I was at the Helsinki Book Fair this weekend and listened to some interesting interviews about downshifting. We Finns are known for our high work morals, but I was shocked to learn that 750 000 people in this 5 million people country get KELA (The Social Insurance Institution of Finland) benefit for eating daily depression medicine! Apparently most of the users are young adults, and the main reason for the antidepressants is our increasingly demanding work life and burnout that´s becoming more and more common these days. I haven´t been far from it either, so the challenge of getting out of the rat race is very much familiar.

The other day I was listening to a dialog between spiritual teachers Andrew Cohen and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and there was something very striking about what they said: “Peace is always related to disturbance. If you are disturbed you want to be peaceful, but when you are peaceful you become energetic. When there is energy there is enthusiasm, there is creativity, dance. All this springs from that state.”

People are so busy and stressed with their lives that there is no room for peace and quiet, yet that´s the only thing freeing them from the turmoil. If our society had a little more insight on life, peacefulness and meditation would be practiced starting from the kindergarden all the way through school and work life. People would understand that attaining even a short peaceful timeout during the workday, would substantially increase their creativity and efficiency. Writer / Film Director David Lynch is doing groundbreaking work on this matter: www.dlfprojects.org

I am initiating my own guided meditation classes next week in Helsinki, and hope to offer some inspiring moments for those who want to find the peace and power within.