Liberate Your Thoughts
Discernment is the art of determining what we choose to welcome into our holistic being. We are multi-layered, living in both physical and unseen dimensions, integrating thought and physical sensations into the human entity. I love the idea of Marie Kondo, who brought us the art of sorting through clutter by category. Using her example of cleaning and organizing our homes, we can take a look at clothes and end with sentiment.
What if we applied her rules of tidying to thought?
First, we would commit to clearing. Next, we imagine what life would be like without annoying thought-loops. This is followed by discarding. We all know how good it feels to let go of clothing that we no longer wear, but what about behavior patterns, negative thoughts, and habits?
We release clothing that no longer fits the body we inhabit. Thoughts deserve the same inquiry. Some were useful once. Others may have been inherited. Similarly, some thoughts were never ours to begin with.
We have no control over the way random thoughts enter awareness. Scientific and psychological research estimates that we have anywhere between 6,000 and 60,000 thoughts per day. Research reports that 75% to 80% of these thoughts are negative and that 95% are repetitive loops.
Cognitive distortions limit our beliefs. My stand-up comedy teacher says that a running inner dialogue is where we can extract humor. Many coaches use the idea of an inner critic that drags us into judgment, shame, and fear. My yogic philosophy defines the mind disturbances as वृत्ति vṛtti. This unique word translates to whirlpool or fluctuations. As a guide of the art of meditation, I use the idea of mind disturbances.
How can we tidy these up?
Thoughts feel like a highway we somehow are suctioned onto with a disappearing on-ramp. They carve deep neural grooves, grabbing our wheels. Once trapped, it seems impossible to find an off-ramp. While caught in rumination, how can we ask if a single thought sparks joy? Of course it doesn’t. When a negative thought loops, it burrows into our self-esteem, grabs hold of self-love, and chokes our cheerfulness. This is where the pain point forms.
When I was a little kid, sleep came easily if I was in my own bed. While sleeping at a friend’s house, I used to pretend I was asleep until I was drawn into the land of nod. Later, when researching manifestation techniques, a Buddhist Lama taught me to believe it is already here. He went on to instruct that we must embody the idea and feel it through all of our senses. I translate this to acting as if and believing what I crave has already arrived.
While clearing out my closet, I sorted through items. Some were sold. Others were given away. Nothing was wrong with them. They simply no longer belonged in my life. Discernment asks for that same clarity within.
In the system of seven chakras, the third is मणिपूर Maṇipūra, the Solar Plexus Chakra, located in the upper abdomen. When I am guiding creative visualization, I describe it as a golden city where the true self has the power to make decisions. In the viscera of organs, this is the area of digestion from the left receptive side of the body to the right, home of the spleen, stomach, pancreas, liver, gallbladder, and the duodenum. These internal body parts receive, break down, and process food before sending it in a new form to the lower digestive tract, where it is then separated into helpful and hindering. The steady practice of meditation strengthens our ability to observe and discern like a psychic investigator. The body does its work without us asking. There can be a delay or more rapid reactions when we shove less-than-desirable elements into it.
Thoughts can create digestive disturbances. Just as the body eliminates what it cannot use, we can learn to do the same with our experiences.
The mind is not as forgiving. Thoughts can surface in our awareness from years ago.
I once had a dream where I was carrying a white cell phone and a yellow sponge across a bridge of smooth slats. When I looked down, I saw large gaps between the smooth boards of the bridge and realized I was crossing a body of water. I felt a moment of fear and then tripped. The phone landed on a slat just ahead as I watched the sponge drop into the water below. I looked down and saw the sponge floating among things I knew were not useful and not mine to keep.
The writing of this dream filled the last page in a dream journal I started in 2020. I had wondered a few days before what would finish this phase of life communicated through the astral plane.
When I am centered and grounded, I find it easier to identify what I am ready to release and clarify what no longer belongs in my life. Joy is not found in every thought. When we learn to watch the mind-stuff without looping re-reactions, it becomes easier to let go of what is not necessary to hold onto. I give you permission to talk to the mind. Treat it as exterior to your true self.
It was 6:00 and I was squirming, trying to get comfortable in morning meditation at the ashram where I was studying. The thin cushion under me was not giving me any comfort and I did not want to keep shifting around in desperation as my knees were touching those of the people on either side of me. Sitting in the predawn dark I wondered if I would be able to sit still for 30 minutes. Then, in a soothing whisper, as if directly to me she began with her version of a famous quote that many yogis are familiar with,
“Mind is like a drunk monkey jumping. Jump around, monkey.”
I thought, yes, I realize this, as my lower back winced.
She continued, “Jump. Jump around, monkey.”
I began seeing the monkey as she went on.
“Take out big hammer. Whack monkey on head. Yell at monkey. Quiet down, go sit in corner!”
I let one of my eyes slit open and saw her grinning. I exhaled as she spoke her final advice.
“Time to meditate.”
I drifted into a deep meditation and let go. Instead of focusing on what didn’t feel comfortable, I allowed myself to release.
—Ambika Devi
Rebel Anthropologist
Kindred Vibe Collective
Continue Your Journey
Thoughts shape our choices, and our choices shape how we experience life. Learning to observe the mind gives us the freedom to question old patterns, release what no longer serves us, and welcome new possibilities.
In Mythic Alchemy, I explore the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and the stories we carry, offering practices drawn from mythology, yoga, Ayurveda, meditation, and self-reflection to help you navigate your inner world.
I invite you to explore Mythic Alchemy and discover what becomes possible when you begin to choose consciously.
