ManoSathi

Why am I not able to focus?

Why my mind never stops?

That’s what my narrative was.

More than half of my energy was spent on controlling or pushing down my own continuously poping thoughts. They were full of self-doubt and gradually became my critical inner voice. The more I used tried to suppress them, the more power they gained. Eventually, I realized that my reality was being controlled by my emotions and feelings which were generated by my automatic floating self doubtful thoughts.

Being extremely curious, I wanted to bring out some solution for my unstoppable monkey mind. The smiling statue of Buddha and the faces of contented monks fascinated me and turned me to walk on the path towards BUDDHISM, which has all the ways that can lead us to feel the bliss of being in the present moment. How the monks can tame their minds, as they have the same brain which is the same as ours but what’s that thing that they do differently to control the software (mind) which is the function of the hardware (brain)? I wanted to acquire the tranquility present on the face of the monks/nun even without becoming a nun by myself.

The more I was losing control of my mind, the more I wanted to get my wandering mind on a leash and in this hustle, while surfing the web, I discovered an asset called MINDFULNESS.

How can we attain the quality of being in the present moment?

Before getting into this let us know what being in the present moment would feel like?

Imagine a quiet windy day in spring. You decide to take a walk amidst the dense pine forest in cold rejuvenating air. Your ears can hear rustling leaves, chirping birds, and the sound of your breath. Your mind is where it has to be. Your soul is connecting with the sounds of nature. Striding with all the awareness, you begin to start taking deep calm breaths, to take the pure cold air deep inside your belly, and then release it out. What if we can be present in every single task that we perform? How magical and satisfying would that be?

Mindfulness is a way to create awareness for being in the present moment by being aware of your body, feelings, thoughts, and sensations that also without judging them and simply letting them pass like sea waves; cultivating pauses in life where otherwise you could have acted impulsively having been provoked by anger or resentment.

How do I practice it?

I take out a few minutes from my day. First in the morning, second in the afternoon, and third in the evening.

For this practice, I take the help of my breath. Why did I choose breath as a reference point? As my breath guides me, it is with me every time till the moment I die, it’s cheap, easily available, and constant support whenever my mind wanders I ask for its assistance before getting drowned completely in my incessant chain of thoughts. To know that this loop has started we need to cultivate awareness of ourselves and we need to know that these self-sabotaging thoughts are not our reality.

1. Lie down on your back or sit comfortably in a quiet place.
2. Place one hand on your stomach and another on your chest.
3. Now to begin the practice inhale from your nose, and feel the sensation of the cold air through your nose to your throat. Fill up your lungs and then release the breath from your mouth with a PHEWW sound. Do this three times. Keep your awareness of your breath and its course in your body.
4. Now inhale from your nose, feel the sensation of the cold air through your nose, take it to your belly, feel the hand rising as your belly rises, and then fill up your lung with more air, again keep your awareness on another hand as the lung inflates; pause for 4 seconds. Then slowly release your breath from your stomach and then from your lungs. Then pause for a bit then again follow your breath with the same procedure.
5. If the mind wanders during the process you can again begin the practice by taking assistance of your breath.
6. You don’t need to stop your thoughts or get worried about them if they don’t stop, keep a compassionate eye on yourself and keep practicing it daily. Practice only make you aware of your thoughts. you need to just let them flow even if they come.
7. Establish a connection with your breath.

Yoga, qigong, walking on the grass, scanning your body, mindfulness apps, and doing a task in which your consciousness is there in the zone are the different ways you can use to practice mindfulness.

When emotional health gets affected, mental health practitioners teach the same to their clients combined with the therapies they use. So why do we choose to follow this path when are amidst it? Why can’t we practice it with a fully functioning aware and attentive mind to prevent the emotional setback? We need to develop our mental health rituals to cope with our busy life surrounded by several stressors.

This is what the world needs today. An easy meditation that will allow us to taste the bliss of trying something new and to be in the moment of uncertainty rather than becoming a slave to a self that gets obsessed with the future and the outcomes.