“Elevate yourself through the power of your mind, and not degrade yourself, for the mind can be both friend and enemy of self.”
We all are victims of information overload with the constant flow of information and access of new technology everyday in our lives. We get used to filling our minds and homes with unnecessary stuff. Everything around us seems important and this mental overload makes our lives complicated. Too many choices confuse our decision making capabilities and this leads to indecision, dissatisfaction, and to an imbalanced mind.
An imbalanced mind unleashes its uncontrolled thoughts all around and creates confusion and chaos. These thoughts are the opinions, beliefs, and interpretations that pass through your mind and hold your conscious attention. These untamed thoughts interfere with your focus, happiness and peace of mind. They further manifest as moods, emotions, and impulses and you get trapped into anxious, negative and unproductive thinking.
This mental overwhelm often creates lot of sṭress, anxiety and depression. These thought patterns if unnoticed operate like hypnotic suggestions and influence your behaviour. Our minds which are overfed with new information makes our thoughts buzz around like swarm of bees and we lose our inner stability.
The only way to clean your mind from these patterns is to discover inner peace by practicing mindfulness regularly. When we begin to meditate, we think we must suppress all the negative thoughts and feelings. Many of us feel the need to quiet our minds because we are afraid of negative, unpleasant impulses. The more we try to calm ourselves, the more restless we become. Freedom from such comes when we realise following:
1. Thoughts have no intrinsic value and they keep changing.
2. We cannot control our thoughts, either we can distract or direct our attention elsewhere.
3.Since we cannot control or stop them, we are not responsible for our thoughts, no matter positive or negative.
Meditation consists of two simultaneous processes.
INSIGHT:
Thoughts are like bubbles and they eventually rise to surface. Noticing everything that arises in our awareness by simply paying attention to whatever arising without any judgment and expectation. Let your thoughts be as they are, positive or negative, make peace with your mind.
SURRENDER:
Letting go rather than clinging to what arises in your awareness. Being attached and clinging too tightly to your thoughts will only lead to suffering. By letting go, we become seekers of positive thoughts and inner silence.
This is easier said than done. In everyday life, we rarely pay attention to our thoughts. A little practice at any point in your day, can go far when it comes to taming your thoughts. The beauty of meditation is that you can do it any time, with your eyes wide open, using whatever task is at hand as your meditative object. All are forms of meditation.
Make meditation as an essential part of your daily routine like physical exercise. Continuous practice lets you reclaim your focus on your priorities and thus helps you declutter your mind.
