Relationship Practices

Our sense of who we are and what we value is formed in our childhood; how we relate with our family, relatives, and friends in that period forges our identity and shapes our governing values and beliefs, our priorities later in life. Our family is often the primary motivator for our achievements and also one of the main criteria for happiness. Collectively, our family dynamics shape society and our world.

We can say that a country is a collective of families. With happy families, a country is much more able to respond to challenges. Therefore, in order to change our community, country, and world, we must begin with our own family. Developing a relationship practice helps us to stay connected to the people who are most important in our lives, and helps us to strengthen the bond between individuals, groups, and nations.

Our definitions of self and others are largely influenced by our relationships. According to many metaphysical studies, our relationships serve as mirrors to who we are and therefore, by examining our relationships, we have the chance to bring out a better version of ourselves. In a world where everything is so intimately connected, what we do to others, we do to ourselves.

A global shift in consciousness implies the understanding that all of us are of the same humanity and that we are all in this together. As the living conditions on the planet become increasingly inhospitable, the need for each of us to create peace in our relationships is ever-more imperative. And congruence—which is the source of effortless power—can only come when we are able to build peace, true care, and love in our own homes. For many of us, the healing and the revival of our authentic humanity begin at home.

The understanding and support from our family and loved ones is a very important foundation that we need to strengthen in order to make life-supportive changes quickly and smoothly, in an atmosphere of encouragement; otherwise, these can often be misunderstood and looked at with scepticism.

Here are the guidelines to improve relationships, starting with the people in your home:

(1)    make a conscious choice to progressively de-anchor yourself from work commitments; move from a work-centred to a family/ relationship-centred life;

(2)    develop and uphold compassion when dealing with others; daily meditation and intention-setting help greatly;

(3)    take a powerful life-supportive view that everyone has a positive intention behind their behaviour; look beyond the overt behaviour and attempt to understand the hidden underlying unexpressed need of the other person; then work toward helping that person achieve that need ecologically (i.e. without negatively affecting other areas/relationships in their life);

(4)    make time to eat with your family or the people close to you;

(5)    be genuinely interested in them and demonstrate your appreciation; make time to help them in meaningful ways;

(6)    help family or friends to practise “paying it forward”: the recipient of a good deed passes it on to another person, instead of returning it to the giver; this is one way in which we can actively resonate the positive effects of relationship caring.