It has been a long hiatus this time but Hey, I am back! Hope all of you are doing good. Starting back with a bang – a blog post to know more about our mind!

We all have heard about this question before – “Whats on your mind?”. But have you really wondered what is on your mind. No I mean literally. We all know that our mind is always filled with thoughts and thoughts and thoughts. But what kind of thoughts? Is it thinking all the time? Nope! We also know when we sleep our mind is not thinking. Can you believe that there only 5 modes or activities that the mind is always in? Yup only 5 modes!

Patanjali in the Patanjali yoga sutras says that there are 5 modes or modulations to the mind. 5 vrittis in which the mind will always be in.

PramaanaViparyayaVikalpaNidra – Smrutayaha

Pramaana – always wanting proof of everything. Searching for proof in everything. We search for proof that can convince us of our assumptions. We always search for proof through our senses. Now this gets very tricky in situations between relationships – asking for poof if the other person really loves us.

Viparyaya – Wrong knowledge. This is the way we excuse our thinking by using the wrong knowledge. We know our thinking is wrong but we still use the wrong knowledge to support it. Sometimes we project your views on people and think that is how they are because that is how you feel inside you. We do this most the time. For example, when we don’t respect ourselves we think that others don’t respect us at all.

Vikalpa – Fantasies or Hallucinations. There are two types of fantasies – the one which gives pleasure and the other which are just baseless fears. Sexual fantasies or fantasy and dreaming about rich gives pleasure while hallucinations like “What will happen if I die tomorrow?” are the other type. A common examples is when having a conversation with someone; a person starts their sentence with a few words and straight away, before we let them finish we’re already imagining what they are talking about.

Smruti – Memories. Mind dwells in the memory of the past. In past experiences and memories. Memories triggers various emotions in us like guilt, shame, regret or happiness.

Nidra – Sleep. We all know about sleep!

These are the 5 modulations that keep us from being in YOGA. The mind will mostly be  in either one of these 5 vrittis or in a mixture of these 5.

yoga chitta vritti nirodha

Yoga is the silencing of the Vrittis of the mind. Now how does one get out of these vrittis and get established in yoga. In another blog post coming soon 🙂