Thinking and Energy – The Power of Thoughts

Thoughts are living forces with great power and possibility, with the right techniques they can certainly be turned into physical realities.

Thoughts are subtle yet dynamic living forces with form, dimension, attribute, colour, element, power and even weight. The world’s atmosphere contains a myriad of thoughts, propelled by the minds of countless humans. Wherever we go, we absorb these thoughts; repelling some and attracting others depending on our very own nature. Being real and strong living forces, thoughts carry incredible power and possibility. However, knowing how to manifest thoughts into reality is an art of its own.

Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own thoughts, unguarded. But once mastered, no one can help you as much. – Gautama Buddha

Manifesting Thoughts

The best way to manifest our thoughts is by meditation. The practice of meditation will slowly purify the mind and help one control and better understand it; with time even befriend it. In fact, befriending the mind is the main objective of yoga and a requirement for nirvana or enlightenment. Once the mind becomes a friend, it will reveal the process of turning thoughts into a physical reality.

Everything that has been created by mankind is the fruit of thought. Before we are able to create anything, it is first imagined or thought, and then created. Of course, there are accidents which result in marvellous creations, but they are often the consequence of a subconscious thought.

Thoughts drive us into activity, which in turn creates new thoughts. A circle which never ends. Like everything, it is quality not quantity that is powerful. A mind which propels a small number of thoughts of great quality will be able to easily turn them into reality, whereas a mind with countless thoughts – most of them emitted unaware – will most probably live in utmost confusion, unable to create much value.

“The stronger the thoughts, the earlier the fructification. Thought is focussed and given a particular direction and, in the degree that thought is thus focussed and given direction, it is effective in the work it is sent out to accomplish.” – Swami Sivananda Saraswati

Yoga and meditation are the greatest and biggest tools for controlling, stopping and purifying thoughts. With practice, a clear mind with fewer thought interruptions gains access to intuition, self-knowledge and higher mental faculties.

Everything we are is a result of all our thoughts. Strength and weakness, success and failure, pleasure and pain are all the fruit of our very own thoughts. Whatever we think, we become – or we believe we become, which has the exact same effect on the mind after all.

Meditating on any quality daily, such as strength or kindness, will undoubtedly have its effects. As the mind starts focusing on such a quality, it will start building the quality into our life and character. A system which works similarly for negative thoughts, unfortunately.

The Mind’s Power of Attraction

The mind has the power to attract and repulse thoughts. By nature, it attracts thoughts akin to its own thoughts, and repels all that is contrary to itself. That is the basic level of the mind.

 This happens anywhere we go, the quality of our mind and its content paves the path of our life. If we carry positive thoughts, wherever we go, we will attract positivity towards us; even in the face of adversity, a positive mind will unquestionably have a more optimistic outlook than a negative mind.

 We attract to ourselves what matches our own principal quality of thought.

 How to meditate when you have a restless mind

How to stop negative thoughts

 When negative thoughts enter the mind, it is important to visualise them, understand where they come from and disregard them. If we merely entertain them, we basically permit them to stay in the mind, forming part of our reality. If we repress them, they slowly gain a strong hold over our subconscious mind. Once this happens, it becomes especially difficult to rid ourselves from their grip.

Thoughts have a propensity to repeat themselves; they gain strength by reiteration. The stronger they are, the stronger the force of attracting the same quality.  

A negative thought should be treated like an intruder in the home. We must understand the situation and get rid of the thought as soon as possible with great awareness. Awareness is the key; doing it mindlessly will only suppress the thought into subconscious layers of the mind. This is no easy feat, but nothing of value is easy to attain in life.

How to stop overthinking – reducing our thoughts

Our thoughts are motivated by our goals, dreams, fears, etc. An overthinking and restless mind is usually a disorganised mind, with no defined goals or dreams. With no detailed insight into our fears. We cannot expect to stop overthinking if we are not absolutely clear on the difference between what we need and what we want.

When we are able to understand and comprehend our desires and needs it will greatly affect the stream and quality of our thoughts. As soon as we are completely clear on our ambitions and our needs, many of the thoughts we entertain will lose force immediately. Others will gain immense strength.

SWAN journaling is a great way to analyse the state of our mind by understanding our strengths, weaknesses, ambitions and needs.

Conservation and utilisation of thought energy

Individual thoughts are generally very weak, as the mind generates countless thoughts every moment. The more our thoughts are restrained within our awareness with full focus, the stronger they become.

For thoughts to become powerful two things must happen. The first, is to increase the force of the thought by its awareness, repetition and extension. Repetition and extension of a thought will make it dominant. Awareness on it will ensure it lies not only in the subconscious mind, but also in the conscious realm. Secondly, mental energy must be conserved and increased. Meditation and yoga will help increase mental energy. Ensuring we do not preserve useless data within the brain will help conserve mental energy.

Introspection on the nature of thoughts will help us detach from negative contemplations. If we make an effort to develop positive and constructive thoughts, we will inevitably be led towards greatness.

Antar Mouna – Inner Silence

The technique of Antar Mouna – inner silence – was designed precisely to silence the mind by transcending all thoughts. Antar Mouna helps clear thoughts as well as the emotions resulting from our thoughts. This mental cleansing leads towards inner silence and peace of mind.

Yoga Nidra – The Sleep of Yogis

Yoga Nidra is a meditative practice in which one relaxes with complete awareness. Near the end of the practice when the mind is absolutely relaxed, a sankalpa or resolution is repeated three times. Resolutions during yoga nidra become particularly strong because they are consciously planted in the subconscious mind.