With the majority of mankind, the mind is greatly under the control of the body. Their minds being very little developed, they live on Annamaya Kosha mostly. Develop the Vijnanamaya Kosha and, through Vijnanamaya Kosha (Buddhi), control the Manomaya Kosha (mind). The Vijnanamaya kosha is developed by abstract thinking and reasoning, by systematic meditation, Brahma-Chintana, study of the Upanishads, Yogavasishtha and Brahma Sutras.
When you have controlled the mind, you have perfect control over the body. The body is only a shadow of the mind. It is the mould prepared by the mind for its expression. The body becomes your slave when you have conquered the mind.
Ayurveda describes in intricate detail the development and effect of mental and emotional “toxins” and their impact on the mind, behaviour, choices and eventual disease.
The study of the mind from this Ayurvedic perspective is a vital skill for the Ayurvedic practitioner, since it provides the basic understanding of why we do what we do, how our “inappropriate thinking” manifests as mental, emotional or physical imbalances or diseases.
One of the fundamental concepts of Ayurveda is that we exist at the levels of body, mind, senses and the soul. This 40,000 years old medical system has provided knowledge about the science of “psycho-neuro-immuno-endocrinology”: the biological basis of mind–body physiology and pathophysiology which is now at the cutting edge of modern medicine.
The entire field of psycho-neuroimmuno-endocrinology or mind/body medicine is encapsulated in a concept called the antahkarana or inner instrument in Ayurveda.
In medicine, things like sadness, listlessness, lack of motivation, despair and discouragement are not really taken as disease, but they affect one’s blood and brain chemistry and distract from living a purposeful life. They affect physical, mental emotional health, physical appearance and our relationships.
In Ayurveda, we use herbs, diet, lifestyle, massage and other treatment protocols to bring changes in the mind that will help also bring changes in the body health.
Invariably, my clients who have been coming to us for some time, reach a place where we are talking a lot more about the mind and emotions than just their body and its ailments.
So this year we have started programs for you to explore your own mind and emotions. The sessions are all individually separate sessions but can be also be linked as part of increasing your “Emotional Intelligence using Ayurveda”.
Thursday 10th April – Fine Tuning The Inner Instrument
This Inner Instrument (antahkaraṇa) is organized into four different aspects :ego, intellect, mind and memory. We will be looking at how this knowledge can help us fine tune our health and wellbeing a a minimum.