Today we ask that you be gentle with yourself.

Most of the people who are open to these words are “sensitive” beings.

There is nothing wrong with sensitivity.  On the contrary, it means you are finely tuned, and open to a deeper reality.  The five senses of the human are extremely limited.  Most humans possess, in nascent form, other senses that are tapped into a greater awareness.  “Sensitivity” is a sign that these additional senses are more developed.

And yet sensitivity can make living in the modern world a real trial.

Sensitive individuals tend to do better in quiet, open spaces.  Urban environments that are cut off from the natural world are very challenging.  Much of the energy that one is exposed to via the internet and TV is highly disruptive to sensitive individuals.

It is no coincidence that, historically, monks and sages usually lived in quiet seclusion.

This means that even a spiritually advanced sage who spends hours each day in meditation may have a hard time coping in a noisy city.

If a sage can’t handle urban life, why should you expect yourself to have an easy time coping with it?

It is only natural that sensitive individuals might experience some very difficult and challenging symptoms in the face of modern existence: depression, anxiety, panic, fatigue, and many stress-related illnesses.

So please don’t feel like something is wrong with you if you can’t cope with modern life.

Nor should you feel cursed and doomed because you can’t live in a monastery, or a secluded retreat.

Wherever you are now, it is truly where you are supposed to be.

The key is to find ways to give yourself some “monastic” peace and quiet, even if you lead a busy modern life in a city.

Please give yourself time away from the TV, computer, and phone each day.

Please give yourself time outdoors, under the sky, with trees and plants around you.

Please give yourself quiet, meditative time.  Enjoy a daily meditation practice, or participate in activities that help you get present and grounded within your body — like yoga, dance, hiking, biking, swimming, and so on.  

Such activities are very stabilizing for a sensitive person.

And please don’t be hard on yourself if you “lose it” sometimes.

Even sages and yogis find city life jarring and disorienting.  Perhaps you are more spiritually developed than you think.