Yoga to Calm the Mind
“Yogas Chitta Vritti Nirodha”
Yoga is the stilling of the whirlpools of the mind.
This one is for anyone who has struggled with mental health or is struggling with it.
The mind can be a terrible place.
It can spirals around negative thoughts and stories, digs into past mistakes, dwells on all things you’ve done wrong, creates elaborate stories around why you messed everything up, why you shouldn’t be here, why the world would be better of without you in it.
Some days the mind will tell you you’re worthless, pathetic, a sorry excuse for a human being. nothing you do will ever be good enough no matter how hard you try.
The mind will tell you:
You should feel ashamed of these feelings
Other people don’t feel this way
You are broken
You come from broken and you’ll always be broken
The mind speaks in all or nothing.
Lots of people do drugs or alcohol to get away from these horrific thoughts, to quiet them, but they still spiral. Many people guidance and therapeutic drugs to quiet their intrusive thoughts, suicidal ideation, and internal world of mental suffering.
The mind can also be kind, loving, and come up with fantastic stories.
Stories about a better you, a better life, a world where you are needed, where people care about you and you show up for others. The mind can spiral around positive stories and look for all the ways you are improving, growing, and pushing forward everyday to be the best version of you for yourself and your family.
In a matter of minutes the mind can fluctuate between both of these realities and it can all feel hopeless, scary, and unmanageable.
I have been up since 4 am, which means I have been observing these thoughts for the past 2 hours. I finally got out of bed to write what I’ve been thinking about.
In the yoga sutras it says,
“Yogas Chitta Vritti Nirodha”
Yoga is the stilling of the whirlpools of the mind.
Yoga: Union, to yoke, to unite body, mind, and spirit
Chitta: Consciousness
Vritti: fluctuations of the mind-right perception, wrong perception, fantasy, sleep, and memory
Nirodha: Stillness
"Yoga is experienced in that mind which has ceased to identify itself with its vacillating waves of perception." Mukunda Stiles
The world is a fuel for the whirlpools of the mind.
Smart phones have us constantly entertained, distracted, and skipping around mindlessly.
When we finally put the phone down the thoughts can feel deafening.
On the other side of that noise is stillness.
On the other side of the chaos is calm.
On the other side of hate is love.
None of us are perfect and there is no shame in acknowledging that your mind becomes a negative tornado sometimes threatening to take you and everyone around you out.
If you’re always in the tornado though and any amount of stillness, calm, and love feels too far from reach, please get help.
We need you in this world with all of your light and all of your darkness.
Don’t let the darkness swallow you.
Know you are not alone. I have walked through a decade of living inside of the tornado with brief glimpses of hope.
I fought for peace in my mind, body, and spirit.
I surrendered for peace in my mind, body, and spirit.
I got therapy to support peace in my mind, body, and spirit.
Somedays, especially when I don’t sleep well and am taking on too much, my mind starts to spiral down into the abyss.
The difference after 5 years of therapy, 8 years in a stable loving relationship, and 20 years of writing for mental health is I have enough tools to get out of the chaos and into the stillness. You can get there too. It is possible.
Don’t give up on yourself.
We need you.
"Yoga is experienced in that mind which has ceased to identify itself with its vacillating waves of perception." Mukunda Stiles
Love always,
Danielle Mallett
