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It’s scientific fact that everything in the universe consists of pure energy—constantly moving, oscillating, and vibrating. We, too, are made up of rapidly moving energy, and that energy has a vibrational frequency.
Maybe you’ve never thought about your frequency before, but we’ve all heard phrases like “you create your reality” and “like attracts like.” You’ve met someone who immediately gives you a bad feeling or someone you’re drawn to for reasons you can’t quite explain. Even if you aren’t aware of it, your vibration impacts every aspect of your life.
Art of Living founder, spiritual master, and peacemaker Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar shares a profound secret about human behavior. He says, “True communication happens through vibrations. In fact, we convey almost all thoughts through our presence and very little through words.”
What are the signs that you are operating from a place of higher vibrations? Your mind is steady, you’re resilient through life’s ups and downs, people find solace in your company, and your smile is unshakeable. As a result, you feel lighter, happier, and more content.
The saying “birds of a feather flock together” is quite relevant when we talk about ‘vibing.’ You will see that when you feel negative or complain a lot, you end up meeting and being around people who are negative and complaining too. Similarly, when you are happy and optimistic, you will find yourself surrounded by happy people who see the glass as half-full. They will simply be attracted to you.
When we raise our awareness and purify our vibrations through various practices, we become naturally happy. We will find that others catch on to—and are attracted by—our good vibes.
Let us look at some simple ways to raise our vibrations and live up to our best potential.
To grow spiritually and emotionally, the company we keep is essential. We tend to like and spend time with people who meet us at our vibrational frequency. They can bring us down, keep us tied to the mundane, or lift us up to a higher vibration.
“We are affected by the thoughts of others. We catch on to their good and bad moods,” Gurudev says, “and that is why Satsang is important—good company has an impact on you and your mind. It brings good vibrations.
Our mind and thoughts are like radio waves. You can choose to tune into some (good) frequencies and leave (negative) others out. You have to practice to protect yourself from tuning into negative frequency. This is where wisdom helps to shut off negative frequencies.”
When your prana or life force is low, you experience all the negative emotions—you feel down, angry, tired, and doubtful. And when your prana or life energy increases, negative emotions are transformed into positive ones—you’re enthusiastic, productive, energized, and positive.
So, an all-important way to improve our vibrations is by increasing our life force. This can be done with pranayamas or specific breathing techniques like Sudarshan Kriya, daily yoga or meditation, or other daily practices.
The three fundamental qualities found in nature are tamas, rajas, and sattva. Tamas indicates dullness, heaviness, and slowness; rajas, restlessness and activity; and sattva indicates purity and energy. So, engaging in practices high in sattva will effortlessly uplift your state of being to one of higher vibrations. You’ll feel it in your body and mind when you are functioning at a higher frequency. As a result, you’ll feel light and easy, and your work will get done more effortlessly.
How can you increase your sattva?
Watch what you eat. As surprising as this may sound, what you eat dramatically impacts how your mind operates and whether you feel energized or sluggish. Eat a nutritious diet according to your dosha—locally grown, seasonal foods and fresh greens, nuts, seeds, and fruits. Avoid simple carbohydrates, fast food, and foods made using preservatives, synthetic colors, and chemical additives. Not only will you feel lighter, but you’ll experience more clarity, emotional control, vitality, and good health.
Download the Ayurvedic Daily Routine poster to see the best times to eat according to your dosha.
Look at your sleep. Definitive research shows that sleep and mental health are related. Lack of rest affects your prana or life force, lowers your energy, and negatively impacts your social behavior. In addition, there are proven links between chronic sleep issues and mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. On average, an adult requires 7–9 hours of deep sleep to function well and feel energized. Are you getting enough?
Practice meditation. Daily meditation is vital for cleansing your vibrations. Through our daily interactions with others and constant media bombardment, we consciously and subconsciously absorb impressions and memories that cloud our intellect and sattvic state of being. Through meditation, we can eliminate the spiritual garbage that no longer serves our growth and evolution, uplifting us and taking us to a higher vibrational frequency.
The great thing about meditation is it is the art of doing nothing. It does not involve focus or concentration. Those are merely the benefits of practice like meditation. A deep 20-minute meditation releases enough energy for you to go about your day being productive, creative, and ‘vibing’ on a high frequency.
“Take some time off for yourself. Be alone for a little while, a few days in a year, and a few moments a day. This consolidates the energy, the spirit that you are.” —Gurudev
Thinking consumes our energy. So, even if you do nothing except sit and think, you still lose energy. Observing silence and being part of guided meditations can be very rewarding.
Just a few days of a Silent Retreat helps cleanse the mind and spirit of unnecessary impressions, cravings, aversions, and distortions like hate, lust, and jealousy—all of which hold us down from growing spiritually and restrict our true freedom.
We become what surrounds us. If this is true, spending time in nature is the easiest way to purify our vibrations. Nature is filled with the purest vibrations, and spending quality time in the lap of Mother Earth can do wonders for mental and spiritual health.
When we are outside—whether walking in the woods, gardening in the backyard, or just sitting by an open window to feel the breeze and sounds of the natural world—there is more sattva. No matter where you live, find ways to spend soaking up this uplifting sattva daily.
Ask any meditation teacher, and they will tell you that sharing spiritual wisdom and teaching spiritual practices are an instant source of higher vibrations.
Reading and listening to spiritual knowledge can be very uplifting. It helps you transcend beyond the dualities where the mind gets stuck. Often, people who lead a high vibrational life have spent years teaching and learning spiritual wisdom and enquiring about the eternal truth. You will operate from the highest vibrational frequency when you move towards your higher self through knowledge, devotion, or spiritual action.
