The Mind Matters in Ayurveda
By Anushree Ramakrishnan
What comes to mind (pun not intended) when you think of the word “mind”? Are you thinking of a place in your head or a place in your chest? Are you thinking the mind is your thoughts or your emotions? Or are you thinking Zen-like thoughts of meditation and yoga? Whatever your mental image of the “mind”, it might seem like a vague concept when we try to qualify and quantify it.
Understanding the Mind – the Machine:
Our modern-day understanding of the mind is limited at best and misleading at worst. The mind is an object that constitutes a field of thoughts, ideas, emotions, and beliefs. It is an instrument that we use to interact with the world from a very early stage of our existence. However, using the mind and understanding the mind are two very different things.
Using the mind is similar to using an intricately built, highly powerful machine that has the potential to run everything in our daily lives. But the caveat is that this machine’s user interface is non-existent, we can’t talk to the manufacturer to understand this machine better, everybody who has the machine has their version of it, and no manual comes with it. So we use a trial and error approach and succeed at times to get work done, while completely failing to get the job done at other times. The appliance is incredibly useful and instantly available at all times, so we end up getting habituated to using it all the time. We overuse it without allowing for maintenance downtimes that it needs to function, and it starts malfunctioning. Now that it’s malfunctioning, we don’t know what to do with ourselves because we got so used to doing everything with it and are lost without it functioning properly.
That’s how we use our minds – excessively without giving it rest, without any awareness or understanding, and by letting it dominate our lives to such an extent that we end up being at its mercy. The mind runs us!
We are not the Mind:
In the movie “Inside Out” (both the original and the sequel), the main characters are emotions like joy, sadness, anxiety, fear, disgust, and nostalgia that run amok in the mind of an 11-year-old and subsequently a 13-year-old girl. The filmmakers created an elaborate visual for the mind and its subtle workings, with apt characterizations, a genius plot, and CGI-generated sets that delightfully depict the mind. Analogies like the stream of consciousness, the belief system, and the sense of self are creatively and vividly portrayed, aiding in understanding the complex workings of the mind.
So while the mind is an entity that is closely connected to the body, it is very distinct from who we are. We are not the mind, just as we are not the body. We need to understand the mind, take care of it, and develop agency and control over its usage. As a society, we strive to do this for the body, but what about the mind? The mind is subtle (sookshma) and can reach any place, geographically or chronologically near or far in microseconds. The mind is inherently fast-moving (chala) and can switch between a zillion thoughts and emotions. The mind is action-oriented and excitable, resisting stillness and grounding due to its intrinsic nature. Our fast-paced lives are ridden with stress, action, movement, ambition, achievement, and multitasking. The technological innovations that have made our lives more convenient in many ways have also made us increasingly lonely and constantly in our heads. We have become slaves of our minds and puppets at the hands of the mind’s eternal drama. We need to rise above the chaos that comes from letting the mind run us!
Where is the Mind?
Ayurveda views the mind as an entity that exists all over the body and even goes beyond the body. The sphere of influence of the mind can be understood by delving into the concept of Manovaha Srotas in Ayurveda. Srotamsi is a Sanskrit term that means a set of channels (physical, physiological, and vibrational) that helps with the movement of nutrients, wastes, sensory information, and tissues within the body. The Manovaha Srotas is a collection of channels that carry all the tangible and intangible material that is needed for the mind to function. Its root or mula is the heart (hridaya) and the ten great vessels (dasha dhamani) or the arterial vessels that emerge from the heart (visheshen tu hrudya ashritvat manah tadashrita dasha dhamanyo manovaha abhidhiyante – Chakrapani on Cha.Sa. Indriya Sthana 5/41-42) Its mouth or mukha is in the sense organs and marma points, which are the vital or energetic centers of the body which happen to also be the places where a lot of body tissue like nerves, veins, arteries, muscles, bones, etc. converge. Its pathway, or marga, is the whole body.
The heart is a very crucial organ that is the root of two other srotases in the body. As we saw, the mind is rooted in the heart. The respiratory system (pranavaha srotas) is also rooted in the heart. The lymphatic and venous system (rasavaha srotas) is rooted in the heart. Hence, the heart is a critical energy hub where many important physical and energetic pathways converge. The heart is also the seat of consciousness (hridayastu chethana sthanam). It is one of the ten vital points in the body where prana or life force resides. A healthy heart, in terms of a material, physiological and metaphysical standpoint, is a prerequisite for good mental and emotional health among its other well-known physical benefits. So as far as the mind goes, getting out of our heads and connecting with our hearts is the primary way to go!
The mind works with the sensory organs to perceive, and coordinate sense impressions from the external world. It also works with the motor organs to enable activity through speech, movement, and other actions. The mind is thus superior to the five sense organs (indriyebhya param manaha Bhagavad Gita 3/42).
Ayurveda’s view of the mind as a set of channels that pervade the body with the heart as the root, the sense and motor organs and vital energy points of the body as key players, and the entire body as the pathway seems comprehensive and deep while also being logical and simple to fathom.
The Mind-Body Connection:
Until very recently, it was believed that the mind and body are distinct and wield little or no influence on one another. However, the view of the mind encompassing the body and vice versa resonates unequivocally when we think of these examples. A nervous mind can cause immediate butterflies in the stomach, an increase in heart rate and respiratory function, diaphoresis or sweating, loose stools, etc. A mind that is faced with a sudden life-threatening or intense fear can even lead to a loss of bladder control. Undoubtedly, the mind has a lot of clout in bodily matters, and “psychosomatic” is no longer a term used loosely in medical circles.
Causes of Disease in Ayurveda:
Three factors, when misused (excessively, too little, or improperly), lead to disease in Ayurveda: time (kala), sense organs (artha), and actions (karma). Let’s examine each with examples:
Time: The diurnal, seasonal, and life cycle changes constitute “time” and the changes it brings. The dampness of the morning can cause stiff muscles and excess phlegm; spring can bring hay fever and allergies; old age can cause degenerative diseases.
Sense Organs: Excessive screen time, not eating certain tastes (rasas), or participating in gossip are examples of excessive, little, or improper use of our senses.
Actions: Improper actions against our innate intelligence (pragya aparadha)include our sleep schedules, diet, exercise routines, and everything dictated by our worldview and belief system.
The mind’s role in these factors is significant.
Sense Organs: The mind dictates how, when, and how much the senses are used. A constantly outward-focused mind seeks gratification, leading to overuse or misuse of the senses and resulting in an imbalance in the mind-body system.
Actions: Our daily actions, lifestyle, and overall attitude are determined by our mindset, beliefs, and patterns or samskaras. When these actions do not support health, even if we know this intuitively, changing to a more supportive lifestyle becomes difficult if the mind is imbalanced.
Time: Even for this factor, the mind can provide agency and help control actions to mitigate the ill effects of time on health. Thus, the mind is undoubtedly a power player regarding our health or lack thereof.
Tools to Reach the Mind:
Balancing Sadhaka Pitta, Prana Vata, Tarpaka Kapha and Avalambaka Kapha (Cha. Sa. Sutra Sthana 18/49-51):
From an Ayurvedic standpoint, the following are most related to the mind.
Sadhaka Pitta: A subdosha of the fire (pitta) bioenergy responsible for intelligence, motivation, courage, and discrimination. Located in the chest (ura), a weak digestive fire or agni can lead to a weak sadhaka pitta, eventually causing mental imbalances.
Prana Vata: A subdosha of the air (vata) dosha, responsible for good sense perception, vitality, enthusiasm, and pleasure. Poor diet, lifestyle choices, and stress can affect prana vata.
Tarpaka Kapha: A subdosha of the water (kapha) dosha responsible for nourishment, stability, self-control, forgiveness, and satisfaction. Located in the head, it nourishes the sense organs.
Avalambaka Kapha: Located in the heart, responsible for maintaining the structural and functional integrity of the heart with nutrient juices (anna rasa).
These subdoshas can be regulated and balanced by following a dosha-supportive diet, herb protocol (when necessary), and lifestyle, supported by Ayurvedic guidelines and supportive Yogic practices like yoga postures (asana), meditation, and breathing practices (pranayama). While we mainly focus on the heart when it comes to the mind, we also need to pay attention to the head and the gut!
Mindfulness:
To understand the mind, we need to slow down and sit with ourselves during the good, the bad, the ugly. We have to learn to observe the mind with practiced awareness by going inward and allowing ourselves to feel all our emotions and witness all our thoughts dispassionately in a third-person perspective. We need to practice self-acceptance and allow healing and change to happen, however uncomfortable it may be in the short term. This helps us to slowly shed baggage that is holding us back, identify our patterns – especially the ones that don’t serve us – identify the stories and narratives we have created while in survival mode, and change the narrative to a more empowering but honest one originating from a possibly vulnerable place.
The question that naturally arises is how do we do all this? It’s one thing to talk about doing all these nifty mind-taming exercises and another to actually put these into practice with consistency and belief! This brings us to the third tool – building sattva.
Building Sattva:
To see any tangible progress in this journey of understanding the mind, we need to make some intrinsic shifts to change some basic self-sabotaging tendencies or bends of the mind. There are two mental imbalances or tendencies (mano doshas or mano vikaras) – rajas and tamas. Rajas makes us want to do, move, and think in excess, leading to anxiety, panic attacks, and burnout. Tamas wants us to do nothing, sleep for long hours or at inappropriate times, ignore our work and negative feelings, eat too much, be stuck, and hold on to things that don’t serve us, leading to depressive states. Eventually, both paths lead to self-sabotage in their unique ways. Oftentimes, an individual can swing between both tendencies and manifest both sorts of mental imbalance symptoms.
We need some potential to make things happen or rajas in our lives. We also need the ability to unplug and rest – so some healthy tamas are needed. The key is to have a healthy balance of these two. This balance is sattva – which brings clarity, harmony, and alignment with self, nature, one’s dharma or righteous path, and the universe in general. The ability to do things with intention and focus, but also be able to disconnect when necessary. Clarity of purpose, intention, action, and inaction can bring about a beautiful shift in all aspects of our lives – physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
But how do we build sattva? This brings us to the fourth tool – making shifts to our koshas.
Making Shifts to our Koshas:
It is useful to think of inculcating sattva into one’s life as a gradual process rather than thinking of being sattvic as a destination. Living a sattvic life entails making shifts to our mindset, and our body’s mental sheath (manomaya kosha). The koshas are energetic layers of the body nested within each other surrounding the soul or consciousness. On the path of sattva, we also need to make subtle shifts to all the other sheaths of our body – the physical or annamaya kosha, the lifeforce or pranamaya kosha, the wisdom or vijnanamaya kosha and attempt to access or experience our bliss body or anandamaya kosha. The pranamaya kosha is the link between annamaya and manomaya kosha. Breath is the connection between mind and body. We can regulate the manomaya kosha by regulating the pranamaya kosha through regular pranayama or breathing practices.
This translates to:
Making changes to the foods we choose to better support our digestive and mind-body system as a whole, and making changes to our lifestyle to better support our nervous system, cardiovascular system, and all other subsystems as well.
Supporting all the koshas by embracing the ashtanga yoga path of yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi is a wholesome and definitive way to live the sattvic life.
Having a daily sadhana or spiritual practice and committing to it with dedication and consistency is absolutely necessary to stay on the path.
Devotion (bhakti) and service (seva) are two facets that bring one closer to the Universal Consciousness and to the understanding that we are all connected.
In general, living a life that has a healthy balance between stimulation and deep rest, staying introspective and honest with ourselves, letting go of what no longer serves us, not letting things fester by keeping them repressed within us, and going with the flow are ways to continually understand and train the mind.
The goal is to change our thought patterns, ideology, beliefs, feelings and instincts to be more positive, not in a forced, in-the-moment way, but in an intrinsic, organic way that is a natural by-product of crucial shifts in all our koshas.
As we become more entrenched in the path, deep prayer, mantra and meditation can help us to experience our bliss body or anandamaya kosha.
Wrapping it Up!
Our minds are an integral part of our existence. When we move through life passively, reacting to our environment rather than actively shaping it, we miss out on the joy of living and understanding the true meaning of our short time on earth. The mind is not the brain or the heart. It is an all-encompassing sheath that exists within us and around us. Pragmatically speaking, taking care of the body is taking care of the mind at a very basic level and Ayurveda has many beautiful time-tested practices for this. This involves making mindful choices about our diet and lifestyle to positively affect not just how our body looks and functions, but to also positively influence and support the mind. Philosophically speaking, mindfulness is a necessary first step to even attempt to understand this unbelievably powerful yet impressionable instrument at our disposal. Without mindfulness or heeding to mind matters, we are living empty lives, devoid of agency and true authenticity. When we transcend the mind, psychological problems that debilitate us gradually become irrelevant, and through self-realization, we start living our highest potential!
