HYDERABAD: The research says our mind is capable of processing 2,000 thoughts in a minute. It is one of the most active organs in our body. This becomes even more important for us to be able to choose what kind of thoughts we choose to focus on. And the ability to make this choice can be attained only through training our brain and regularly exercising our mind. If we can learn on to keep our mind calm, the brain automatically will work on treating unnecessarily thoughts as unwanted guests.
Mita Vinay, Founder, Bodhsara Wellness Centre has a few ways of strenghtening the mind. Interestingly, practising most mind exercises does not require any props or preparation. “It is not mandatory to use lights, essential oils, or mantras to train our mind. Of course, please use props if you enjoy them or if it helps you. However, consistency and determination to practice regularly is the key to achieve the desired results,” she says. She suggests a way to strengthen your mind with Mental Calmness Techniquee.
“It is a technique from YogaNidra, a practice used effectively for deep relaxation, inner creativity and self-awareness. This is a simple technique to achieve mental calmness from chaos and you can practice it anytime anywhere. All you need is to is find a comfortable place to sit and a few minutes of free time, although or, in a middle of chaos too. Sit comfortably and close your eyes.
Now focus on the sounds around you. Without evaluating the quality or the content of the sound, move from one sound at a time and then let your mind float to another sound you can hear around you. Continue this for a few more second by moving from one sound to the other sound, take a mental count of how many sounds could you hear. Now bring your focus on if you can hear any new sound.
As you concentrate on this exercise, you will realise that most sounds take the form of a background score. Now, as you drift yourself out you will experience calmness and a clear headspace. This technique shifts your mind’s consciousness to the frontal brain which is used for learning. Start with 30-60 secs of practice and increase to 5 minutes. Daily practice will help rejuvenate the mind.
Cleanse your mind with breathing: Breath or Prana is one of the key elements of our existence. We can use the breathing technics to calm, strengthen and cleanse our minds. These steps can be performed soon after the mental calmness technic above. As you allow the sounds to be as a background score, bring your focus to your breathing. Take a slow and a deep breath and fill your belly with the inhalation, hold your breath for 5 to 10 seconds in the belly and slowly exhale out. Now move the breath to your chest hold it for 5 to 10 seconds and exhale out slowly. The next step is to feel the breath gently rubbing the inside of your throat when inhaling and the same experience when exhaling. The final step is to bring the focus in-between the eyebrow centre as you inhale and exhale. Repeat each step thrice.
Yoga acharya Shivang Chandrasekhar who runs his own yoga studio Yogistaan in Madhapur says that one has to keep changing activities and challenge oneself to be able to nurture the mind well. “Just as we push our bodies with workouts and increasing the number of burpees, the leaps or the number of minutes we do the planks, we need to adopt the same challenge technique to the brain.”
Livin suggests we try out activities such as painting, especially if you do not have any taste in painting as it gives your brain a new activity to focus on.“If you have always listened to Tollywood music in your car, mix and match it with some piano or jazz music just to surprise your mind,” he adds.