Mind Over Matter; Spirit over Mind

MIND OVER MATTER; SPIRIT OVER MIND

My tooth was acting up and painful, so I went to my dentist office where a staff member met me to take my temperature and ask me questions related to Covid. Another person took my blood pressure. As they did so, I consciously prompted my body to completely relax. I wasn’t attempting to control my blood pressure, but rather to stay relaxed during the upcoming dental procedure. This is a common practice since I generally don’t use Novocain or other pain relief.

The staff were a little alarmed at how low my blood pressure was, and asked if this was normal and if I experience challenges from it. I explained it was usually on the low side, but never a problem.

A week later, I went to a periodontics office where the staff followed the same Covid protocols, including taking my blood pressure. This time I didn’t tell my body to relax, and my blood pressure was normal, for me. This made me wonder had I asked my body to relax, if my blood pressure would have been lower like before.

Seeing how my mind affected my blood pressure prompted me do some reflecting on the phenomena of mind over matter.

I have been practicing yoga for more than 45 years on and off, and I am blown away by what the body can do after a few weeks of practice. I’ve had experiences where yogic breathing lowers my pulse rate, which isn’t too surprising. There are many stories of yogis demonstrating an array of abilities such as controlling their heart rate, raising and lowering their body temperature, even in only part of the body, manifesting telekinesis, and voluntarily entering into various brain wave states.

For more than a year now, my husband Brice, my son Arun, and I have been practicing the Wim Hof Method, which includes breathing, meditation, and cold immersion. Wim’s stories of the amazing feats he’s performed, world records he’s broken, and the incredible states his body withstands, such as extreme cold and heat, have drawn attention from people all over the world including scientists and universities. One scientific study demonstrates that through practicing Wim Hof techniques, even short-term, the sympathetic nervous system and immune system can be voluntarily influenced.

Last winter, I trained in the Wim Hof method, including the practice of cold immersion. I would run barefoot around the block in my neighborhood without a coat, hat, scarf, or mittens in all weather. Some of my friends have participated in rituals that have included walking across burning hot coals, and their feet don’t blister or burn.

My spiritual teachers warn about not chasing after siddhis, a Sanskrit word meaning extraordinary powers of the soul, and counsel people to instead allow the powers to awaken naturally through spiritual maturity. The ego, with its attraction to specialness, would prefer to spend its energy on developing soul powers instead of training the mind and evolving spiritually.

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Nevertheless, yogis and practitioners have demonstrated how one’s thoughts affect the body, and in their case, under their conscious control. For most of us, we have not become skilled at consciously controlling the body, for we have not yet learned how to manage our thoughts.

Eight years ago, my husband and I practiced walking on railroad tracks wearing barefoot shoes as if the track was a balance beam. The challenge increased when we got to the short bridge with big wide gaps in the boards under the tracks. Had we slipped off the track, one of our legs might have fallen through the gaps. If this were not challenge enough, we had to deal with the possibility of a train approaching. Could we run the short expanse to one side or the other, or would we have to jump 20 feet to the ground below?

I tried to stay calm and loose to maintain my balance and stay on the track. To do this, I instructed my body to drop its weight and my mind to send energy through my feet deep into the ground. It was curious to me when I tried to focus and direct my mind, I lost my balance much more often. It was only when I let go of effort and remained alert and focused in a fully relaxed manner, that I was successful. I couldn’t figure this out for the longest time. I’ve recently come to understand in letting go of effort, I was letting go of the ego’s involvement.

I had reached this state in yoga and in meditation through practice and discipline without awareness of how I’d arrived. It wasn’t until trying to apply it to walking on the tracks that it became clear. I often talk about how we’re affected by our thoughts. However as many of us have discovered, simply saying affirmations or changing our thoughts doesn’t produce the results we’d like.

Lots of people want to heal themselves or others. Others wish to manifest their goals and dreams or become wealthy. Then there are those who desire to excel at their sport, career, or studies. So, if saying affirmations doesn’t work, what’s the key?

Say you’re on a sailing ship, the first step would be to choose a destination and set your course. The second step would to get the ship moving. You could get out the oars or launch your row boats to pull the ship, which would be very hard work. Or, you could unfurl your sails and capture the wind. The wind in our case is the superconscious or higher power.

We have a choice on how to power our ship. For us, it’s the choice between which perspective or thought system to operate from—the ego’s or the soul’s. Most of us are moving through the world identified as our egos or false selves. The lower self cannot be successful at controlling your blood pressure, healing yourself, or manifesting your dreams with only its thoughts.

Yet, at any moment we can remember who we are. We can relax and unfurl our sails, and we can capture the magnificent creative force and energy of our soul. Thus can we move through the world “in the zone,” sensing the flow, in a state of grace.

Then, anything is possible.