“Without control over your mind, your mind will gain control over you.”
Our minds hold our memories; gives us our thoughts, feelings, and views; and connects us to other people. Our mind is the opening into our heart and soul.
Our mind allows or limits our body’s movement. When our mind is unfocused our breath, our actions, our health deteriorates.
So many people place importance on their physical body over their minds because the mind is imperceptible— it cannot be touched or seen or easily measured. We let our minds become stressed out with everything we cannot control, but we lack the desire to capture and control our own minds.
The mind is such a multifaceted system. The theory that the mind matters most is that we can teach ourselves to focus our thoughts and thus influence our quality of life, despite physical and mental limitations or advantages.
Through consistent meditation, we can improve our minds with silence. By focusing on our breath, the emphasis is on the present moment. When one is in that place of meditation, thoughts, judgments, feelings that sneak into the mind just float away like clouds in the sky drifting by on a breezy spring day.
The objective of the mind is to produce space and become conscious of the commotion it creates. What we believe, sense, desire, love, and organize, our mind processes these impulses or actions and designates a reaction and impact to it. So, if we can control our mind, we can control our own purpose.
Through improved self-awareness by practicing yoga and meditation, I have become gradually more self-aware of my conduct, movements, passions, opinions, desires, worries, and my ego. I started to become more conscious of how impulsive and responsive I was to my external world. These actions affected my physical and mental health and those around me.
By taming my mind, I have been able to unveil my undesirable thought patterns, certain self-destructive actions, and the role my ego plays in all facets of my life. And at the same time, I have become more introspective and less likely to react to outside distractions, especially on the yoga mat.
The mind does certainly matter. Despite the unpredictability of the external world around us, the one thing we can control is our thoughts and perspective, and that honestly makes the biggest difference.
However, our mind is not the entirety of a person. The mind is part of the “holy trinity” that encompasses the complete person—the heart, soul, and mind.
Paramahansa Yogananda said, “If you have a strong mind and plant in it a firm resolve, you can change your destiny.”
