I was talking with a friend about the thought waves in her mind, explaining that all these little waves do not allow clear reflection; so whatever we see becomes distorted. She chuckled and said, “Come with me.”

We drove to the ocean. The sea was stormy. She pointed and said, “That is my mind”“not a lake with ripples, but an ocean in storm. I feel like I have no control over my mind or my life.” Trying to transcend or master the thoughts of the mind is, for many of us, more like trying to control the waves of an ocean in storm rather than like a relatively calm lake. It’s the nature of thoughts in the mind to move and toss about.

Don’t allow your meditation practice to become a struggle with your mind. Make the mind a friend, not an enemy. Remember, you and your mind are on the same side—the side of wanting to be calm and peaceful. If the mind becomes your enemy, you will never have peace; it will always find a way to agitate you. As a friend, it will find ways to help you find peace.

Instead of fighting to control the thoughts in the mind, rise above them as if in an airplane. Get distance from them and look down and see how small and undifferentiated everything looks. Or, if you wish, dive down deep. Like a scuba diver, go below the waves and turbulence to the silence, calmness and beauty. When the mind becomes still, we have a clear reflection of what is around us. Go deep within.

Meditation, while much more than a stress management technique, can be used wonderfully to relieve and moderate stress. But to use meditation for only that purpose is like using a high-powered laser beam to cut bread.

Meditation is a tool for total transformation. It opens us up to that all pervasive feeling of peace, which we may experience as a dynamic stillness.

Namaste.

from The Healing Path of Yoga by Nischala Joy Devi

A Guided Meditation: Calm Your Mind, Open Your Heart

Dynamic Stillness Meditation

Photo Credit: Bhaskar Deva ©Abundant WellBeing