Chitta Vritti is the Sanksrit term for “mind chatter”.
Yesterday, this was brought up during my yoga class. I sat on my mat, eyes closed, “hands at heart center”, and I listened to something like this…
Acknowledge or become aware of its presence. The constant flow of thoughts speeding through your mind. Noticing the ones that flee after only a moment, and then ones that circle around over and over again.
Accept that this is where you live most of the time- in your head. Accept that you are often cut off from joy because of this mental dialogue that can be so full of doubts, judgements, and endlessness.
And then…quiet. Be present in this moment. Not who you were 30 seconds ago. Not who you’re going to be in an hour from now. You are whole and enough in this moment. Our thoughts and emotions are with us, they never go anywhere, but we can learn to quiet them. To practice stillness. To not let the chitta vritti conquer us.
Stillness can be scary. Its scary how difficult it is to get there. There is something alarming about the way your mind will unfold if you let it. If you stop the distraction and noise and truly enter in. For me, it is often associated with confusion and loneliness. But I am learning that it is okay for me to be still in the loneliness. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, maybe more. Maybe there is something waiting for me there. Maybe it isn’t so scary after all. Maybe it’s a gift that I can give myself and at times is given to me.
I unintentionally get so wrapped up in the to-do lists of life that I forget to practice freedom.
I get so wrapped up in the values and “rules” that are ingrained in me that I forget to reflect and grow by questioning them.
I get so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I forget to notice what is going on around me.
I get so wrapped up in knowing and seeing the counterfeit connections of media that I crave real relationship- real touch.
I can get so wrapped up in the loving of others and forget that if I’m not loving of myself first, the quality of my love for others is certainly not at its best.
What does your mind chatter keep you from being aware of? What does stillness have for you?
Love,
Taylor
Love, Taylor 