Meditation

I Want to Practice Meditation, but my Mind is Racing all the Time. What can I do about this? – by Brenda and Georg Feuerstein
Over 2,000 years ago, Prince Arjuna asked this same question of the enlightened master Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita. Krishna assured him that the mind can in fact be controlled. In our own times, while it is quite likely that the mind is racing faster than in previous millennia, still, in principle, the truth abides – the mind can be controlled! We may, however, have to enlist some extra help to calm the mind, such as uncluttering and simplifying our lifestyle, by delegating or not taking on quite so many tasks and obligations.
It is in the nature of the mind to produce thoughts. Even a little bit of conscious relaxation or meditation can thin out our thoughts and create mental space. In the early stages of meditation practice, it is natural for thoughts to boil on and on, leaving us with the impression that we will never gain mastery over our mind. Wrong impression! As we sit in meditation regularly (daily), we find that the mind slows down, and maybe even slows down considerably sooner than we assumed.
As neurologists have discovered in recent years, the brain is surprisingly adaptable. Contrary to previous opinion, brain cells can in fact regenerate throughout our lifespan. Regular meditation will retrain the brain, so that gradually meditation will become easier and “successful.” The mind will stop racing and begin to settle down. Later, it will go beyond its assumed boundaries, and still later it will find itself in the sublime state of ecstasy.
From “The Matrix of Yoga”, by Dr. George and Brenda Feuerstein. Copyright Hohm Press. Used with permission.
Brenda L. Feuerstein is an author and a yoga scholar. Her books include The Yoga Sutras from a Woman’s Perspective, Yoga-Nidra/Yoga Sleep (audio recording) as well as co-authored works with her late husband and spiritual partner Dr. Georg Feuerstein include, The Matrix of Yoga; Green Yoga, Green Dharma; and The Bhagavad-Gita: A New Translation. She lives in the quaint village of Eastend, Saskatchewan. Brenda is an internationally acclaimed Sanskrit scholar and yoga philosopher.