by Leza Lowitz
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| Freedom of Mind by Rene Magritte |
I’ve been thinking about different mind states lately, especially after having been cooped up for the better part of a year in close quarters with a teenager, and often feeling like I’d literally lost my mind. Both of us moved from Japan to the USA without his father, who stayed behind to care for his elderly father. My son had never lived abroad before or spoken the English language with any regularity. Add Covid-19 lockdown and normal adolescent turmoil to the mix, and it’s not hard to imagine how such a big transition would be a challenge. The open awareness I’d cultivated for decades through my mindfulness and yoga practice often took a backseat to a kind of coping by triage. Eventually I realized I needed to tend to my state of mind in a more intentional way.
In daily life, our minds might not typically be very receptive, but in yoga, meditation, chanting, and creative states, such as dancing and creating art/writing/music, we enter into a receptive mind-state beyond logic and “right and “wrong.” In this receptive state, unconscious thoughts that might not be directly accessible through ordinary thought processes can arise or be “tapped into.” Through asana, dhayana, and pranayama, the conscious or thinking mind recedes, and subconscious awareness arises.
In asana, we want to develop a “relaxed awareness” so that our unconscious and subconscious thoughts and patterns can surface and we are aware enough to take note. In practicing Raja Yoga (The Eight Limbs), we progress through the Five Koshas, with Annamaya Kosha and Pranamaya Kosha being the Conscious Mind, Manomaya and Vijnanamaya Koshas being the Subconscious Mind, and Anadamaya Kosha being the Unconscious Mind. In terms of awareness, the first two koshas are Wakeful Awareness, the second two koshas are Dreaming Awareness, and the last, Anandamaya, is Meditative Awareness.
From a practical point of view in asana practice, if you are focusing on the body, the breath, and your intention, you’re bringing your consciousness inside yourself to invite a deeper state of relaxation. In doing so, you’re less likely to get injured than if you are not “in your body” and your attention is directed outward. You’re also bringing your senses inward, where it’s more likely you can connect to a deeper state of consciousness, such as the subconscious mind.
When we become aware of this process, we can harness the power of the subconscious mind to plant seeds through resolve and intention (sankalpa), which is one of the practices of Yoga Nidra. Through practice of the yamas and niyamas we can then use this power to influence our lives in a positive way. We can plant, nurture and water positive seeds, affecting changes in our lives and in the world, even sometimes healing ourselves physically and emotionally. These are some of the fruits that can be harvested by tapping into the subconscious mind. This is what I have embraced during the Covid-19 pandemic, and it has helped me.
Modifying Our Behavior
Asana can help us notice our habitual modes of behavior, which often mask our deeper self and nature (in yoga this is called swabhava). When the mind is calm and quiet, these deeper states of consciousness are more likely to surface. When we are conscious later, we can actively restructure and reform our habits and personalities, burning away our limiting patterns and imprints (samskaras). When we notice that automatic responses arise in daily life, we can detach and be more authentic. We can respond mindfully, so we are not as “unconscious” in our behaviors. Here’s an example: If my teenager is on the phone during Zoom class-time, I might yell at him to put his phone away. Or I might try to take it from him, offer consequences, or bargain. Of course, none of that is very skillful, and none of it works. So instead, through the capacity for observation that I have developed through my practice, I just notice the anger arising, and let it be. Then I dig a little deeper and discover what is beneath it. I notice this emotion is fear—fear of him failing, fear for his future. If I hold that emotion with kindness, and continue to investigate, I might find frustration, shame, self-judgment. And if I sit with those feelings for longer, without judging myself, I might find that all of this is motivated by love, and a desire to see him happy.
Then I can re-set. I can make the conscious decision to tap into that subconscious desire and feeling of love, and re-wire my pattern. The next time it happens, if I take a breath and observe, remembering the root of my emotion, I might be mindful enough to just calmly mention it once, and then tell him I love him, and let it be. Since anger never achieves the desired result anyway, why continue to suffer? He will have to face the consequences of his actions. He will learn (or he won’t), in his own time. Meanwhile, I have stepped out of being triggered and reactive. I am responding from a more aware place of conscious choice and kindness—both to him and more importantly, to myself. This gives him the opportunity to change his response as well, and we can break the cycle.
Asana reveals and stops the “citta vrittis,” or churnings of the mind, which are the causes of our suffering and which lead to actions that create latent impressions and imprints (samskaras) in our minds. In ways like that described above, we can move from consciousness into the unconscious mind through the eight limbs and thus refine and purify our citta (dynamic consciousness).
According to Patanjali, before things materialize (prakriti) in the world, they exist in some latent form, either as a thought, wish, desire, hope, goal, energy, flow, concept or vision. Therefore, if you set an intention (sankalpa) in your asana practice, you are guiding the unconscious (or subconscious) mind in a certain direction and planting a seed that can grow in your mind and can be manifest in the material world. For example, I might plant the seed to remain calm the next time I have a conflict with my son rather than getting angry. I can take a breath, stay calm, say what needs to be said, and let go of the outcome. When I change my response, his response changes in turn. In this way, we both disengage from the cycle of conflict. When the mind is clear and calm, the seed can grow.
Karma and the Subconscious
We can also work with the subconscious mind to shift our karma. In yogic philosophy, there are three layers of karma and samsakaras in our minds. On the first level, karma and samskaras accumulate and are buried deep in our unconscious minds—everything we have done is imprinted there, where they are latent and unmanifest. On the second level, in the subconscious mind, there are samskaras that are being stored, changed, or are in the process of being manifested. The third level is when these samskaras come into maturity and realization as our current karma, or destiny. The three types of karma are basically past, present and future actions.
In our practice, over time, and with proper guidance and support, we can create a safe place for thoughts from various levels of our consciousness to surface. So when past traumas or habits arise, if we are sufficiently prepared, we can accept them without resistance and take the opportunity to cleanse ourselves, heal, nurture ourselves, and purify our latent samskaras. In this way, we can observe and correct negative patterns in our brains and replace them with positive patterns and associations.
Yoga Nidra and Intentions (Sankalpas)
When we look inward, sometimes trauma or habits from the subconscious arise. One practice I have found very important in this process is Yoga Nidra, where the deeper layers of thought are brought into conscious awareness through total relaxation of the body. Consciousness travels from one layer to another, sometimes deep, sometimes not so deep. We can then bring awareness, compassion and kindness to these memories, traumas or habits. We can also note the changing state of awareness from moment to moment and understand that things are impermanent, and are always changing.
In some Yoga Nidra practices, archetypes and symbols are used in the guidance specifically to strike at these samskaras and to allow these associations with trauma to arise so we can purify our karma. We can only achieve transformation when we are in a relaxed state, free of tension, and feel safe and protected.
We contact the unconscious and subconscious through pratayahara—withdrawal of the senses. Awareness is withdrawn progressively from the external world, the body, the breath, the conscious mind, the unconscious mind. In advanced stages, Yoga Nidra and meditation lead to dharana and samadhi.
In Yoga Nidra, the mind eventually becomes one-pointed. In order to prevent the mind from totally withdrawing we concentrate on one channel of sensation: auditory. In this way, the rest of the brain’s terminals are disengaged. When consciousness operates from only one channel it becomes more sensitive. We train the mind to stay aware in this state. That’s why there are various steps and sequences in Yoga Nidra.
In Yoga Nidra, you focus on an intention (sankalpa), so you have planted a seed in your subconscious mind. If there are negative patterns in your life, a positive sankalpa will plant the seeds of positive change. For example, I could plant the seed to stay calm when I’m engaged in a tense moment with my teenage son. (Intentions are best set as positives, rather than negatives, such as “don’t get angry.”) Then the consciousness rotates to all the different places in the body the practice guides you to, specifically designed to help the samskaras and negativities surface so you can purify them from a relaxed state of mind. The more the seed is planted in the subconscious, the more it ripens in the conscious mind, and in actions.
I am finding Yoga Nidra to be a wonderful refuge these days. It’s the perfect practice to cultivate an expansive and loving state of mind. It has been essential for self-care, self-awareness, and self-compassion. Anyone can do it, anywhere, anytime.
As Richard Miller, founder of iRest says:
“Yoga Nidra, for me, means our ability to feel that sense of non-separation—to stay in touch with that underlying essence no matter the changing state of consciousness.”
You can read more about Leza’s writing at www.lezalowitz.com and about her yoga studio and classes at www.sunandmoon.jp.
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