The mind is too cleaver for its own good. We try to control out thoughts by it seems impossible to do so. For those of us who face mental health challenges the battle to subdue our mind is even more of a struggle. We did not ask for this challenge. Sometimes it makes simple daily habits like even getting out of bed hard to do.
But I am here to tell you that you can win this war. You might not win every battle, but you can overcome. You can achieve mental mastery. I have been through challenges so extreme that I almost lost my life, on many occasions. There were times I was so hampered mentally that I could not tell you more than my name. From a combination of psychosis and overly medicated, I was a human zombie. Today though I have mastered my mind, and with it comes a feeling of peace and serenity that lasts throughout the day. This blog is a dedication to helping you get to this same state of mastery.
If you go back through many of my previous posts you will be introduced to numerous techniques to achieve this mental mastery. However, this post is about giving a context or road map for the journey.
First we must understand the battle ground, which is our mind. Our mind is the field upon which this war is raging. Our senses are the way the enemy confronts us. As our eyes see, ears hear, nose smells, tongue tastes and skin feels, our senses project themselves to the external world where distractions occupy us. In the beginning before we have mastered our senses, they are constantly bombarded by stimuli. Thus the mind is intruded upon.
However we have a tool to subdue the senses. And it is our only weapon to overcome our raging senses and control our mind. And this is the breath. The breath is the link between the body and mind. With proper use of it we can master our senses, thereby controlling the filter in which the mind responds to sensory data. Doing so we can take back the power and live consciously.
The breath is both involuntary, whereby it functions without our control, and voluntary, in which we can use it consciously to regulate our mind. Thus proper use of the breath is our strategy. Using the breath as strategy we can strengthen our body’s vital energy, known as chi or qi. Qi is thus the infantry that we circulate throughout the body and mind. Once the Qi has built up enough vitality it is transformed into spirit. This spirit brings us back to our original state of existence and gives us the ability to see Reality clearly. This Reality is the state of overcoming the mind.
A great place to start in learning to invert your senses so that you can start to control your mind is to learn embryonic breathing as disclosed in the book by Dr. Yang, Jwing Ming titled Qigong Meditation, Embryonic Breathing. Here you will learn the technique to reconnect the mind and body through a simple breathing technique that will strengthen the body’s Qi and start to develop greater vitality and eventually transform this vitality into spirit.
In Conclusion, We are in a war and our mind is the battle ground. Through using the breath as a strategy we can consciously summon our body’s natural energy to subdue the senses and strengthen the mind. By training our mind, it can be transformed into our greatest ally, whereby we can use it with conscious control. In Qigong terms this high level of achievement mean enlightenment. In everyday life this experience is that of fluid, mental freedom and lasting peace.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog and investing in your mental health. If you find this information beneficial please subscribe and follow along towards better mental health and a greater quality of life, Thank you, John
Mentally Sound 