We do not realize this, but we are the sufferers of our minds. If only we could change the state of our minds at will, we could change the direction of life for the best outcomes.
Our mind constantly tortures us with thoughts, emotions, and feelings that are harmful and unnecessary.
Thousands of thoughts about future fears and past regrets. Totally counterproductive and irrational.
We might think that we are having those fearful or sad thoughts for our own safety and betterment, but actually, those negative thoughts are exactly what’s dragging us behind.
(Read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle & The Untethered Soul by Michael A Singer.)
In this article, we will dive deep into the dynamics of how to change the state of mind at will and what are the factors that work behind the scene so that you can get a glimpse into this super-powerful skill of our mind.
Related Posts:
How to Remove Negative Thoughts from Subconscious Mind
Why and How to Achieve Mental Leisure
What Is a State of Mind?
How are you feeling right now?
Wear the pulse of the new age!
What are the emotions present in your mind at this moment?
What’s the degree of those feelings and emotions?
Answer these questions, and you will know the state of your mind.
Are you feeling happy or sad? Confident or fearful? Bored or excited?
Are your emotions pleasant or unpleasant?
How intense is the pleasantness or the unpleasantness?
Happy, sad, afraid, angry, or in love? There are numerous kinds of states that your mind can find itself in life. All these mental states have a range or spectrum depending upon the quality and the degree of intensity of the associated feelings, thoughts, and emotions.
So, one thing is certain — to change the state of your mind, you have to change the quality of the elements present in the mind.
To do that, it would be helpful to get an understanding of the functions of the mind.
The Difference Between the State of Mind & the Functions of the Mind
The state of mind consists of all the elements that are present in your mind and the quality of those elements.
Such as, at any given moment, you have thoughts, active memory, feelings, and emotions playing around in your mind.
Now, the quality and degree of those elements will determine the state of your mind at that given moment.
Suppose you are thinking about your future plans, you have a solid financial basis, you are sure about your career, and you are just planning the steps and goals you will be pursuing in the months and years to come.
In this scenario, your thoughts, emotions, and feelings are confident, happy, optimistic, and determined. So, that’s the state of your mind at that moment.
On the other hand, the functions of your mind are its capabilities — the abilities that enable you to think, focus, concentrate, be mindful of, and feel all the emotions.
[Related: Concentration vs Mindfulness]
There’s an intricate connection between the state of your mind and the functions of your mind.
The better the state of your mind, the better it will function.
If you are feeling good and happy, the functions of your mind will also operate with efficiency and clarity.
On the contrary, if you are anxious, angry, or afraid, the functions of your mind are likely to falter in numerous ways.
And that’s exactly where it becomes very challenging to change the state of mind at will.
Changing the state of mind depends mainly upon two functions of the mind — focus and imagination.
But both of these functions get impaired during adverse states of the mind.
When you are feeling terribly angry or afraid or sad, your ability to focus on the good thoughts and to imagine happy stuff becomes near impossible.
But this is exactly what we have to do in order to cultivate the ability to change the state of mind at will.
How to Change the State of Mind at Will
We have to develop the ability to detect mental states as early as possible. Decide whether to change it and then utilize the power of focus and imagination to change the state.
Here is the three-step process to change the state of mind at will:
- Detect harmful mental states as early as possible.
- Decide whether to change it or not.
- Utilize the power of focus and imagination to change the state.
Let’s learn from examples:
Tony was sad and afraid. The project he was working on was getting nowhere. A lot was at stake with the project — his career, finances, and future.
What would he do if the project fails?
Thoughts and fears related to the failure started to haunt him for days and nights. He couldn’t sleep properly, further damaging his situation.
He was not able to focus and concentrate on work anymore. Whatever chances there would have been of salvaging the project were getting further dwindled due to his debilitating state of mind and the consequently decreasing performance of his mental functions.
If only Tony had the power to take charge of his mental state and change his state of mind at will. His mental functions would have regained their full capacity, and he could have had a chance at reviving the project.
One day, while trying to sleep at night and struggling with all those negative thoughts, feelings, and emotions related to the possible failure at work, suddenly, an unrelated thought peeped in his mind — what if he had a magical treehouse where every anxiety, fear, sorrow, and dejection disappears.
Once he enters the treehouse, he steps into a magical realm of beauty and bliss. A Narnia-like situation but heavenly in nature.
Inside, there are people singing and dancing in joy. Their blood has been completely replaced by happy hormones. The limitless supply of bliss flows eternally through their veins, filling their physical body with an immaculate sense of pleasure. There’s no perception of any kind of lack or boredom there, let alone sorrow or anxiety.
Suddenly, he noticed that he was happy imagining the happiness of that magical place. The fearful thoughts of failure and an uncertain future were not there for some time.
And right then, it occurred to him — it was his brain/mind that turned happy from sad just by the thoughts and imaginations of a happy place, which means the mind has the inherent power to change its own state of being.
“What if I could harness this power to never feel those negative emotions again,” he thought.
“What if I can train this mental ability of mine to perpetually remain happy, calm, and optimistic, like those inhabitants of the magic treehouse who are perpetually blissful.”
That’s when Tony cracked the code of changing the state of mind at will!
It all comes down to detecting negative states, steering the focus away from the negative elements of the state, and wilfully changing the quality of those elements using the power of imagination.
So, to paraphrase the three-step process of changing the state of mind at will:
- Detect negative states.
- Steering the focus away from the negative elements of the state.
- Wilfully change the quality of those elements from negative to positive.
How will we replace the negative elements with positive elements?
By using the power of imagination!
You can imagine any happy scenario, a happy memory, or anything uplifting that works for you. Utilizing the feelings and imagination evoked by powerful affirmations can also help a lot in this regard.
Yes, we all know that it’s not at all an easy task to do. The mind keeps steering back to those thoughts of fear and uncertainties, the feelings of helplessness and dejection.
But there’s a stage that you have to cross and be determined to decide how you want to feel at any given moment.
You have to make the determination to become the master of your mind.
Instead of being driven by the mind, you can drive the mind to create the kind of mental environment that would be conducive to the kind of external experience you want to create.
It all comes down to that one single ability or skill to change the state of mind at will.
Wear the pulse of the new age!