Regaining your Mind; Regain Self-Control

Taming the Mind – Taking charge if your life – Return to sanity

 Through Three Steps:

• Meditation
• Music as Therapy
• Tuning-in your Inner-dialogue to an Awareness of Pure Consciousness

Meditation

Can you imagine what it’s like to be able to completely clear your mind and experience a deep sense of calm whenever you want?

The goal of meditation is to focus and understand your mind—eventually reaching a higher level of awareness and inner calm. Regular meditation actually changes your brain in ways that can help you to control emotions, enhance concentration, decrease stress, and even become more connected to those around you.

Meditation can help you to be, inwardly, an “island of calm in the storm” that is happening around you. Sure, it is not magical thinking, believing things happening around you will disappear by simply by wishing them away, but it can help you deal with stress by taking charge of your emotions and runaway thought processes.

Meditation is often automatically associated with the Far East, Eastern mysticism and religions, Buddhist, Hindu and Yogi masters. But then, on the other hand, you’re not a monk or a yogi master. So why meditate like one? A monk or yogi master most likely won’t be able to do your job. We each live very different lives than most people, with different kinds of stresses and demands. You need to find your own meditation path.

Meditation does not always have a religious element. It is a natural part of the human experience and is increasingly used as a therapy for promoting good health and boosting the immune system.

The truth is before Buddha and most popular yoga schools even existed, ordinary people discovered ways to meditate and we can learn from them. Meditative techniques were known from the time of the earliest hominids who engaged in what is described by anthropologists as shamanic journeys or Shamanism, practices that involves a practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness or trance state to perceive and interact with what they believe to be a spirit world or the dream world.

Shamanic practitioners believed they could channel transcendental energies into this world. Shamanic practitioners were common among early tribal peoples all over the world, even so, there are still some to be found to this day.

Meditation in the West come from similar roots, where the Shaman sought to perceive or interact with a spirit world, Western practitioners pushed towards discovery of and connection with a Higher Power, Spirit or Intelligence in order to heal the mind and body and to gain a better understanding of the self and the world.

Successful meditation means simply being – not judging, not thinking, just being aware, being at peace and living each moment as it unfolds while the mind becomes clearer and perception sharpens. The purpose of meditation is to stop the mind rushing about in an aimless stream of thoughts, taking control of the mind so that it becomes peaceful and focused.

 

How to meditate

Ideally, find a place where you will not be interrupted for the duration of your meditation, preferably in a quiet place.

If you can, avoid any external distractions, turning-off TV sets, phones, or other noisy appliances. However, music especially, relaxed, calming, “mystical music” often with instruments like flutes, harps or mantras with sitar, table, drums and cymbals can be useful for some to create a suitable atmosphere and even can create a white noise buffer against distracting external background noises. Others find the sound of running water of a small water fountain calming.

You do not need to sit is any special specific posture or position, the most important thing is that you are comfortable, relaxed.

If you are wearing clothing or shoes that is uncomfortable, change into something more comfortable even taking off your shoes might help.

You do not need to close your eyes either, just look ahead, not focusing on any one thing in particular. You can close your eyes if you feel it helps to avoid visual distractions. Some find it helps to concentrate on a simple visual object such as a candle burning can have the same calming effect as staring into a campfire. The goal is to feel relaxed yet alert.

 

Breathing Mediation

Of all meditation techniques, the most basic and most commonly practiced is breathing meditation.

The best way to start is to take control of your breathing

Take a few deep breaths to calm your mind and body.

Then breathe, in and out naturally.

Try to focus on your breathing and only your breathing. Don’t think about your breathing or pass any sort of judgment of it.

Don’t worry if your mind starts to wander. If you find yourself thinking, let the thought drift by don’t fight it and bring your attention back to your breath.

When you notice your attention has drifted, return to the sensation of breathing. Refocus your mind on your breathing and try to think of nothing else.

You will notice that your attention strays, there are often thoughts, feelings or sounds that drag you away from focusing on your breathing. Don’t worry when you notice your mind drifting all over the place. Everyone does that, that’s what our minds tend to do ordinarily.

Again, when you notice your mind has been dragged away from focusing on your breath, don’t get worried, just bring your focus back to your breath.

It is important that you don’t become involved with your thoughts! Recognize that you are the observer of your thoughts, not the thoughts,

Allow thoughts to gently drift by. Don’t try to speed it up and rush your thoughts along. Just let them go naturally! Don’t think about them.

Let your thoughts drift by like clouds across the sky. Let them float off on their own. They are just clouds floating by our field of awareness.

 

Once you are completely relaxed. And your mind is clearer and at ease, release your focus and simply sit. Remind yourself that there is nothing to fix, nothing to do and nothing to change. Just enjoy the calm, relaxed state.

After a while think about something you are grateful for, such as even just having the chance to relax, feel calmer and meditate in that moment. Just let gratitude transform you.

Then gradually transition your thoughts to how you feel physically; the relaxed state of your muscles and the steadiness of your heartbeat. Open your eyes, take one deep breath in — and then out.

 

Mantra meditation

Mantra meditation can be very useful to focus the mind. Repeating a word such as “Peace” is just as valid as repeating “Oṁ Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ.” which means “Om! Peace, Peace, Peace.” So too Sat- chit- ānanda represent “existence, consciousness, and bliss” or “truth, consciousness, bliss.” You are free to translate from Sanskrit into English or use the original or create your own as a personal affirmation.

Affirmations can be thought of as words or phrases that reinforce Self-affirmation, the psychological process of re-affirming personal values to protect self-identity, it can also be a carefully formatted statement that one repeat to one’s self continuously reaffirming one’s core values and self-identity.

When the mind is still it becomes a fertile field that is receptive to the seeds we plant there. Affirmations and feeling more in control of your emotions, thoughts and your response to events can lead to feeling more in control of life, feeling more empowered about who you are, and helping boost your feelings of self-esteem, filling you with a sense of purpose.

Mantras and affirmations are strong, positive self-talk statements that can help to reprogram your subconscious mind and internal dialogue toward a more constructive mental environment.

As you enter a deeper level of awareness and consciousness, it may become unnecessary to continue repeating the mantra, you identify with the words to such an extent you feel it’s part of you rather than you just expressing it. For example, instead saying “Oṁ Shāntiḥ, Peace” you feel at peace.

Music as Therapy

Along with meditation music can have the same profound therapeutic effect as meditation and often combining the two, it becomes even more powerful.

Music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals.

Music therapy is one of the many expressive therapies, consisting of a process in which music in all of its facets—physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and spiritual— can be used to help improve physical and mental health.

Evidence shows from an early age lullabies, such as “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” or other culturally relevant lullabies, have been shown to greatly soothe babies. Alternatively, it has been demonstrated that supplying the residents of nursing homes with iPods that feature nostalgic music is a means of reducing the stress of the elderly.

Music therapy can improve health in several domains, such as cognitive functioning, motor skills, emotional development, communication, sensory, social skills, and quality of life by using both active and receptive music experiences such as improvisation, re-creation, composition, and listening and discussion of music to achieve treatment goals.

Music as a coping strategy involves the use of music, through listening or playing music, in order to reduce stress, as well as many of the psychological and physical manifestations associated with it. The use of music to cope with stress is an example of an emotion-focused, adaptive coping strategy.

Additionally, music therapy programs have been repeatedly demonstrated to reduce depression and anxiety symptoms in the long term. Rather than focusing on the stressor itself, music therapy is typically geared towards reducing or eliminating the emotions that arise in response to stress. In essence, advocates of this therapy claim that the use of music helps to lower stress levels in patients, as well as lower more biologically measurable quantities such as the levels of epinephrine and cortisol.

Tuning-in your Inner-dialogue to an Awareness of Pure Consciousness

Success in Meditation allows you to experience progressively an awareness of purer levels of consciousness. A certain clarity of mind brought on by meditation makes you aware of pure awareness, being aware of itself. With meditation we come into the light of pure awareness, or pure consciousness, a greater clarity, we aspire to a higher state of consciousness to sensing there is a Higher Intelligence and wisdom.

Higher Consciousness’ or ‘spirit’ or ‘intelligence’ or ‘sensation’, Pure from the very beginning, it is beyond names and explanations. It is the pure Consciousness or the cosmic intelligence, the consciousness that knows itself and also knows others.

Focusing your mind on the potential existence of a Higher Intelligence allows our internal dialogue to evolve from a just existing, being an introspective observation of mental processes, to an awareness of the possibility of a Higher meaning behind the phenomenal world, making a distinction between the ideal and non-ideal realm.

Our internal dialogue or internal discourse is a constructive act of the human mind to conceptualise perceptions into words and a tool for reasoning and making decisions. Our internal dialogue can be negative and self-destructive or self-affirming.

Knowing, being aware that there exists a higher ideal that we are aware of the first principle of reality, “the One” the “Higher Consciousness”, an utterly pure, ineffable, unknowable subsistence which is both the creative source and the teleological end of all existing things.

Although, properly speaking, it is indescribable, beyond names or labels, there is no name appropriate for the first principle, trying to define it just limit it. The most adequate names are “the One” or “the Good”. The One is so subtle that it cannot even be said to exist or to be a being. Rather, the creative principle of all things is beyond being.

The Evil People Do … The Evil We Do

This is Awareness, beyond duality, beyond good and evil. It’s being aware that no independent supernatural, malevolent entity exists, no supernatural evil forces exist, only the Good. I write “evil” because evil is not an entity in its own right, what can be described as “evil” is the absence or distortion of the Good; “evil” is profoundly immoral and wicked in that it is the distorted, twisted, imperfect reflections of the Good. “Evil” is simply the absence of good. Things are good insofar as they exist; they are “evil” only insofar as they are imperfect, lacking some good which they should have.

But let’s consider those who believe “Evil” as an external force, that evil lurks about and infects or seduces the unwary into doing bad things. It is always easy to blame someone else and, in this instance, those who claim that they were under the influence of an evil power, it is quite convenient at times to blame that something, instead of taking responsibility for one’s own imperfections.

And further, let’s consider those who believe that “Evil” as an intrinsic characteristic. It’s common to think of evil as an intrinsic characteristic of some people or groups. In other words, some people are said to be evil. Evil is a quality that is inherent in their being.

Yes, there are people that do negative, even destructive things to others, themselves and you. Yes, there exist things that are positive, constructive and good, just as the negative, destructive and ignorant exists.

In both instances Sorting people into separate divisions and categories influence people to become intoxicated by their own self-righteousness or who believe in their own intrinsic moral superiority. Ultimately, there is just action and reaction; cause and effect. It is not a hidden or mysterious force “What you do quite often what happens to you.”

I am not saying Karma exist or does not exist, but I often found that people who do ill-informed, ignorant and negative things seem to have bad Karma.

Your tongue betrays your inner dialogue, thus your inner thoughts and desires. In a similar way, your actions and speech reinforce your internal dialogue.

Therefore, when you consciously choose to practice caution in speech and behaviour, keeping in mind the saying “He who guards his tongue keeps his soul from distress” so it will also impact on your attitude towards your own internal dialogue and it will automatically become more positive and refined.

 

Gratitude

Gratitude is a powerful mental state that transforms your internal condition influencing our internal dialogue.

Focusing on what’s good or uplifting in your life also conditions you to stay vigilant in looking for more of the same gratitude-worthy experiences to come into your life—or as the saying goes, where attention goes, energy flows.

Maintaining a balanced outlook is not always easy one technique is practicing gratitude. When we put our attention on those things we can be grateful for, it automatically shifts us out of a negative mentality to a more positive outlook being aware of the good.

All returns to the One, from which they pre-existed and emanated, the Pure Consciousness. The inner energy, spark that animate us within, consists of a lower irrational energy vibration and a higher rational energy vibration (mind), both of which can be regarded as different powers of the one energy. This energy possesses a “vehicle”, allowing for its return to the One after death. Although the most pure would dwell in the light of the Good, achieving union with the cosmic universal soul, the impure would undergo a purification, before descending again, to be reincarnated into a new body, perhaps even into animal form.