People tell us thousands of ways to focus our mind. Some say meditate, some say sit with your eyes closed. Some say you should do yoga. People spend so much money to get peace of mind and focus their mind. Mental stress has become a trending term in society today. The reason for this is that our mind is constantly restless. It either agonizes over the past or worries about the future. Unwanted thoughts dominate our mind and have a negative impact on our mental health. As we grow older, our mind wanders even more. Especially when we try to focus or complete a task. Our mind either goes into the past or the future. We are in both those areas where we shouldn’t be.

The restless and fickle mind keeps wandering for one reason or another. The yogi must bring it back and focus on the soul only. Bhagwan says that whenever the mind is restless, wandering, we must bring it back to the present and focus on our inner self. He advises us to be attentive to our thoughts. Sometimes we worry about small things because we are not able to think clearly. Nor are we able to work well throughout the day. This leads to delays in work or creates extra stress. All this has an indirect impact on our work-life balance and relationships. So we must learn to bring our mind back when it wanders. Since the present is your reality, whenever your mind becomes restless or agitated you must try to bring it back.

The mind has always been arbitrary. As long as we follow our mind, the mind keeps misleading us and keeps us astray. Till then the mind remains satisfied with us. But when everything starts going against it, then it becomes restless from being dissatisfied. Such situations sometimes occur in life when the mind becomes restless. The mind’s hold remains towards the world and its pleasures. This is a very old habit of the mind. This hold has been going on not only for this birth, but for who knows how many births. We do what the mind wants. Worldly thoughts do not affect us, rather the weakness of our own mind catches the thoughts of others. This makes our mind sad. Then we blame others for it. It is not easy for a mind engrossed in the world to turn away from it, but it is not impossible either. As you increase the practice of spirituality, the mind will gradually start becoming more concentrated. In reality, the mind goes into worldly thoughts due to its scattered nature.  Whenever the mind gets involved in worldly thoughts, then connect it with your true nature. The more consciously we go into the world, the less the world will affect us. Then we will become aware of our actions. When meditation increases in life, then our inclination towards the world decreases. Then efficiency in work teaches us to get out of the world.

I remember a story I read in my childhood. Once a boy went to Gautam Buddha and said, “There is a lot of unrest in my life. Please guide me so that I can get rid of this unrest?” Gautam Buddha asked the boy the reason for unrest in his life. The boy replied, “Due to excessive thinking, many thoughts come to me, due to which my mind remains restless.” Buddha smiled and said, “Look up at the sky and tell me if you can see the sun.” The boy looked up and said, “I can see the sun.” Buddha asked him, “What will happen if you stand in the sun continuously?” He said, “I will feel very hot and my body will feel uneasy.” Buddha told the boy, “If you feel hot by standing in the sun, then whose fault is it? The heat of the sun or yours?” The boy said after thinking for a while, “You also tell me the answer to this.” Buddha said, “The work of the sun is to give heat and the work of heat is to feel hot.”  In such a case, the fault is yours that you stood in the sun and felt hot. If you want to feel cool, you will have to stay in the shade.

Similarly, the nature of a restless mind is to awaken thoughts and feelings. Thoughts are for a moment, but the feelings born from thoughts last for a long time. But it is up to you to decide whether you want to go with the thoughts and feelings or take a different direction. Buddha says, the easiest way to calm the mind is to work on the dimension of the body. At the level of the body, we have karmendriyas (organ of action) and jnanendriyas (organ of knowledge). Karmendriyas (organ of action) are connected to action and jnanendriyas (organ of knowledge). With this, we can increase our sensitivity. That is, whatever work we do, do it with joy. Your mind will become calm only by moving away from the dimension of the mind to the dimension of the body. By doing this, you will move from the dimension of the mind to the dimension of the body. Just like you could move from the sun to the shade. By moving away from the dimension of the mind, your awareness will come to the body. When you work on the dimension of the body, then your mind will become calm. Therefore, by doing every work on the dimension of the body, the mind automatically becomes calm.