and let it flow upward toward the third eye. Feel that you are relating from that point in you to that point in the other person. Once this process begins, you’ll discover the way to restore harmony.

When circumstances of any kind produce stress or anxiety, don’t be pulled into the downward spiral of worry and fear. Relax upward, and offer everything to your higher power. Trust that whatever happens is part of a plan.

Consciously create moments of tranquility and upward relaxation throughout the day. Try to build a fortress of peace around you during the quiet times in your life. Then when the enemy attacks with its soldiers of fear and worry, you can overcome them. Over time you’ll find that the bulwarks of your inner calmness and strength can withstand any assault.

Finally, and most importantly, learn to relax upward in meditation. When you sit to meditate, consciously relax: first release the tensions in the body; then the preoccupations of the mind; then the emotional involvements of the heart; and finally, any remaining blocks to which the ego clings. Release these entrapped pools of energy into a flowing current that moves upward in the spine to the third eye. “Don’t,” as Swamiji wrote, “try to force your concentration to that point. Think of it, rather, as your natural centre of being.” Once you approach meditation, not with tension, but with an upward flow of self-offering, it will feel natural to rest in the Divine’s peace within.

Written by Nayaswami Devi and published on www.ananda.org/