I want to talk to you about your polluted little mind.

The great sage Patanjali, wrote in the yoga sutras over 2,000 years ago,Yogas Chitta Vritti Nirodaha. “Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind”.The word Vritti can literally mean Whirl, referring to the way the mind may fluctuate round and round. Much like the whirls in your toilet bowl.

We can say that the natural state of the water in your toilet bowl is calm, right. Without any external stimuli, that is how it would remain. But then, someone comes along, creates some crap and muddies the water. When this happens we flush. The content of the bowl starts go round and round, building up a centrifugal force that can not easily be stopped, until it is all sucked down the pipes. The waters then return to their natural state of calm.

YOUR MIND IS LIKE A TOILET!

Just like the toilet bowl, the natural state of your mind is calm. BUT, then someone comes along and stirs up some stuff, rippling the waters of your mind. If you react to this in a dramatic way, it gets worse and your mind becomes muddy. Then we have to flush in order to bring everything back to calm.

Now, some of us flush the mind from time to time as necessary. Some of us flush the mind a bit more than necessary. AND some of our minds are in constant flush mode!

Or even worse, your mind can be like the airport toilets. Where you do your business and it flushes as you leave. Of course, it rarely work that way. Sometimes it flushes when you sit down. And, when you are leaving and wanting it to flush, it doesn’t!

This month, I invite you to gain more control over the flush mechanism of your mind. Strive to be the one who decides when and how often your mind gets flushed. Don’t let the mind whirl round and round with every little incident that life brings.

Let your yoga practices be the training to keep you in control ! —

1- Controlling your breath in your yoga asana practice or your pranayama practice can train you to control your breath when the ‘stuff hits the fan’.

2- The observation and stillness developed during your meditation practice can allow you to quickly observe situations to make quick, clean decisions.

3- And the presence cultivated through your meditation can help you be completely present with family, friends and co-workers whenever they hit you with drama.

So try this — When you do your regular practices, let one of your intentions be to gain more control over the flush mechanism of your mind. Unnecessary toilet flushing is not good for the planets environment. Unnecessary mind flushing is not good for your environment.

Shanti Out,