When we are going through an issue it becomes so big in our
head that our mind starts controlling us. I have always maintained mind is part
of us; we are not part of our minds. Let us understand how we can become in
charge of mind.
When we are born, we are an empty vessel. With our
experiences of life we start filling it up. Now this vessel like any other
vessel has a capacity to hold. For example you have a jug that can hold one liter
of liquid. It is in your hands now what would you like to fill this jug with.
You may decide to fill it with water, refreshing lemon drink, rejuvenating
juice, alcohol etc… But you can only fill it up to a level. And to put any
other liquid than the current one you have to first empty the jug, cleanse it
and then pour the next choice of drink. Choices are umpteen and you are the decision
maker.
Likewise your mind is that jug and you are the owner of
that jug. What would you like to fill it up with? You can either fill it with
positive thoughts or negative ones. Just as the jug has to be first emptied to put
in the next batch of liquid, similarly we need to clear our thoughts and empty
ourselves for the new experiences and thoughts. If we are still stuck in the
past experiences, negative or positive, how do we expect to make the new ones?
We clean our body, our homes on a daily basis. Do we ever look
at doing a deep cleansing, Cleansing of our thoughts, of our minds.
There are many ways to clear the clutter of mind… The
simplest and the most difficult (as people say) is Meditation.
Meditation brings in the much needed calm and clarity in
our minds. It helps us realize what exactly we want from ourselves…
To reach to meditative level, we need to first work on our
breath. Pranayama is the first step towards meditation. Also it is a good
practice to decide on a particular time and sit for 10 minutes every day so
that we first train our minds. Mind needs consistency in order to perform. If
we are consistent with our practice, mind automatically begins to relax and
prepares itself for the practice.
First step towards it is 'Equal Breathing'. Either sit in a
meditative posture or lie down in shavasana. Make sure that your body is in
alignment and neck and spine is in one line. If you are in shavasana both sides
of the body is equally distributed and there is one and half feet distance
between both legs.
Make necessary adjustments and concentrate either on your
heart centre or Eyebrow centre. When you concentrate on heart centre you are
bringing more compassion in life(surrendering to the divine); if you are concentrating
on eye brow centre then you are bringing in focus and clarity in thoughts (being
an observer and witnessing).
Now be aware of your breath, after few breaths when you
feel comfortable breathe deeply all the way to your stomach for 7 times. The
right way of breathing in is that your stomach will extend out like a balloon
fills up, and while breathing out stomach will go inwards towards the spine.
Now start equalizing your breath. Start inhaling and exhaling for equal counts,
so for example if you breathe in for 3 counts,you will breathe out for the
similar count i.e. 3 counts. Do 10 rounds of inhalation and exhalation, this
one set of pranayama of equal breathing. Do 3 such sets of Equal Breathing. After
a fortnight of practice increase the length of inhalation and exhalation to 4
counts.
This will strengthen your lungs, dispel stale air trapped
in lungs and also it will bring in the calmness. And prepare you for
meditation.
It is a good practice for those who have insomnia. Before
going off to sleep you can practice this to have a better quality of sleep.
If you wish to know more you may either post the query here
on this page itself or mail me…