Mind: Taming the Beast

To move hand in hand with the rapid technological advancements and be a tough challenge to the ever escalating competitive lifestyle, we all seek physical healthfulness. While concern for physical fitness and a healthful body has been increasing exponentially for a few years, people happen to forget the fundamental and, indeed, the most important aspect of fitness and health; MIND. Philosophers have expatiated two theories in context of the relationship of mind and body. One is monism, suggesting that mind and body are physiologically the same entities while the other is the dual-aspect theory that suggests mind and body to be two distinct aspects of an underlying reality i.e. “Nature” or “God”. As I keenly buttress monism, my clairvoyance prods me to envisage that, in very near future, a placid and salubrious mind will be preferably desired to a Mercedes.

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By definition mind is the set of cognitive faculties that enables consciousness, memory, perception and thinking. Mind has been a topic of study for various scholars, philosophers and saints. To my perception, mind is Being. One’s Inner self. Mind is the processor of incoming thoughts and the corresponding actions that we take to execute those thoughts. Thoughts are latently potent enough to control whole of our lives and in a way do. As Descartes, the famous French philosopher, said, “I think; therefore I am.” Thoughts are the beacon fire playing precursor to help someone reach his destination in life. Apart from the much relevant thought controlling, mind also influences the body, memory, emotions, stress, immunity, physical as well as cognitive healthfulness and much more necessary to handle your life. A peaceful mind is in concord with the infinite source of energy that lies within oneself. If you could tap on that Source of all power and harness the profuse energy residing inside oneself then you could actually make impossible happen for nothing is impossible. By controlling the mind, you can channelize your energy, hone focus and infringe into the tremendous power of your subconscious mind that shall help you to succeed.

Thus the question arises:  How to take control of your mind?

I have tried to compile a few techniques and ways to tame the wandering beast and command it to your will in order to live a healthy and happy life which will help you to succeed inevitably.

1. Power of thoughts: Nature endows you with the most valuable asset, almost indigenous to humans, you could ever own in your entire life; Thoughts. You are what you have thought in past. You will become what you are thinking now. Every effect you see in your outside world has its originating cause in your thought. So you could knock on the power of your thoughts to achieve whatever you want, what-ever.
   
   •  Thought power is limitless: There is no limit to what you think. And as said by the famous writer, Napoleon Hill, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
   • Law of attraction: The more energy you give to a particular thought, the more are the chances that it attracts the corresponding circumstances into your physical world through The Law of Attraction of thoughts.
   • Be aware of your thoughts but not slaved: You must be aware of all of your thoughts and adjust your mental attitude and positive thinking according to the. But some thoughts might invoke impulsive emotions, pessimistic and negative thinking that you must get rid of as soon as possible. Do not get slaved or obsessed with the negative thoughts for long.
   
   
   In order to actually achieve what you think, you must saturate a thought with desire repeatedly thinking about it and mold it into your day to day habits and mental attitude.
   

   
   
   
   
2. Meditation: Uniting with yourself : Meditation is nothing but shutting your mind for some time in a day and let it relax. To focus on your every breath, to be cognizant of each and every vibration in your body, to let go all the worldly worries and thoughts and just try to align yourself with the nature.I, personally, was titillated by the power of meditation and have been pursuing meditation for a few months. I have realised that meditation itself has a strong link to your innate nature and over time it gets deeply entrenched over the knolls and dells of your subconscious and becomes a part of you. It helps you unite with your true self and subtly answers the seemingly unearthly questions like who you are? and what you are? . With meditation you can take hold of your mind like never before and can harness its true potential that could help you own the sky. It helps you encompass wisdom, empathy and knowledge. Meditation has helped revive the dormant thoughts and hone some of the about to be moribund thoughts that needed overhauling. Overall meditation has transformed my mental attitude, thought process, perspective of others and myself in a way that I always feel fresh, energetic and happy. From amongst the innumerable benefits of meditation, I have tried to compile a few, which titillated me the most, below. 
   ·        Physiological benefits
   • Regulates blood pressure
   • Decreases respiratory rate
   • Purifies blood
   • Decreases muscle tensions headaches
   • Weight loss
   •  Maintains cholesterol
   • Slows aging
   •  Relaxes nervous system
   •  Restores energy and much more
   
   
   ·        Psychological benefits
   • Increases creativity
   • Builds self-confidence
   • Mental stability and determination
   • Increases emotional stability
   • Accuracy in judgement making
   • Stronger will power
   • Improves relationships
   • Improves memory
   • Higher skills
   • Increased intelligence growth rate ……. to name a few.
    
   
   The benefits that I have tried to list here are just the tip of the iceberg. There are myriad of benefits more to be experienced and infused only through meditation itself.
   
3.  Om chanting:Om or Aum is believed to be the radiations of the cosmos that echoes the Big Bang and hence is scientifically proved and universally accepted to be the fundamental vibration of the universal. It empowers your concentration levels and creates detachment. The melodious tones and vibrations of the mantra creates Neuro-linguistic Effects(NLE). When we know the meaning of the mantra that we are reciting, it creates Pscholinguistic effects(PLE). Both NLE and PLE are the effects of the curative chemicals released in the brain during chanting which provokes curative effects in us. Some of the lesser known effects of chanting are:
   • Improves brain wave patterns.
   • Aligns you with the universal vibrations.
   • Blocks the release of stress hormones thus reducing stress levels.
        
4. Physical exercises: Besides the innumerable health benefits on our body, physical exercises also affect out mental health for good. Surveys suggest that people, nowadays, opt for healthier food and include exercise regime in their hectic schedules, clearly indicating the growing awareness towards fitness. 2015 even witnessed resolutions to be Healthy and fit among the top five New Year resolution tweets worldwide.
   One of the most important benefits of exercise that I have come to know is that it helps control addiction of alcohol or drugs (and rarely, food and sex). Brain releases dopamine, a chemical in response to any form of pleasure activities, be it exercise, sex, food, drugs or alcohol. Dopamine unfortunately is addictive and demands the substance producing it, mainly alcohol and drugs. Physical exercise deprioritizes the cravings of the drug addicts by distracting them from the addiction.
   
   
   Some other benefits of physical exercises on mental health include:
   • Tap on to creativity
   • Lowering of stress and increased relaxation
   • Sharpens memory
   • Boosts happy chemicals making you happy
   
   
5. Sudarshan Kriya: Last but not the least; I would to love to acquaint you all with the countless benefits of the most important of the all, the formidable Sudarshana Kriya, on our minds. Sudarshan Kriya is an intense rhythmic breathing pattern that harmonizes your mind and body. It is well known for its effectiveness in reducing stress. Just like nature has its different cycles and rhythms, our emotions, mind, and bodies also have biological rhythms. I started doing Sudarshan Kriya regularly, a few months ago and have attained its magical effects on mind and body.
   • What does Sudarshan Kriya offer?
   
   
   Known to very few, breathing is also a source of energy for our body, along with the most common like food and sleep. Based on our lifestyles, food habits and sleeping patterns, our breathing pattern gets disrupted and gets misaligned with the normal pattern that leads to stress, anxiety, enervation etc. Sudarshan Kriya helps getting our breathing pattern in shape and aligns it with the natural rhythmic pattern that reduces stress, increases energy and improves sleep patterns leading to a calm mind.
   Some of the obvious and immediate benefits of Sudarshan Kriya are as follows:
   •  Greater creativity
   •   Greater clarity of mind
   •  Improves sleep
   • Improves ability to manage challenges
   • More ease, joy and harmony in personal and work relationships
   • Increases awareness both of self and surroundings
   • Improves patience
   • Increases confidence and self-esteem
   • Relieves depression and anxiety
   
   
   I am a keen fitness enthusiast and underscore mental health over physical health in order to be actually fit. I had been doing physical exercise on a daily basis for years but found something missing of it. Then I came to know the benefits of controlling the mind and started practicing Meditation and Sudarshana Kriya for a few months that has indeed seduced me. It has expanded the horizon of my perspective and understanding, apart from the mental peace and physical benefits. It has had transformational effects on my personality that keeps multiplying with every session of it.
   I love to say say that meditation has made me an addict. It has become a part of my life.
   Try yourself and get addicted!!