Is it Time to Befriend Your Mind?
If you had a friend or acquaintance who spoke to you in such a way that they criticised everything you did, created negative connotations, and put you down at every opportunity. Would this be a relationship you wanted to keep in your life? We would hope not! Why would we surround ourselves with this type of constant suffering?
What about if you consider the same question on an internal level – your own mind? Why is it that we accept the voice in our head that constantly tells us we are not good enough, not clever enough, not athletic enough, not capable enough? Often there is an ongoing internal narrative that guides our every choice, every action, and every behaviour. It does not derive from truth but purely from negative patterns that have become somewhat trapped in our physical, energetic and mental states of being. Are we even aware that this is the internal GPS that we are following and it is navigating our life in ways that we would never accept from an external source?
This is where the practice of discovering the truth of who you really are comes into being. To live from this place begins by breaking down the years of programming that has led to the realisation of the unapologetic mind running the show.
'The mind is everything. What you think, you become'
~ Buddha
The mind creates the feeling, the emotion and we play that out daily through our energetic broadcasting signal. What we cultivate internally paves the way to reflect how the world meets us and the signal we give out will bring more of that same energy into our lives. We become addicted to the emotions and on a subconscious level we attract that attuned frequency in by the frequency we give out.
The first step on this path of discovery is to identify the dominant emotional states that govern our daily lives. Ones of anger, sadness, always the victim, never feeling worthy of love, and so the list goes on. By observing your dominant pattern and self-belief system we begin to step into the desire for change. This desire for change is the next step and it is not going to be easy - honestly, only a few will authentically apply themselves to do the work.
The power of transformative practices like yoga, pranayama, kriya and meditation are tools that can be used to identify and bring awareness to these patterns and then proceed to break down the energy and conditioning that has led us to ‘be’ a certain way. Releasing stagnation and energy blocks through movement purifying kriyas and redirecting energy with specific pranayama practices, helps us to bring to the surface all aspects that we need to release and redefine. These practices can be challenging, they can push us to the edge of our comfort zone, but it is here that the change can begin to unfold. You may experience feelings of overwhelming joy and elation or slide into feelings of immense sadness and grief. It is all part of the process of recreating a more settled mind that you can befriend and bring back into a deep sense of coherence and balance.
This is my journey to date and the reason why I share this work. My mind and I were constantly working against the truest version of myself, the debilitating thoughts that influenced my actions and led me to show up in the world as a mere fragment of the whole me.
I still battle the narrative and the self-doubts daily but the power they hold now is so much less. I can identify the program as it arises and choose to respond differently. I now understand I have the choice to no longer listen to the negative narrative and all the things I shouldn’t do because I am not good enough, strong enough, rich enough and so on. Instead, I step into my power and feel the liberation of living from my true essence – deep in the truth of who I am, not what my mind previously dictated me to be.
You will know when it is time to dive into these practices, I resisted for quite some time (my mind pushing back) before the necessity to change the narrative became just too strong to ignore.
Starting the process can be something simple like attending your first yoga or meditation session or learning how breathing affects the nervous system and supports the inward journey. Learning to relax is also an imperative step, so you can begin to release the tension and get quiet enough to hear the wisdom within.
So, reflect on the energetic and emotional state of your mind. What is the narrative that determines how you show up in your life? Are you friends with your mind or does it constantly work against you? Do you blame circumstances outside of you for how your life unfolds? Consider your dominant emotion and the signal that you operate from day in and day out – this is what you will attract. The change will always come from the inside, that I can promise you.
The inner world is yours to cultivate, find practices to work through the physical, the emotional and the mental layers, befriend the mind and take the steps that bring you a little closer to discovering the true you. This is the place to live from.
Sat Nam – Truth is my identity.