From Chaos to Calm: 7 Steps to Transform a Restless Mind into a Peaceful Oasis

–

“We suffer more often in imagination that in reality.” ~ Seneca

–

The Messy Mind

Someone spoils my mood. I hold onto the grudge of how they’ve wronged me, for a few years to come. And because of that, now, I’ve given away my personal power to those people and circumstances that continue to bother me long after the incidents have occurred.

Why do you do that to ourselves as humans, do we have a superior mind only to sabotage ourselves on a daily basis? There are usually two things that bother us from having a perfect mind.
1. External stimuli and the way we respond and react to it.
2. And the inner monologue that keeps telling us that we are not good enough.

Expectations take us out of the moment. They steal the joy that the present moment is guaranteed to offer us. In addition to that, we don’t necessary prune our thoughts. We let mess gather in our head space. We allow regrets, worries, secrets, comparisons, and grudges pile up making our beautiful and serene mind impossibly cluttered.

Quality Of Our Daily Practices

But, think of the alternative. We are in the present moment with all our faculties, giving our life the best and most honest chance. By forgiving and moving on, and not second guessing our abilities, we have now given ourselves permission to thrive in this “now” with our complete awareness and inherent intuition. As a result, we’re guaranteed the best outcome possible given other external circumstances.

Here are some things to remember. Infinite patience, forgiving humility and loving kindness – The practice of these three will always ensure a smile on your face. Adopting these attitudes towards people and life, will help us get through anything.

If you’re still stuck in a rut overthinking all the things that are going wrong in your life, here’s something extra for you. How about you start contemplating your mortality to kick yourself out of complaining mode and into action mode? Think of your potential and your life like this.

While I AM

a. INFINTELY VALUEABLE I AM ALSO

b. ABSOLUTELY DISPOSABLE.

Lessons From The Gita

Another bonus for those of you familiar with the lessons of the famous scripture, the Bhagavad Gita. Here’s a short lesson from the Gita on how to control the restless mind:

The Bhagavad Gita Ch6 Verse35

श्रीभगवानुवाच |
असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम् |
अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते || 35|| shri bhagavan uvacha
asanshayam maha-baho mano durnigraham chalam
abhyasena tu kaunteya vairagyeṇa cha grihyate

Translates to:

There is no doubt, O Mighty Hero, the mind is extremely restless and turbulent and very difficult to control. The mind likes to dwell on the ras of maya. But, O Son of Kunti (Arjuna), don’t get discouraged. Mind is difficult to control, but not impossible to. This turbulent mind can be brought under control by repeated practice (Abhyas), tremendous patience and inner, emotional detachment (Viragya).

– 0 –