When it is calm you can see everything

Calming of mind is very difficult task because it needs tremendous concentration and focus to stop and filter the free inflow and outflow of thoughts. The mind of the average man is diffused. He is not able to carry a single train of thought to its desired conclusion. For his mind is greatly controlled by his body and the external stimuli that he receives in his daily life. Concentration consists of bringing the scattered mind to a point of focus, for it is only through concentration that the mind can fulfil its real potential. In concentration all mental energies are brought to bear on one object or idea.

The mind of the beginners rebel against the effort to concentrate, for the untrained mind finds it difficult to focus its attention consciously on one object or idea for a sustained length of time. When the aspirant tries to slow down his thinking process, the thoughts resist his effort to control them and flit through his mind at a hectic pace.

His mind seems never free from thoughts. When one anxiety is removed another immediately manifests itself. And his mind remains distracted most of the time. Through imagination and fantasy, too, his mind diverts him from the object of concentration.

Yoga has a far more subtle explanation for the mind’s restlessness. For it maintains that man can control his emotions through the control of his mind. As per yoga the mind is like a lake disturbed by the rising waves of thoughts. The practice of concentration helps to still the waves.

The purpose of concentration is to wash off all the aspirant’s impurities and to lead his concentrated mind along one channel to the state of super--consciousness. In everyday life we concentrate in many ways. Concentration in yoga is an internal mental process, not a muscular exercise. Continued attention leads to concentration and deep concentration becomes meditation. Attention is therefore preliminary to concentration.

There are so many methods of being calm. I will just put forward my way of being calm, and I hope you can just try to figure how it can help you. Music: I plug my earphones and go out for a walk alone, listening to my favourite music and don't get disturbed by people around me. I also love bicycle rides on lonely paths that lead to nowhere specially the jungle tracks attract me more. When I ride my bike, my main concentration is on road and hence I don't dwell more into it. Just ride safe, thinking over something and driving can be dangerous on main roads or highways because your mind is not on riding but on traffic hazards.

Another peaceful attempt in calming my mind is interacting with new People. If you are a shy guy and introvert like me when it comes to sharing your problem with people you know, then go around and meet new people. Talk about their experience, talk about your interests. Because later you will realise that everyone is going through one or the other problem and may be your issues are trivial and if you are not comfortable talking to them, you don’t have to worry about meeting him/her the next day. It opens your eyes and ears wide listening to people and calming your mind with their clear thoughts about life.

Reading books give me another high in calming my disturbed mind always. This helps me a lot in reading books on long distance journeys . Sometimes reading books of your favourite genre helps. I like Politics/History and I save a minimal knowledge of the same. So while reading I come across millions of doubts and while clarifying them I really forget why I was disturbed.

For foodies like me, having calming food is also a very useful tool. Eating salads and sprouts, drinking smoothies, lassi and green tea is very calming effect on me. Eating seasonal cut fruits 3 times a day and also having coconut water or fresh squeezed juice also helps in calming our mind. Sleep is very essential for us to calm the mind and i make it a point to switch of my wifi and net data pack from my mobile so that I don't get disturbed by messages or notifications appearing all the time and keeps disturbing us.

However, never get into drinking/smoking/drugs when you want an escape from a disturbed mind it actually stimulates your mind and also may lead to bigger problems. Addiction to these just constrains your brain to be stable in certain direction. Once you get into drugs and dwell deep into your problems, trust me, it will difficult coming out from there permanently.

The domino effect can be reversed. Taking care of the physiological response can propagate back to the brain and change the state of mind. So breathing deeply and slowly, letting your abdomen relax more and more, feeling the tension in your body and letting it go just like you would let go of something you hold in your hand.

Imagine this: you’re holding a rock in your hand palm oriented downwards, fingers clenched around it, tension in your arm. Once you realise all this mechanism, once you feel the tension, you can let go and the rock will fall. Thoughts have physiological shadows and as you become more and more relaxed and aware of what you’re feeling, you can let go of that tension and of that thought. Stay blessed! #kishoreshintre