At Ease and Discipline

How much are you in love with discipline?

Like in a disciplined diet regimen, a healthy lifestyle, or a strict exercise routine?

When does discipline become a way of being, an effortless mode of action?

When it becomes second nature

Read carefully: second nature. 

First nature pertains to our soul, to the essence of our being in this lifetime. This first nature manifests in daily life via different masks of external and/or internal conditioning.

These masks, used often, become second nature.

Back to discipline.

For many, it carries connotations of rigidity, restraint, and sacrifice. 

What is a healthy diet or a healthy lifestyle for you?

Are they delicious, cool, seductive, tempting, irresistible, mouth-watering heart-warming, captivating? 

Or maybe: simple, unpretentious, clean, good for me, nutritious, essential, ordinary, important, common?

How will you make your healthy lifestyle an effortless, natural, hearty, ingrained discipline?

Let’s consider a few examples, collected from my life and travels.

For instance, in the cultural landscape of Japan, etiquette and politeness are woven into the very fabric of society. This ingrained discipline didn’t spring from arbitrary rules but rather evolved as a survival strategy in the face of Japan’s unforgiving natural environment. Living on a small island plagued by seismic threats, fire hazards,  tsunamis, and hurricanes,  the Japanese cultivated a collective discipline to transcend mere courtesy – a lifeline of resilience and cohesion.

Contrast this with the coerced discipline imposed by tyrannical political regimes like the one I witnessed in some communist countries. 

Here, obedience is enforced through fear, stifling creativity and sowing internal discord. Genuine politeness gives way to a hollow facade, draining vitality and breeding discontent.

The coerced individual wastes a lot of internal resources in attending to internal conflicts and the effects of suppression.

The body and the mind work against each other. Cardiovascular tension is not compensated by the hormones of positive activation.  Accidents are more likely to occur. 

The two kinds of discipline are radically different in roots, core and effects. 

So, where does your own relationship with discipline lie? 

When faced with tempting indulgences or challenging workouts, do you rely on external directives or internal conviction? 

The distinction is pivotal. 

Willpower may coerce compliance, but true motivation springs from within, aligning mind, body, and spirit in purposeful action.

Do you remember somebody who is a tiny bit too strict in their dietary observations, or an idea too focused on detox, or too kin on their gym routines? 

Orthorexia nervosa is a pathological focus on optimal nutrition. A good example of the dangers of fixating on perfection at the expense of well-being.

Or maybe you noticed a friend too vocal in defending their indulgences and resistance to discipline? 

How to find and especially how to maintain a balanced, healthy discipline? 

 

“Soul is the central point of spiritual discipline.” 

Mahavira

“To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.”

Buddha

The practice of mindful discipline shapes what is effortful into second nature.

Non-negotiable, gentle, and long-lasting second nature of our healthy identity. 

It requires some effort and focus to build it – that we cannot escape. But when we start a discipline with a clear understanding of the goal and a strong motivation, the journey runs differently. 

Where to start?

With a small discipline:

• Avoid social media for one day per week
• Stop eating sugar for 10 days – zero, not even products with added sugar. 
• Decide on a 7-minute mind exercise to be done for 12 days – concentration on a dot, daily silence, memorise a poem, song or landscape
• Take on the practice of radical acceptance for one day
• No negative thinking or expression for 3 days
• 108 repetitions of a mantra or  the sun salutations for 21 days
• ETC.

All these disciplines require a container:

• Make a written commitment before starting
• Journal about daily evolution even if it is just a simple checkmark
• Notice: difficulties in completing, internal feeling during and end of the discipline, advantages and disadvantages of taking that task

After completing, the muscle of your willpower is stronger but what you need to focus on are the aspects that build motivation. 

• What makes you feel happy about that discipline?
• Why would you like to continue?
• What was too much and maybe what felt not enough? 

What domain of your life needs discipline? 

• Dieting
• Exercising
• Mind hygiene
• Mind control
• Social interactions
• Ikigai
• Finances
• Sexuality
• Etc. 

If you recognise distress still prevailing in your healing or growth pursuits, if it is not clear where is the root of the problems of health or growth, if you would like a directed, individualised, point of start, let’s have a talk, a consultation and a deep investigation of your priorities in healing, wellness and growth. 

Look here for your best option: https://mihaielapentiuc.com/book-now/

With love and many blessings for your good health and longevity,

Dr Mihaiela Pentiuc