citta vrtti Flashcards
Lots of thoughts every day
Sometimes you may feel you are the only one struggling with a monkey mind. But on any given day we each have about 60,000 thoughts. This is natural. It isn’t unique to any one of us. That’s a lot of thoughts every minute, every hour
Yoga sutra
Today we are going to explore the idea from the Yoga Sutras (an ancient yogi text) that we can use our Yoga practice on and off the mat to calm and quiet the fluctuations of our mind
Explain the monkey mind
Sometimes when my mind is very busy. I bring some lightness to my situation by remembering that the Buddhists think of our mind as a monkey. Imagine each of your thoughts as a branch, and your mind, is a monkey, swinging from thought-branch to thought-branch. We want to find ways to calm our monkey-mind
What do we want?
We want to find quietness but can be hard to do
Types of thoughts
Your vtrri/thoughts might be busy today
Maybe anxiously focused on your to do list
Maybe they are focused on your form in this pose and comparing your form to a previous practice
Or you might be like me this week – my inner critic, my mean girl, has been very loud
Tiring and exhausting
• This flow of thoughts can be tiring and exhausting. They are likely whirling at the moment, trying to pull you out of this pose.
Need some quietness
• we want to find some quietness, some stillness by training our mind to focus on the present, letting the thoughts pass us by
key is practice and determination
• Once you find some stillness, the key is to continue to practice with determination, practice returning to your breath, letting the mind chatter pass without attachmnet
greater sense of freedom and clarity
- when you turn down mental distractions you have more space to see with increased clarity
- as we consciously slow down, the whole world becomes more vivid
Transition
Taking a smooth approach into your next pose will deliver a steadier landing
Transition general
- Feel your muscles in the transitions
* Notice the impulse to rush into the position to bypass the burn in your muscles.
Before savasana
Shut your eyes as you start to relax.
Allow your breathing to discover its own natural, unhurried pace.
As you hear the chattering of your mind, let the ideas and thoughts float away without attachment.
Reassure yourself, that it will be ok to stop thinking for these moments.
Let go of tension as your body falls into a state of peaceful quiet, into savasana.
Intro
Today we are going to find some space from our mind chatter. Some space from that internal dialogue that always seems to be in motion.
Pranayama – sama vrtti breathing
- It means balanced breathing
- It aims to sooth the mind and body. It can be used any time on and off the mat.
- It grounds and stabilizes overactivity, so the mind and body can relax again.
SAMA VRITTI PRANAYAMA practice
- As you settle in, begin to notice your natural inhale and exhale.
- Notice the length, the sensations in the body and how the breathis flowing.
- After your next breath we will start to count the inhale and exhale.
- Breathe in slowly for four. Gently exhale for four. x 2 rounds
- Increase to 5 breaths x 2
- 5 breaths - inhale and exhale, internal counting
- 3 more rounds counting to yourself.
- You can increase or decrease your count. Maintaining a smooth count for you.
- As you finish your practice, let the breath return to normal. Notice the peaceful changes in your body and the mind with the rhythmic, balanced breathing.
