Mind Control vs. Breath Control

Have you ever struggled to shut off your brain? Maybe your internal thoughts prevent you from falling asleep, listening to your partner, or even prevent you from taking action on your “big idea”. Personally, it’s easier for me to think than it is to do anything else. But after all this thinking, I don’t feel any smarter. Can you relate?

To control our mind, Some of us take medication. More commonly, most of us distract ourselves with our phone, work, or the next binge worthy show. Essentially, whatever you tend to do in a waiting room is your default strategy for distraction. But this is nothing new, as Blaise Pascal famously said in the 1600s “all of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”

But let’s say you are in the waiting room and you manage to put down the phone and now, well, you’re just there. What do you do when your mind starts begging you to get back to work or check for the latest updates? This can be very challenging! The mind is the most annoying backseat driver you could ever ask for!

There is a very famous Hindu/Vedic text called the Bhagavad Gita where one of its key points is to help one tame the mind. One of my favorite quotes is “[It’s] easier to control the wind than the mind.” Woah. How can it be possible that the wind is easier to control than our own mind? I mean at least if I say the word “potato”, I can easily picture one in my head. But the wind? I don’t have a weather machine.

This verse is referring to our inner wind. Aka: our breath. In a way, breath control = mind control. This is a much healthier form mind control because instead of dispersing your attention to your email inbox, facebook notifications, or what that person said to you, you bring it back to yourself.

So next time you just want your brain to shut off, bring it back to the breath.

And if you want to go deeper into “Mind Control”, you can learn more about breath science, techniques, and your nervous system in our Soothe Your Stress Course.