The Newsy Neighbour Magazine
February Issue 112
Article Provided By: Rebecca Stone of Pranava Yoga
The 3 Aspects of the Mind (and how to free yourself from
negative patterns).
One of the oldest self-help books ever written is called the
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Within this very important yoga text, which is over
2000 years old at best guess (and possibly much older than that), is an outline
to becoming the healthiest and happiest version of ourselves that we possibly
can – written long before the self-help fad ever came along. This is an intense
text that has been shared by many generations of gurus to students, and is
found in almost all yoga lineages. I have read the book several times, as have
most who study yoga history and philosophy. I have spent many hours in
discussion about it in both formal and informal settings. Over the past 6
years, I have used this as a reference for how to develop my own well-being,
and have been blessed to be able to share some of the wisdom it offers with my
students over the years.
One of my favourite pieces of information to share from
these writings concerns the three aspects of which the mind is comprised. It
has helped to free me (somewhat) from being ruled, mentally and emotionally, by
the patterns and whims of my thoughts. Thoughts are part of being human – we
shall rarely be without them, both conscious and unconsciously. BUT if we
understand what the mind is comprised of, it will allow us to begin to CHOOSE
the thoughts we allow to remain and to begin to CHANGE the thoughts we learn
are unhealthy - into thoughts that support our happiness. The more we do that,
the more positive our mind will naturally become, and therefore, the more
positive our life experience.
The 3 Aspects of the Mind
1. Manas: The part of the mind that observes, but
only what the information provides. The example often used would be, “I see
a bull. It is running.” This is our sense perceptions, perhaps one of our 5
senses but may also often apply to intuition, before we begin to judge the
information.
2. Buddhi: This is the aspect that organizes the
information to make sense in regards to our own experiences and understanding. “The
bull looks angry. It is running in this direction”. I would know this
because I have had previous interactions with a bull and/or I understand the
idea of distance, direction, speed, momentum, etc.
3. Ahamkar: This is the part of the mind that makes
this about ME. In other words, the ego, whose role is self-preservation and
survival. “The bull is running at ME! I need to get out of its way!” The
ego is a powerful part of the mind that is often a ruling influence in our
decision-making. In it's healthiest state it keeps us alive and well. In it's
unhealthy state it can deeply affect how we move through our lives.
What is empowering for us in this information, is it (a)
empowers us to begin to notice the thoughts, (b) to understand a bit more about
why they are arising, and (c) decide whether we want to accept the thoughts as
they are or to replace them (consciously and on purpose) with a healthier
thought.
For example, if a thought looks like this: “I am tired. I
look awful. I don’t like the way I look, I am so ugly, no one loves me.” I
can recognize the thought for being an aspect of my judging mind (who says I look
tired, how do I know that? Feeling ugly is based upon something I believe I
should look like from my past experiences) and my ego mind (which is trying to
protect me from feeling self-conscious or risk being hurt, but in this instance,
is limiting my happiness and keeping me isolated). Once I am able to notice the
thought, I get to choose to bring a wave of more positive thought to counter
the negative: “I am tired. There is nothing wrong with looking the way I
feel, I do not need to look a certain way to feel and be loved.”. Even if I
don’t believe myself right away, I have opened myself up to a much more
positive experience in my life. I have begun the work that it takes to counter
negative thoughts with a positive one, and if I continue doing that my mind
will begin to take over the HABIT of positive thinking.
Yoga teaches us that the mind is not WHO we are, it is
simply part of our human experience. We are empowered to develop our mind the
way we would develop the muscles of our body – one thought at a time, we can
train our mind into optimum health.
This is pretty deep information, but I hope that I have
managed to present it simply and in a way that will help you to put it to work
for yourself right away. If you have any questions, this is a conversation that
I would love to carry on with you. To learn more, join me for Pranayama and
Meditation class on Wednesdays at Pranava, or call or email me anytime.
Namaste, Becky
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