By Pema Sherpa & Brendan Barca

Age-old wisdom for modern living. Each week you’ll get 1 quote, 1 reflection and 1 action to help you lead a calmer, clearer, and more conscious life.

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Taming the Horse, Looking Within, & Freedom

Quote:

“The mind is like a wild horse that needs to be trained. If you let it run wild, it will cause havoc. But if you tame it, it will be your faithful servant.” – Patrul Rinpoche

Reflection:

Have you ever felt like your emotions, thoughts, and moods just happen to you without your control? This feeling is neither uncommon nor surprising given how little time we spend exploring our internal world.

For the most part, our minds are constantly looking outwards – focused on work, entertainment and relationships. And in this preoccupation with the external world we often neglect looking inward, making our own minds a complete mystery to us.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. If you want to gain more control over your mind and be able to choose how you think and feel on a moment-to-moment basis, you need to look inwards to begin to familiarize yourself with your mind. This means investing in your internal world as much as you invest in your external world.

Action:

Here’s an exercise you can do right now to start familiarizing yourself with your mind:

1. Set a timer for 60 seconds.

2. Find a comfortable seated position and lower your gaze

3. Observe your mind as if you were a curious bystander. Let your thoughts and emotions come and go without any expectation or judgment.

4. When the timer goes off, you are free to move on with your day.

Congratulations! You’ve taken the first step towards taming your mind.

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