Mary Ng’ang’a

<h4>
    <strong><span style="color: #5baf16">MARY NG’ANG’A</span>
        is a psychologist and Heartfulness practitioner from Kenya. She shares her
        ideas on the importance of being natural and authentic to finding happiness.
    </strong>
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<p>
    To me, happiness is when I am in a state of “let go.” When I am easy and
    mostly blissful. Happiness is not the same as contentment based on
    achievement, but it is the same as contentment perceived as acceptance of what
    is in the “now” moment. For instance, when working from home, I may
    spontaneously start dancing to music. I feel happy, totally happy at that
    moment. When I have many uncompleted tasks, some of which may be behind
    schedule, I don’t feel content with myself, but if I perceive this dance break
    to be the “now” moment and all that there is, then I am grateful for the
    chance to dance. I am contented with how life is happening at this moment.
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    <span style="color: #ca72a4">Happiness is when I am in a state of “let go.”
    </span><br /><span style="color: #ca72a4">When I am easy and mostly blissful.
    </span>
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<p>
    There are different ways I experience happiness in my life, even though I
    don’t plan for them all. The most beautiful moments are spontaneous, totally
    unexpected. When I want to be happy, I dance or listen to music. I dance to
    move the energy within, not really to be great at technique. I also go outside
    to ground myself with my cats – I remove my socks and shoes and step onto the
    soil and grass with the cats. I really love it. The feeling of the sun on my
    skin, the endless skies, the trees … I love the trees and the greenery, the
    blue mountains. These days I wonder why I was not so outdoor-oriented before.
    I never want to go back inside. Life almost doesn’t allow me enough time out
    there. I purposely moved from an urban area to a less developed areas for
    this.&nbsp;
</p>

<p>
    Meditation creates a foundation for my happiness. I’d call it bliss. It’s
    indescribable. I am so glad I know that. It’s the first most essential thing I
    do every morning, besides taking water. It positions me differently. It gives
    me the chance to be myself throughout the day; not the ego-self that creates
    or responds to problems in a complex manner, but the me that is core to who we
    all are. Hence, I feel lighter throughout the day, in remembrance of who I
    really am.
</p>

<p>
    During the pandemic, I’ve had a lot of alone time to witness the patterns
    within me that obscure happiness. I’ve also had the chance to see how I like
    to be happy on my own. I’d say the pandemic has enabled me to understand my
    experience of happiness and allowed me room to transform my perspective of
    what happiness is. Since it has allowed me more time working from home, it has
    given me room to research spirituality, which in turn has transformed my
    understanding of what obscures happiness in me. That has equipped me with
    insights on how I can provide more room for happiness in my life.
</p>

<p>
    Fear overshadows my joy. The easiest way for me to recover is through dance.
    But the most effective way is to watch the anxiety within. One of the things
    I’ve learned is that fear comes from the ego, and the ego cannot stand
    watchfulness. So, I stop focusing on anything else, and just watch the anxiety
    in my body, the sensation, the agony of it. As I watch, it fluctuates, then
    dissipates and loses energy.&nbsp; It takes practice and a great deal of
    acceptance, but it works. It’s not the easiest way, it’s the most courageous
    way. And it’s worth it, because then I “burn” the fear instead of coating it
    with momentary happiness.
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<div class="block-image">
    <figure>
        <img decoding="async" width="700" height="700" alt="" class="lazyload has-img-center"
            src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/a_h_700x700_90e0361645.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T09:37:56.536Z" />
    </figure>
</div>

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<p>
    I think more freedom would make the world a better place – freedom to be who
    we really are. I say so because that is the foundation for self-awareness, and
    self-aware people can uncover the falsehood of the ego, creating longer
    periods of happiness and living life more blissfully. I think society should
    work toward making this possible. Changing education systems to favor
    authentic expression rather than accumulating external knowledge would be a
    good start for many. Parents can do the same, raising children in a way that
    fosters authentic self-discovery and provides room for expressing the same.
</p>

<p>
    Finally, not to sound clichéd, meditation plays a great role toward authentic
    self-discovery, because meditation allows us room to be with ourselves, not
    the mind self, but the egoless self, the true self. Meditation gives us the
    experience of truth, fearlessness, and trust, allowing us to fearlessly
    create. Through creation we become authentic, which keeps us happy because
    happiness is our natural state.
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<h4 class="has-text-align-center">
    <span style="color: #ca72a4">Meditation gives us the experience of truth,
        <br />fearlessness, and trust,
        allowing us <br />to fearlessly create. <br />Through creation we become
        authentic, <br />which keeps us happy because <br />happiness is our natural
        state.</span>
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