On what we think
The last few weeks I’ve written about Beginnings and perspective—the idea of being at the beginning of something versus at the end of something else and the influence that perspective has on this particular point of view. I acknowledged that life is both hard and beautiful, especially right now, and that practices such as yoga and other disciplines help us to find an inner peace in order to better navigate the highs and lows that are native to this human experience. I shared tips for how to nurture and foster this inner calm within our day-to-day experiences, such as—1) going the long way to the local coffee shop (move.)—2) setting notifications on your alarm to tune into your breath (breathe.)—3) placing your journal on your nightstand to remind yourself to put your thoughts down on paper before bed (be.).
Revisit last week’s blog posting for more simple everyday tips.
Continuing in this vein, what role do our thoughts play with respect to perspective? And is there anything that we can do to develop more flexibility in our thinking, so that we can control it versus it controlling us?
The Role of Our Thoughts
Our thoughts play a huge role with respect to our perspective on events and life in general. Both cognitive therapy and yoga philosophy discuss the impact thoughts have on our behaviour, acknowledging that they generally precede action. This means that often times, we’re more influenced emotionally by our reaction to something than from that “thing” itself.
Said another way, we often act based on our emotional reaction to something rather than the actual thing. Kind of unhelpful, right?
So…why might we interpret events in unhelpful ways? Well, our brains take shortcuts—they follow neuropathways formed by experience and often choose that which is known and that which supports what is known. In yoga philosophy, we understand this through samskaras, repeated patterns of behaviour that often keep us “stuck” in endless loops of learnt stimulus and response. These cycles of behaviour can inhibit our ability to quiet the mind and find the inner calm we seek. These cycles, and this inner calm both, are strongly influenced by the kleshas, or obstacles, and the idea of an ego (asmita) and our desire to support what supports it (raga) and to avoid that which doesn’t (dvesha). This is not a choice of pleasure versus pain but rather what is more comfortable for us to believe and hold to be true based on our past experience.
Whew.
How Different Ways of Thinking Help
Something happens.
What do we do? Typically, we immediately try to make sense of it to determine what our appropriate response should be.
Our thoughts might go to the extremes (all or nothing) or jump to the worst possible conclusion (catastrophizing). They might discount the importance of something (minimizing) or the positive side of things (disqualifying). Or they might take too much—or too little—responsibility (personalizing), etc.
Can you see how this can be unhelpful when it comes to a right response?
What are ways we might expand our thinking in order to be more helpful?
We might ask ourselves questions, such as:
What is another way of looking at this?
What if instead of overwhelm, we thought of possibility?
What if instead of “I have to,” we explored “I get to”?
What would you say about this to a friend?
What would a friend say about this to you?
Will you remember this in 10 years’ time?
If you had no fear, how might you respond to this?
From this reframing, we start to see through a wider aperture, discerning events with curiosity and compassion (for self and others). From reframing our questions, we begin to reframe our thoughts, using this refinement to examine different points of views versus acting on autopilot from our first instinct. Ultimately, over time, we learn to act from a different place in the world.
What About Just Cultivating the Opposite Thought?
Yoga philosophy explores two notions—paksa bhavana and pratipaksha bhavana (yoga sutras 2.33 and 2.34). There is interpretation of the latter as an action of “just cultivating the opposite thought”. It’s not quite as simple as that, though I do understand the appeal.
We want to lead authentic lives, so…if you’re sad, be sad! (And if frustrated, be frustrated; angry, angry; or excited, excited…) And…explore both the cause of that sadness (paksa bhavana) and the opposite forces (pratipaksha bhavana). When our mind is distracted by the kleshas (by ignorance, by our ego, by our clinging to that which supports our constructs, etc.), it is nearly impossible to think clearly about events and to explore different ways of interpretation and ways of being.
What Can We Do?
We practice. And through practice, we cultivate discernment and an overall temperament that is aware and conscious of past experiences, instinctual reactions and the like.
We do this physically in our asana (movement) practice. We learn to balance the left and right, the front and back. We learn to both strengthen and soften, to engage and stretch. We elevate the weak or dull to the level of strong or intelligent, learning compassion in action. We explore and play with what we need, when, where, why…and how.
We also do this in our pranayama (breath) work. We become aware of and work on controlling the inflow and outflow of the breath. We breathe between the left and the right (lungs and nostrils alike) We focus on the experience in the top and bottom, the front and the back of our torso.
We do this in our sitting and meditation practices (be), too.
And in time, the chatter of the mind slows down. The distance between stimulus (event), corresponding emotion and response (action) increases. We begin to operate from a calm(er), clear(er) center.
This is why yoga is not just an exercise, or just deep breathing, or just relaxation. It is a practice, a discipline, that cultivates internal exploration, observation and constant checking in and re-balancing. And this is why it works!
The human experience is such that life will continuously share with us highs and lows that are neither good or bad except for the interpretation of our thoughts. Let’s keep our thinking out of it.
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References:
Devi, Nischala Joy. “The Secret Power of Yoga.” 2007.
Iyengar, B.K.S. “Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.” 1993.
Psychology Tools. “Thoughts in CBT.”
Satchdananda, Sri Swami. “The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.” 1978.
