By DR BHUSHAN KUMAR UPADHYAYA 

 

 

People often face problems in life because they are not able to make the right decisions. Wrong decisions push people to junctions where there is no option, but to regret and repent. Wrong decisions badly impact career growth, business, relationship and productivity. In this article I will share one mind management technique which helps in making right and judicious decisions. Today’s life is full of fights and flights. Our sympathetic nervous system is overwhelmingly active, giving rise to stress. Unmanageable stress is causing numerous psychosomatic problems. Anxiety, neurosis , psychosis like mental problems are becoming common in society. Most of these problems are happening because somewhere we are lacking in proper decision making. Nature has gifted every individual with one miraculous faculty of the consciousness and that is intuition. About the significance of intuition Einstein had remarked, “There is no logical path to these laws; only intuition, resting on sympathetic understanding of experience, can reach them.” Vivekananda used to say that intuition is the power of the soul, which never fails. Intuition plays a vital role in decision making. Strong intuition is needed to facilitate right decision making. Intuition is the faculty which can be developed through mind management and Yogic techniques.

 

Seers and sages of ancient India had experimented with these Yogic and mind management techniques which are available to us in the form of Yoga. These time tested Yogic techniques have survived the tumults of time and even today rendering immense benefits to the practitioners all over the world. These Yogic methods and techniques are found in numerous varieties. The most effective mind management and Yogic technique to develop intuition is Shambhavi Mudra. Shambhavi Mudra is a simple meditation technique. As the name suggests, it is the meditation technique gifted by Lord Shambhu or Shankar who is called the Adi Yogi or the first Yoga practitioner. Anyone can practise this meditation technique. One needs to sit in a comfortable position preferably on a blanket or a bed sheet on the ground. The spine, neck and head need to be in one line. But this is to be done with ease and comfort. Eyes are to be closed gently. Breath is to be watched. After five minutes, the parasympathetic nervous system which is responsible for relaxing the body starts becoming active. As a result, the practitioner becomes calm and composed. Then the awareness is to be centered at the place between eyebrows.

 

This is called the third eye point or Ajna Chakra. Initial practice of five minutes will start activating the intuitive insight. Regular practice will give the practitioner the great intuitive power needed for decision making. Breath has great correlation with the mind. Yogic texts expound that the mind becomes breath externally and the breath converts into the mind internally. The mind is subtle, so it is very difficult to control it. But it is inextricably bound with the breath. So by manipulating breath the mind can be manipulated. This is the greatest secret revealed by our ancient Yogis. Recent research on the breath mind connect has also corroborated the fact. In his book, The New Science of a Lost Art, James Nestor has delved deep into the subject. Breath awareness with focus on the third eye Chakra clears the mental fog and ushers into right decision making through well evolved intuition. (The writer is Former DG Police & CG, Homeguards, Maharashtra)