Wandering mind to Wonderful PROPELLING Mind

Wandering mind that happens so often, what do we really know about this process of mind-wandering?

The awake human mind spends from a third to half its time wandering. That’s a big range, a rough estimate, and there are good reasons to be suspicious of it. Estimates aside, though, introspection reports that the mind wanders surprisingly often.

The brain is much more sensitive than other organs. All other organs have specific functions, but the brain has a few specific functions, and the rest is left open. This is the problem of being human. Any other creature has specific goals, nothing more. They must eat well, grow well, reproduce well, and die one day – everything is set. Only a human being is wondering, “Why am I here? What is the nature of my life? Where do I come from? Where do I go?” All these questions only come up when you are human. The difference between a human being and any other creature is that in human beings, the cerebral cortex and other parts of the brain have flowered.

What drives the mind to wander?

Does anything drive it to wander?

What is the mind searching for?

Is the transition from focused thought to meandering thought random?

Is it a failure of control, or is there some dark purpose behind these mental movements?

Why does the mind wander so much?

Because:

1.    It’s wild by nature and mostly remains untrained.

2.    It’s a protective mechanism for human survival, continuously scanning for danger.

3.    It’s looking for an escape route, being confused due to an over bombardment of useless information in current environment.

 A unique human characteristic is our ability to mind wander—these are periods of time when our attention drifts away from the task-at-hand to focus on thoughts that are unrelated to the task.

“This flow of thoughts that we engage in on a daily basis is fascinating and yet it has been largely unexplored.”

OUR TENDENCY TO MIND WANDER

Humans on average spend up to half of their waking hours mind wandering.

There are different types of minds wandering. For example, we may sometimes mind wander on purpose when we are bored with what we are currently doing. Other times, our mind accidentally wanders off without us noticing.

Individuals who are often sad or worried mind wander more frequently compared with individuals who are happy and have nothing to worry about.

People with bored, stressed, unhappy and depressed mood and intoxicated with alcohol consumption mostly suffer with this phenomenon.

Cognitive scientists are currently in a debate about whether mind-wandering is good for us or not. 

Mind wandering (MW) has recently been associated with both adaptive (e.g., creativity enhancement) and maladaptive (e.g., mood worsening) consequences.

Mind-wandering can make you happier…depending on the content.

If you are a frequent daydreamer, your brain may simply have more capacity to think, and can tune out if you are performing an easy task.

Meditation can reduce mind wandering

Just like practicing kicking a soccer ball or throwing a baseball rewires the brain so you improve at those skills, meditation may rewire the brain so that your mind wanders less.

When you practice meditation, you may be constantly bombarded by thoughts. Some of those thoughts cause your mind to wander, simply bring your attention back to the object of focus (e.g., breath).

By doing this repeatedly, you are training your mind not to wander?

The subject of concentration is disgusting, and tiring for the neophyte; but it is the most interesting and beneficial science in the world. When one advances in concentration, when one takes real interest, when one has realized some benefits, he cannot leave the practice. The vital point in concentration is to bring the mind to the same point or object again and again by limiting its movements in a small circle in the beginning. That is the main aim. A time will come when the mind will stick to one point alone.

Happiness exists in the present but hardly anyone lives for long in the present because the mind is always wandering away from the present to something it thinks will be better or something it thinks was better or some strategy to deal with the anxiety that it may lose whatever it has.

Learning to “control” the mind in this way is key, and it definitely doesn’t happen overnight. That’s why they call it a practice.

“There are 2,500,000 gigabytes of storage space in your brain. The top-of-the-line iPhone 13 Pro Max has 1TB .” – The L.A. Times

WHAT IS TRUE YOGA - INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY

Yoga is the pristine original feeling with which we were born. When we were just happy to be and this joy was shining out of our eyes and we could simply see it in the eyes of all who loved us.

This is TRUE YOGA! Its rediscovery will be an amazing journey! Let’s do it and not just stop at health!

Yoga is referring to is that of uniting individual consciousness (our individual experience of reality) with Divine consciousness (the essence of truth as perceived when we quiet our five senses and reconnect with the Supreme Self within).

The purposes of yoga were to cultivate discernment, awareness, self-regulation and higher consciousness in the individual. The fundamental purpose of yoga is to foster harmony in the body, mind, and environment.

“True yoga is not about the shape of your body,
but the shape of your life.
Yoga is not to be performed; yoga is to be lived.
Yoga doesn’t care about what you have been;
yoga cares about the person you are becoming.
Yoga is designed for a vast and profound purpose,
and for it to be truly called yoga, its essence must be embodied.”

Yoga to witness the truth. To acknowledge the existence of truth, and humanities part within it. Yoga is based on the wisdom, Staying honest and truthful about our practices.

Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, which are in seed form, are explained as a holistic system of human endeavor & principles.

WHAT IS TRUE YOGA

The TRUE YOGA is conscious, joyous choice.

The TRUE YOGA is the Management beyond Management - Self Discipline & Personal Mastery.

The TRUE YOGA is an "essential life skill and personality amplification through personal mastery".

The TRUE YOGA is to focus on the energy inwards.

The TRUE YOGA is Bringing our body into alignment will allow the breath to be as it should be—a deep, flowing, nourishing breath. 

The TRUE YOGA is the Warmth, caring, sensitivity, empathy, kindness and an underlying consciousness, unconditional acceptance for everyone.

The TRUE YOGA is being self-aware and constantly striving to move further in their own journey.

The TRUE YOGA is a sense of calm arising from a disposition that is better balanced and even-tempered than most.

The TRUE YOGA is “listening to the body” and making seemingly imperfect pieces beautiful.

The TRUE YOGA is igniting the spark for becoming the best version of yourself.

The TRUE YOGA is “Yoga for Humanity” coping with the challenges of social isolation and stress.” 

All yoga practice is to serve the unfolding of infinite potential of both the human mind and eternal Self.

Through pure yoga practice, asana uses a combination of three different qualities within our being—

·         the mind

·         the body

·         the breath

Ramana Maharishi once said that when we clean the house, we don’t analyze the garbage. In the same way, we don’t want to analyze the pain and the stress that is present—we simply want to release and let go.

Adopt the pace of nature. Happy International Yoga Day.

Geet Govindam Mangal Geet Ashtapadi

Geet Govindam Mangal Geet Ashtapadi Jai - Jai Dev Hare. गीत गोविन्द जय जय देव हरे |

It is widely believed that wherever this Ashtapadi by Sri Jaidev Goswami is read or sung, Lord Shri Krishna Himself is Present there to Listen & Savor the song.

Jaidev Goswami was first to explain the glories of shri Radha Rani by Geet Govindam to this world.

श्री जयदेव जी के द्वारा 'गीत गोविन्द' की रचना ! Mangal Geet Ashtapadi कृष्ण स्वयं आते हैं यह गीत सुनने- गीत गोविन्द जय जय देव हरे

श्रित कमला कुच मण्डल धृत कुण्डल ए |

कलित ललित वन माल जय जय देव हरे|| 1 ||

दिन मणि मण्डल मण्डन भवखण्डन ए |
मुनि जन मानस हंस जय जय देव हरे|| 2 ||

कालिय विषधर गंजन जन रंजन ए |
यदुकुल नलिन दिनेश जय जय देव हरे|| 3 ||

मधु मुर नरक विनाशन गरुडासन ए।
सुर कुल केलि निदान जय जय देव हरे|| 4 ||

अमल कमल दल लोचन भवमोचन ए |
त्रिभुवन भवन निधान जय जय देव हरे|| 5 ||

जनक सुता कृत भूषण जित दूषण ए |
समर शमित दशकण्ठ जय जय देव हरे|| 6 ||

अभिनव जल धर सुन्दर धृत मन्दर ए |
श्रीमुख चन्द्रचकोर जय जय देव हरे|| 7 ||

तव चरणे प्रणता वयमिति भावय ए |
कुरु कुशलं प्रणतेषु जय जय देव हरे|| 8 ||

श्रीजय देव कवे रुदित मिदं कुरुते मृदम् |
मंगल मंजुल गीतं जय जय देव हरे|| 9 ||

The book Manton Ki Aakash Ganga – Mantra Spandan is a tremendous book contains ancient Vedic Mantras, prayers, hymns and strota for an assortment of blessings and benefits.

These Sanskrit Self-Siddha Mantras in this book offers knowledge and insights for spiritual progress, including higher perceptions and understandings of the Absolute or God, as well as the sound vibrations for awakening our higher awareness, invoking the positive energies to help us overcome obstacles and oppositions, assist in healing our mind and body from disease & negativity. 

The most highly recommended Mantras for spiritual realization in this age.

Turtle Breathing – ACTION PLAN FOR LONGEVITY

A longevity practice called Turtle Breathing developed from observing and understanding the habits of turtles. It is an excruciatingly slow deep breath, easy to learn but hard to master.

We breathe 20% less oxygen as we grow older or when we are sedentary in our activities.

We breathe 14 - 16 breaths a minute for a resting adult – or 21,000 - 23,000 a day. By the time we reach 30, we will have inhaled and exhaled roughly 250 million times.

Around six breaths a minute is the frequency that bring about markedly greater relaxation – a rhythm found in the repetitive actions of spiritual practices. As humans slow their respiratory rate to about six breaths per minute, that frequency translates to about 0.1Hertz.

These waves appear to oscillate around 0.1 Hertz, while some key pulmonary receptors are only activated during deep breaths. When we inhale and exhale at 0.1 Hertz, it has the potential to align the rhythm of these mechanisms with our heart rate.  “When you breathe at that same rate, it’s like pushing the swing at the perfect moment,”.

When we breathe in, we are not just inhaling air, we add fresh energy to our body and mind. This energy is healing and rejuvenating, it revitalizes and nourishes the system. Similarly, when we breathe out, we are not just exhaling air, but also the toxins from our body and mind.

Turtle breathing, also known as kuei hsi or "swallowing the breath," aims to mimic the slow, deliberate breathing of the tortoise, which is a symbol of longevity in China. Using the tortoise breathing technique, with time and practice you should be able to comfortably slow down your breathing rate to three or four breaths per minute.

When ancient Indian practitioners practiced their mind and body in nature, they accidentally discovered that various animals and plants have natural methods of healing, relaxing, sleeping or staying awake. Healed naturally without any treatment. Therefore, ancient Indian yogis created a series of beneficial exercise systems based on animal posture observation, imitating and personal experience, including breathing exercise methods. 

Yogic philosophy says our lifespan doesn't depend on the number of days we live but on the number of breaths we take. This means the "slower we breathe, the longer we live".

So, breathe slowly and add more years to your life.

Our emotions play a vital part too in our breathing patterns. You breathe differently when you are angry, sad, happy or excited. Breathing is very rapid and shallow when we are angry or excited. So, who does it? Obviously, the brain is the posterior part of the cerebrum; the thinking guru.

How to do tortoise breathing exercise:

The following are the steps that you can follow to efficiently do a tortoise breathing exercise. These will help you a lot in clearing your concept of how tortoises breathe? also how they do their breathing exercises.

Steps:

• Start by calming yourself either by sitting or lying. Now take a deep and slow breath until you feel the air to your neck.

• Now mimic the process of swallowing and swallow the inhaled breath.

• Now blow the air out through your nose, don’t use your mouth slowly and deeply. Repeat the above three steps eight times.

• Now it may sound corny but you have to keep going. Now you have to swallow your saliva after the eighth breath and keep swallowing it by collecting your saliva through your tongue.

Benefits of deep breathing:

• How tortoises breathe? The better you breathe more the energy you can feel in yourself.

• It reduces depression, anxiety and pressure you feel on your body and makes you think more deeply.

• Deeper breaths also promote better digestion.

• The deeper breathing makes you live more at the moment. It enables you to connect with the present situation.

Finding the Calm

Many slower, deeper breathing exercises appear to help people activate their parasympathetic nervous system, associated with calm and rest, and deactivate their sympathetic nervous system, associated with fight-or-flight responses.

Help with finding calmness and peace in phases of high stress.

Increase confidence, self-image, and self-esteem & increase joy and happiness.

When the energy is flowing through your body, you are releasing the old and welcoming in the new and healing happens effortlessly.

Inference

Breath has always been the most underestimated thing. Luckily, it’s changing now. All you need is a pair of lungs, and some discipline.  We may begin to exchange energy with nature consciously, and gain control over our physical and mental functions. To solve this mystery of nature you must reflect deeply, open your sensibilities, and practice diligently. Be patient and persistent. If you are sincere, one day you will re-discover in every breath the immense power now dormant within you.

Small and fresh change can enliven you and create a new and exciting outlook on life.

GURU NANAK DEV JI TO SHRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB JI

Guru Granth Sahib not only teaches but tell way how to attain God.

When man abandons desire, then alone does he become a true renouncer.

The Guru Granth Sahib is a lengthy religious text comprising 1430 pages, compiled and composed by the Sikh Gurus from 1469 to 1708.

It consists of 19 lines of text per page, with a total of 26,852 lines. The text was first assembled by the fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan Dev, from the hymns of the first five Sikh Gurus. Inevitably as the last Guru, this holy book is given the most important place in the Sikh religion. 

The first Guru of Sikhs was a great preacher of love and goodness. He travelled a lot, spent a life full of wisdom and raised the flag of virtue, equality, goodness and love. Not only this but he was also a great poet and his thoughts, views and words have been catalogued as 974 poetic hymns in the holy book 'Guru Granth Sahib.' On the auspicious occasion, it would be perfect to recall some of his teachings and quotes that are significant in our day to day lives even today!

The world is burning in the fire of desire, in greed, arrogance and excessive ego. – Guru Granth Sahib Ji

Humility is the word, forgiveness is the virtue, and sweet speech is the magic mantra. – Guru Granth Sahib Ji

Guru Granth Sahib Facts

Guru Granth Sahib contains 5894 hymns (shabad) written in 60 melodies (raag) by 35 authors, including 6 Sikh Gurus, 15 Bhagats, 3 Divines and 11 Poets, all from different social classes, religions and spiritual traditions – making the Sikh scripture the world’s most interfaith scripture. 974 hymns are written by the first Guru, 62 by the second Guru, 907 by the third Guru, 679 by the fourth Guru, 2218 by the fifth Guru, and 115 by the ninth Guru. Among the remaining 922 hymns, the highest number of hymns — totaling 541 — is by Bhagat Kabir. The melody (raag) of each hymn sets the mood for the hymn, and is associated with a particular beat (taal), together which provides the context or mood for the hymn.

The opening section of the Guru Granth Sahib is the Japji Sahib or the Song of the Soul. The Japji Sahib begins with the Mool Mantra or root chant (Punjabi: ਮੂਲ ਮੰਤਰ), which describes a human being’s true nature. The first sound is Ik Omkar (Gurmukhi: ੴ) which represents the principle of oneness and continuous change in the Universe. The rest of the Mool Mantra, Japji Sahib and indeed the entire Guru Granth Sahib sets out to bring the reader and the listener to this very experience of oneness.

More Guru Granth Sahib Facts:

·         The Guru Granth Sahib has a total of 1430 pages.

·         The pages are written with a landscape orientation.

·         There are 19 lines of text per page. However, many pages with headlines (starting with new raag) have less than 19 lines per page.

·         Total number of lines are 26852.

·         Total number of words are 398,697.

·         Total dictionary words are 29445 (these are the words that have been used again and again to make the whole text). Many of these words have been used only once.

·         The word that has been repeated most often is ਹਰਿ. It has occurred 9288 times.

·         No punctuation marks like comma, semicolon or colon have been used. A ‘colon’ shaped character that has been used is not a colon.

·         No ‘Adhak’ character has been used.

·         No ‘Paireen Bindi’ character (dot at the bottom of character) has been used.

The last Sikh guru (Guru Gobind Singh ji) commanded all the Sikhs to worship Guru Granth Sahib as living Guru of Khalsa. He then sang his self-composed hymn:

Agya bhai Akal Ki tabhi chalayo Panth Sabh Sikhan ko hukam hai Guru manyo Granth Guru Granth Ji manyo pargat Guran Ki deh Jo Prabhu ko milbo Chahe Khoi shabad mein le Raj karega Khalsa aqi rahei na koe Khwar hoe sabh milange bache Sharan jo hoe."

Translation:

"Under orders of the Immortal Being, the Panth was created. All the Sikhs are enjoined to accept the Granth as their Guru. Consider the Guru Granth as embodiment of the Gurus. Those who want to meet God, can find Him in its hymns. The pure shall rule, and impure will be no more, those separated will unite and all the devotees shall be saved."

Practice Humility, Kindness, Compassion, Love & Humbling yourself allows you to see the goodness and presence of God in anyone.