TotD: It's My Mind, It's Now or Never

My yoga instructor recently described Yoga as the pursuit of control over the mind.

A couple of days ago my husband said that it didn't seem that hard to master.





Having a very... well, let's say active...mind, I disagree, but I understand his line of thinking. It is easier than one would believe to change your thoughts. One can simply correct negative thinking by refusing to entertain these thoughts. This is part of the pursuit, but the mastery would be in not having to "correct" anything because these thoughts literally never come to be.

What I think my husband is missing is the emotion part of thought. In my opinion, yoga would entail the pursuit of recognition of the emotional response and adjustment of the thought and reaction before  they come to be. It is not, however, the denial of emotion.

A person might say they are in control if they can react calmly to something monumental or tragic, but if they are simply burying their emotions to do so, this is actually destructive. Denial of an emotional response can lead as far as psychosis.

A master of the art would be able to confront their emotional response as an outside observer and decide how to think and act according to the most productive use of that emotional response. 

Ex: "I am angry. Because I know it will not improve my situation to express this directly to the aggressor, I will calmly express my dislike for the situation and suggest a remedy. This will improve my emotional state and my thoughts will be on the positive solution versus the detriment that the situation has caused, and as a bonus, my aggressor may feel better as well."

If only we could all do this; life would be so much more productive.

Let me strive each day to be able to monitor my mind, my thoughts, my emotions that I may lead an even more productive, happy life.