Mental Habitats: Mental Restraint

[Exploring Life] Patanjali defines Yoga as “the restraint of mental modifications.” (Yoga Sutras 1:2) Restraint means to control and prevent the mind from engaging in processes that cause distress in our thoughts and emotions. In other words, yoga presumes that the mind is responsible for the creation of our own psychological discontent. Suffering, for example, is a kind of “mental modification” of the mind because it is a state that is considered by Patanjali to be abnormal. In other words, the normal condition of the mind embraces the qualities of equanimity, resilience and presence. The restraint of mental modifications means to return to a natural state of mind through the disciplined control and elimination of unhealthy thoughts, feelings, moods, perceptions, and beliefs.

Then the seer stands in his own nature (Yoga Sutras 1:3)

To understand the action of a mental modification requires the assumption of a natural state of mind. This raises the question, “Is there a natural or normal state of mind?” The presumption is that in its normal state the mind embraces a number of qualities:

• Being in a consistent state of presence in the here and now;
• Maintaining a consistent state of equanimity regardless of the events that transpire around us;
• The complete acceptance of the impermanence of all life including our own;
• The union of the individual self with the universal source;
• To fully inhabit our emotions whether comforting or painful;
• To exist is a state of non-attachment to the ego, other people, or material desire; and
• Embrace a deep sense of reverence and communion with the divine and sacred in the world.

Whether or not we believe that a natural state of mind exists, we can identify qualities of mind that are at least desirable and attainable. We can also identify qualities of the mind that are less than desirable. In doing so we are able to avoid the problem of believing that a “natural” and “normal” state of mind is a necessary requirement for the restraint of mental modifications.

Mental Modifications

A mental modification is an undesirable condition of the mind that leads to suffering, pain, depression, anxiety, and fear. The expression of these problems generate a narrative of emotion, thought, use of language, opinions, perspectives, reactions, choices, habits, behaviors, addictions, and physical well being. In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali identifies five types of mental modifications.

The modifications are five-fold, painful and not painful. (Yoga Sutras 1:5)

1. Comprehension (Right Cognition): The ways in which we perceive, talk and infer about our experiences;
2. Misapprehension (Wrong Cognition): The ways in which we apprehend beyond our senses (intuition, premonition, etc.);
3. Imagination (Unreal Cognition): our interior thought world, mental self-talk;
4. Sleep (Absence of Cognition): The ways which we connect to dreams and our subconscious being;
5. Memory (Past Cognition): The ways in which past habits, conditioning, and knowledge influence our present experience.

Each type of modification is a form of cognition, or the psychological result of learning. A modification is painful when it serves to cause the affliction; it is not painful when it serves to create discrimination. Perceiving the difference, or more specifically, knowing that a particular way of thinking is the root cause of a psychological problem, is the key task in restraining mental modifications.

The Discipline of Restraint

…practice is the effort to secure steadiness. (Yoga Sutra 1:13)

In yoga, restraint is an important element in the development of discipline. Restraint is an aggressive sounding word that conjures up images of be held, confined, bound, or imprisoned. When applied to undesirable states of mind, this is precisely the action we are trying to create. The idea of restraint is to identify and confine that which causes mental distress. In order to be useful, a discipline of restraint must have key elements that we can understand and practice with. I use the following technique:

1. Awareness: To know that particular mental process is taking place, which means becoming more sensitive to thoughts and feelings as they arise;
2. Interruption: To allow the mental problem to exist, while consciously interrupting it effects on body and mind. The mental energy of a problem is contained without being lured into it;
3. Integration: To know the source of the problem, to bring it out in the open, and label it as an undesirable quality. This helps train the mind to be, in a sense, more self-aware and self-correcting;
4. Visualization: To use visualization technique to “see” the problem fading out of existence, decaying and being absorbed by the Earth, or disintegrating in white light, or any visualization that is meaningful to symbolize the restraint or elimination of a mental modification;
5. Apply: To use visualization as a technique in everyday experience to monitor the mind. Formal practice over time helps to habituate and accelerate positive habits.

In formal practice sessions it is important to calm the breathing patterns, assume a comfortable and healthy posture, and relax the nervous system in order to facilitate the inward look. Other than this, there are no specific body positions we need to assume. Whether this is called meditation or mindfulness is less important. What we are doing is exercising the mind, and the process itself is not mysterious or mystical. However, our adventure into the discipline of restraint may reveal a mystery that we had been unaware of. One of the most interesting outcomes of this discipline is the transference to everyday life. As with anything we practice, both body and mind eventually internalize the process and what once seemed to be a slow process becomes light and immediate.