Your Intellect: the Still Quiet Voice of the Soul that Holds Wisdom

LIVING AS A DIVINE SOUL- Susan’s Journey Back to Peace

My dear friend Susan shared with me that she felt like her mind was an uncontrollable storm. No matter how much she tried to be calm, her thoughts would pull her into patterns of worry, regret, and self-doubt. She often felt exhausted by the end of the day, not from physical work, but from the weight of her own thoughts.

One evening, after she had a particularly challenging day, she reached out to me asking for help. “How do you stop your mind from running you around in circles? I feel like I have no control over my own thoughts.“

This is what I shared with Susan: “Your mind is not meant to be the master, it is meant to be guided by your intellect, the part of you the soul that is soft and still and contains the powers to discern and decide based upon accumulated wisdom. However when the intellect becomes weak, from lack of use, the mind easily veers off track attempting to do what it wasn’t designed to do…like make decisions, discern, and choose…this is the function of the intellect. Your mind ends up spinning its wheels without engaging the intellect. For when the intellect is activated and alert, it can steer the mind toward peaceful thoughts, clarity, creative solutions and stability.”

I also suggested some simple breathing exercises and some affirmative phrases that would slow down the mind and bring in the cooperation of her intellect.

With a renewed sense of purpose and in the spirit of experimentation, Susan was eager to try something new! Each morning, instead of checking her phone first or diving into her usual routine, she sat for a few moments and slowed down her breath and repeated a few simple reassuring thoughts:

I am a peaceful soul. I am not my thoughts. I choose which thoughts to nurture and which to switch.

At first, it felt unnatural. her mind still wandered. But she continued, anyway! After more time and more daily practice, this is what she noticed: she had become more aware of her thoughts and was able to start catching herself before slipping into anxious thinking. She noticed that she had a choice. She could slow down the speed of her thoughts, by slowing down her breath. This gave her the ability to “flip the switch”…that is change a negative thought as soon as it came up into a peaceful one…moment by moment. Her intellect was regaining its natural power to guide her mind back to peace, one thought at a time, again and again. With each success the intellect became stronger. As a highly successful mentor once said: it doesn’t matter if you fail 50% of the time, in the beginning. Flip it around to: you have been successful 50% of the time and keep going with enthusiasm and your motivation in tact.

Weeks later, Susan reached out to me again to share: “I didn’t know I could feel this calm. Even though nothing outside of me has changed, I feel different. I feel free…and in charge of myself.”

This is the power of training the intellect. It doesn’t mean your mind will never wander. But it does mean that when it does, you will have the strength and awareness that you can bring it back, again and again until peace becomes your natural state.

Like Susan, you too can regain control over your mind. The key is daily practice and affirming who you are. This is a practice of reminding yourself that you are a soul, a peaceful soul; you are not your thoughts, you are the one observing them and that you are capable of changing them and replacing them with positive peaceful ones. A great tool to strengthen the intellect and this new awareness is Raja Yoga Meditation. Imagine what it would feel like to have a greater command over your thoughts–to quiet the inner chatter and experience deep peace even in the midst of external ups and downs. To remember that you are a soul–eternal, peaceful, radiant, and powerful beyond measure. To know that at every moment, you have a choice to either continue to let your mind wander through the maze of distractions, or step into your highest truth and choose Peace. The power to choose peace, not just as a passing thought, but as a way of life. This is the gift of Raja Yoga Meditation. What follows are some easy steps to practice.

A Simple Raja Yoga Meditation to Strengthen the Mind and the Intellect

1. Sit in a quiet place and become aware of your breath. Consciously take a deep breath…inhale slowly to a count of 3…then exhale to a count of 4 or 5. Breath in this way for several rounds…simply being aware to inhale fully and to make your exhales longer than your inhales. This intentional breathing will slow down the speed of your thoughts, for your breath and thoughts are deeply connected. As your breath slows down, so will your thoughts.

2. Now Focus on the Soul– Bring your awareness to the area behind the center of your forehead, where the soul resides. Feel or visualize a radiant, peaceful point of light.

3. Affirm Your Power–Silently or internally repeat: I am a peaceful soul…I am a powerful soul…I am filled with the power to choose my thoughts–My mind and intellect are cooperative

4. Expand the Light of Peace–Visualize your light growing and radiating to every cell in your body and into the atmosphere around you. Hold the Awareness of the Peace and Light within you, the soul for a minute or two.

5. Come back and Practice this Awareness during the day whenever you have a minute or two.

As you start the practice of this simple form of meditation:

  Your mind slows down, bringing peace and clarity to your life.

Your intellect awakens, allowing you to choose thoughts that energize rather than deplete

As you deepen your practice, you will experience a powerful shift: You naturally begin to choose thoughts that support your highest good.

Instead of reacting impulsively, you move through life with awareness and self respect.