There are many influences around us that can make us feel low. However, the main culprits are negative, heavy and low emotions and states within us that can ruin our entire days, weeks and even months. Some of them are depression, negativity, anger, envy, lack of self-worth, anxiety etc. etc. The best way to free yourself from those states is through self-knowledge, by using  techniques such as awareness, self-observation, and elimination of those low emotions and thoughts (egos).  That’s concrete and permanent way. However, you can also apply some spiritual techniques during the day that will lift your inner state up. Even though it’s temporary, it’s better than nothing.

All of the methods I’ll mention in this post have at its core the activation of consciousness/essence,  the spiritual part of us, that which is aware of life and what we truly are. Because consciousness is of spiritual nature, its activation triggers spiritual feelings and energies within, such as peace, love and compassion, with varying intensity depending on the spiritual development of an individual. For example, if some people have worked on eliminating egos and thus liberating particles of consciousness from it, they will have larger consciousness than those who haven’t done it, which means that their capacity for experiencing spiritual states will be greater. In any case, applying spiritual technique can silence your mind, lift you up from heavy states, and give you peace and love. Here are some of the ways:

Awareness. Very simple yet very powerful technique. With it you awaken your consciousness from slumber of daydreams and hazziness. It’s prerequisite for all other techniques to work. You do it by simply becoming aware of the moment – of yourself and the environment that you’re in. Become aware of what you peceive through your five senses, be aware of your body, of a space surrounding it, be aware of your thoughts and emotions. When you feel down or want to lift yourself up, first try and be aware, and then you can move to some of other techniques I’ll mention. It’s best if you do it as much as possible. You can read more about awareness here and here.

Meditation.  A great way to calm your mind and body, and to activate consciousness, the spiritual part of you. It has tremendous benefits on your mental, emotional and physical healt, and it is also used as a tool for spiritual development. People have different reasons for practicing it. Most just want some peace and clarity. However it can also be used as a tool for self-knowledge, to more deeply experience spiritual within you, and even to temporarily free yourself from all the human layers (body, mind, personality, egos) and to exist as pure consciousness in a dimension of bliss. Here I’ll focus on meditation as a toold to lift you up when you feel low.

One of a technique I really like is concentration on a breath. You sit or lay down in a comfortable position and start by relaxing your body. Then start concentrating on breathing. Simply observe how your body is breathing. Do not try to control the way you breath. Breathing is a mechanical and natural function of the body and you do not need to manipulate it. Simply observe how the body inhale the air through the nose, how the air cools nostrils, how it’s going through your body and lifts up your stomach and then goes out again through the nose. In this practice you are observer of a natural process and you do not interfere. All you need to do here is to concentrate on that process. Doing this will quiet your mind and bring peaceful  state of being. Do this technique for 10-30 minutes. If you are used to meditation then do it for however long you feel comftorable.

Another technique which can be very enjoyable is concentration on the heart beats. When in comfortable and relaxed position, start concentrating on your heart beats. If you cannot feel them then take a few deep breats and hold it for a bit. Once you start feeling them you simply concentrate on them. Remember to  always come back to concentration when thoughts take you away, and try lessen the amount of time you spend daydreaming. As with every other spiritual practice/tecnnique, you get the most out of it when you are concentrated throughout the practice. One other benifit with focusing on this technique is that there are higher chances of feeling the flow of love through your heart.

Another variation of a heart practice is that you visualise a temple inside your heart. Visualise a beautiful natural place in your heart, and a temple amidst that inspiring landscape. Go inside that temple and explore it. In many different spiritual traditions it is said that a heart is a throne of divinity within us. This temple represents that spiritual place, so don’t be surprised if you have deeply spiritual experience while there.

Mantra meditation. Every sound has certain effect on your psyche. The relaxing sound of birds, ocean waves, or brook, has different effect than the noise of a car or of a construction site. The same goes for different types of music. The sound of a spiritual mantra has an uplifting effect on consciousness. There are many spiritual mantras that can lift you from feeling low. Different mantra sounds have different effects. They are most effective when pronounced out loud. You should sit in a comfortable position in an area of the house that you find more quiet or sacred, or you can also go to a nice place in nature (if safe).  Close your eyes, briefly relax your body from tension, and start vocalizing the mantra. I will mention a few of them here:

OM. Om signifies the primordial sound, Absolute Being, the source of all Creation. First take a deep breath and then elongate the sound like this: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM.

AUM. Another sound signifying the Absolute Being. It should be pronounced like this: AAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMM.

OM TAT SAT. A sacred mantra from Bhagavad Gita. It means “Absolute Being, that which is eternal”. It can also be translated as “God above, everywhere, here.” It’s also vocalised by elongating the sound, like this:
(1st breath) OOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM (2nd breath) TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT (3rd breath) SSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT

OM MANI PADME HUM. Famous, and deeply spiritual, Tibetan mantra of compassion. According to Samael Aun Weor, it can be translated as “Oh my God in me”. There are many ways of pronouncing it. The way I most often do it is by elongating each sylable, like this: (1st breath) OOOOOOOOOOOMMMM, (2nd breath) MMMAAAAAAAAAAAA, (3rd breath) NNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII, (4th breath) PAAAAAADMEEEEEEE. (5th breath) UUUUUUUUUUUMMMM. Here is a singing version of it.

IO. This is one of the names of Universal and personal Divine Mother. By chanting this mantra her presence may be sensed, which helps to strenghten your relationship with her. Her help throughout life is immense, especially if one is working with her on the esoteric path to awakening. It can be done in one breath or two separete breaths. If one then it goes like this: IIIIIIIIIIIIIIOOOOOOOOOO.

While chanting it you should focus on the sound of it. Mantras not only activate the consciousness, but also the chakras. This in turn can unblock culminations of energy throughout the body and lift your state even more.  All the vowels in above mentioned mantras are pronounced as latin sounds, the same as they are pronounced in languages such as German, Italian, Spanish etc. A is pronounced as in the word “arm”, E like in the word “destiny”, I like “e” in the word “East”, O like “a” in the word “always”, and U like in the word “too”. Choose one of the mantra at a time and chant it for 10-30 minutes. You can do it several times per day if you find it helps.

Music. Listening to a music that feeds the soul is a very effective way to lift yourself up when feeling low. Music for the soul is some of classical music, andean music, and generally everything that stirs your soul. Some of my favorites are:

Beethoven – 6th symphony (Allegreto)
Beethoven – 7th symphoy (Allegreto)
Beethoven – 9th symphoy (Adagio)
Beethoven – Piano concerto 3 (Largo)
J.S. Bach – Air
Pachelbel – Canon in D major
Handel – Largo from Xerxes
Mozart – Piano concerto 27 (Larghetto)
Mozart – Harp and Flute concerto (Andante)
Mozart – Laudate Dominum
Joanne Shenandoah – Dance of the North
Stellardrone – Cepheid
Stellardrone – Ascent
Jonn Serrie – Sunday Morning Peace

When choosing music it’s important that it’s not the one that stimulates your emotions such as melancholy, depression, lust, nostalgy, excitment, or any other low emotions. It should be something for the soul alone. This then will activate your consciousness and lift you up from a low state. It’s best if you have your eyes closed when listening and concentrate on the music, not letting thoughts to take you away.

Sun. Air. Earth. Using the elements can also be one of the way to lift yourself up. It’s best though if it is used as an addition to some of the above suggestions. Energy of the sun is powerful and can stimulate both our aura,  physical and lighter bodies in a great way. Too much sun exposure at certain times of the year and day can be dangerous so be mindful of that. Fresh air is another thing that can help uplift you.
Energy from the earth is also something that can help. It’s very beneficial to have bare feet on the natural ground (soil, grass, sand etc.) 30-60 minutes a day (or even longer if you have opportunity), if it’s warm enough, of course.  One could easily fill that 30-60 minutes by doing a spiritual practice and/or reading a book, in a sitting position and having bare feet on the ground.

Going for a walk is another thing that can be of great help to feel better. It’s best if you could go for a walk in nature, if it’s safe. That’s because nature has very beneficial and calming effect on the psyche. During the walk you can practice being aware in the moment. Even if you live in a city you can benefit by going for an awareness walk.

These are just some of the things that you can do to lift yourself up. There are many other practices and activities and I may mention them more here at another time, but what is essentially important is an activity. When you’re feeling down, you’re trapped into a vicious cycle of pleasure and pain. In another words, by feeling painful and low emotions you naturally try to escape them by giving in to pleasures, such as eating, playing games, sexual gratification etc. But that eventually brings more pain which perpetuates the cycle and you continue feeling low. You can temporarily rise above this cycle by doing the spiritual activities I’ve mentioned above.