Do You Think Too Much? What Neuroscientists and Yogis Say
The below article was written by Dr Swami Shankardev Saraswati and Jayne Stevenson and was first published on www.bigshakti.com:
Most people think too much—it is human nature. The mind is a thought generator; it is constantly creating an endless stream of thoughts. It’s easy to become caught up in your thoughts, ruminating about the little things of life, attempting to avoid the bigger issues, and perhaps feeling powerless and doubting your ability to deal with things.
Over the past decades, various neurological studies have shown that the average person has over thirty thousand thoughts a day. Of those thoughts, approximately ninety percent are said to be repetitive and eighty percent are classified as negative.
By “negative”, neuroscientists mean these thoughts offer nothing beneficial, such as support for your ideas, desires, wellbeing, and achievements. Most of these thoughts are your mind worrying, ruminating, or planning to avoid problems. Essentially, this means that most of our thoughts are a constant negating force in our body-mind; they rob you of energy and mental peace.
Your initial reaction to this knowledge may be to look for an inner switch that can turn off the negative thoughts and keep your more positive thoughts. You might imagine that this switch is your intention and that you can think yourself into better thoughts. Try to control your thoughts for ten seconds and you will see just how difficult this is. In fact, it is impossible.
The mind has to think just as the heart has to beat. That is its function. You cannot and should not turn it off. You cannot manage your thoughts by thinking about how to manage them. There is a better way and yogis and wisdom traditions have known how to do this for thousands of years. They developed techniques that connect the thinking mind to the knowing mind. When the thinking mind is disconnected from the knowing mind, then the thinking mind is your master. When you connect your thinking mind to your knowing mind, you become the master of your mind.
When thoughts rule you, the lower thinking-mind runs riot
The ninety percent of repetitive thoughts neuroscientists describe are generated by what yogis call the lower, thinking mind. The lower-thinking mind is the basis of your normal waking state of consciousness, your daily mind that interacts with the world. It produces thousands of endless, repetitive, and of often negative thoughts.
Over time, the thinking mind forges grooves in the body-mind, embedded patterns which build have the imperceptible power to:
- Drain you energetically and emotionally.
- Increase your stress and anxiety levels.
- Undermine your decision-making and confidence.
- Confuse your thoughts with external reality.
- Thwart your ability to adapt and be creative.
While there is no inner switch that can turn off the thinking mind, there is a part of you that is deeper and more powerful and that has the opposite attributes. That part is positive, protecting, nurturing, and supporting. That part helps you to use your thinking mind creatively. It is the higher, intuitive mind, and the way you gain access to it is through meditation. It is possible to learn how to manage the mind, to use the mind’s potential purposefully and creatively so that random and chaotic thoughts do not swamp you.
When you rule your thoughts, you are connected to the higher intuitive mind
The higher intuitive mind is also called the “higher self”, the “wisdom body”, or the “knowing self”.
It is the wise part of you that knows what is really good for you. It knows how to be in the world and how to respond to life with authenticity, spontaneity, courage, skill, and wisdom. The higher intuitive mind handles the formation of your sense of self and your ability to gain an accurate perspective. It is aligned with your inner data bank of deep knowledge.
It is wise to connect to and cultivate the higher mind so that the endless stream of thoughts, the thinking mind, does not control you.
The aim of meditation is not to escape the thinking mind, since you need it for your survival. The aim is to connect your two minds so that the thinking mind can hear, respond to, and learn from the wisdom of your intuitive mind. Only then can you disentangle from and live in harmony with your over thirty thousand daily thoughts. (Actually, there are probably many more thoughts than these if we include everything that is going on in the subconscious mind.)
One of the very best meditation practices to put excessive thoughts to rest is Inner Silence. Also called Mindfulness or Antar Mouna, it is a foundation practice in the yoga-tantra tradition, and it is for anyone who thinks too much.
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22nd January 2025 - 12:00 to 1:00pm
Reetu Verma – Transformative Yoga Community Class
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Meeting ID: 859 1833 4994
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Join Reetu for an immersive meditation session into the depths of our energy centres. Nourish the systems of your physical, emotional and spiritual well-being, ready for the year ahead. Be guided by her inspiring voice to relax into meditation and reconnect with and balance the subtle energies within.
Reetu Verma has 25 years of experience as an academic, teacher and coach, providing support, help and guidance to thousands of people from all walks of life from all over the globe.
During a traumatic near-death experience, she experienced pure light and pure love and embarked on a transformational, personal healing journey. Inspired and totally committed to making a positive difference in the lives of others, helping them on their healing journey to live a healthier, happier life.
She founded Healing, Health and Happiness to expanded her teachings of personal development, into finding life purpose and spiritual growth. Reetu has developed a systematic, practical approach to bring more harmony and a sense of joy into life.
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3rd February 2025 - 12:00 to 1:00pm Sydney Time (9am WA time)
Nicky Smith – Dynamic Relaxation Yoga Community Class
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Meeting ID: 834 8185 1566
Passcode: 326861
Join Nicky to experience the Dru Yoga difference, finding the stillness within. Dru Yoga is a fresh approach to nurture your entire being, balance the nervous system and leave you feeling deeply connected and calm.
Stay cool and calm this Summer with Energy Block Release 7 or Dynamic Relaxation. This sequence is perfect for those hot days when you want to practice some slow yoga. Dynamic Relaxation is well suited for those with a busy mind and who have trouble settling into the stillness of relaxation. The focus is on the coordination of breath and movement in slow, subtle mindfulness, leaving you refreshed.
Nicky is a Dru Yoga Teacher, Dru Meditation Teacher, Dru Breath Coach and Mental Health Aware Yoga Teacher. Her business is True Equanimity Yoga, and her practice focuses on mental health and wellbeing or “innercise”. Nicky lives in Dalyellup, Western Australia and loves to spend her time walking in nature and fostering rescue kittens.
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13th March 2025 - 11:30am to 12:30nn
Melina Murphy – Loving Kindness Restorative Yoga Community Class
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Meeting ID: 838 7373 9503
Passcode: 767969
This loving-kindness yoga class is an extended version of Melina’s insight timer class, held weekly at 7 a.m. at the weekend and sponsored by YFG. The asana sequences are based on traditional yoga and guide our awareness to be super kind and loving to ourselves as we move through this restorative yoga practice.
We fall into Self-love as we move and stretch to open the body, mind and spirit to flow and dive into the deep well of happiness within.
Melina presented at our Annual Retreat 2024, where her joy brought us joy and laughter. She is a healer with thirty years of experience helping people create joyful wellbeing through counselling, herbal medicine, nutrition and yoga.
Melina fell in love with yoga as a teenager, and her passion is going strong. She has been teaching yoga since 2005 and has taught at festivals, in halls and rooms, at her local gym, online, and in her Natural Health Clinic on Djangadi Country.
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