Harness your mind and attain clarity with these 21 tips
The quickest guide to harness your mind when your thoughts are spinning like a tornado.
Follow these 21 tips to get super clear on the nature of your mind and the flow of your thoughts.
I’m a yogi and a meditator and self-proclaimed spiritual seeker. I spend 3 or 4 hours a day doing a yoga practice, meditating, or reading spiritual texts. And yet, my mind can be chaotic, racing, and full of anxious thoughts on a daily basis. Here’s tips from a seasoned pro on how to deal with the muddle of the mind.
Whether we have a spiritual practice or not, the anxiety of existence is inescapable and we are ALL burdened by the racing and chaotic mind.
It can wrap its tentacles around us so quickly that we’re squeezed by an invisible force of spinning thoughts and abstract ideas.
There is no quick fix to the deepest predicament of the human mind, but a few things can certainly make us feel more at ease and put the tyranny of the mind into perspective.
So, here’s where to start when you find yourself in the whirl of the racing mind and see no escape in sight.
- Take a seat. Sometimes just a moment of physical stillness can literally arrest the momentum of the mind.
2. You don’t matter. At your core, according to yoga you are emptiness, infinite space and awareness that happen to be inhabiting your physical body.
3. You do matter. But in a different way; you matter because you are a part of the infinite and thus serve the rest of creation.
4. Just start. Your thoughts spinning are unused creative energy; when you start that project you’ll immediately experience inner quiet.
5. Pay attention and select those thoughts that make most sense to you.
6. Find the internal light that is boundless and timeless. A part of you is always blissful. Recognize it.
7. Move. Sometimes sitting works, sometimes we need movement. This can be physical movement or creative movement.
8. Upwards. Simply raise your consciousness to a higher plane. This can be as simple as placing your attention far above your heard and watching yourself from there.
9. Don’t grasp for anything. Often, our minds are racing because our hearts are secretly grasping for something we can’t put out thumb on. Sink into the moment and rest.
10. The ultimate truth is timeless, so take your time. The reality behind the mind is ever quiet and poised in an infinite expanse; whatever you feel you’re racing for, slow down, it will come in its own time.
11. Remember that you aren’t supposed to be perfect. Embracing our flaws allows the inner critic to be at ease and pour love on itself.
12. Come back to your main purpose. Many times, our racing minds are like the bumper strips on highway that alert us when we’re falling asleep. Pay attention and come back to your main purpose.
13. Recognize everything is in flow. Moving thoughts are okay, but are simultaneously rising with the breath of the entire universe.
14. Notice the gap in-between the thoughts. Our minds are like an inchworm on a plant, grasping at one thought leaf and soon latching on to the next. Find the space in-between.
15. Breath. Besides regulating the nervous system, becoming aware of breath brings us to the subtle life force in the moment.
16. Listen. Listen to the sounds around you. Our thoughts are loud and produce noise; when we listen to the environment our brain chooses objective sounds over the cacophony of our mind.
17. Read. Sometimes we just need to read. Reading someone else thoughts attunes us to a mind, at least a bit, more organized. It can soothe our brains.
18. Think of someone you love. When we think of ones we love we get out of our selfish state and align with how they reflect the deeper meaning of life back to us.
19. Eat. Sometimes we just need to eat and ground. Excessive thought can be related to feeling a disease within us and is a call simply for some glucose. Just don’t blindly eat to satiate an empty desire.
20. Aspire towards transcendence. Thoughts are mental energy, direct them towards a higher goal and awaken the evolutionary impulse of the Soul.
21. Abide in Brahman. The highest injunction of the Yogis of the east is to simply Abide in our infinite nature. At our core, we are full of peace, happiness and a profound bliss. Find this and sink into it. All is well.
This is, of course, just a random list. But they work for me and I hope they’ll bring some relief to your life as well. Try them out and let me know how it goes!
