There are a thousand familiar disputes which reason never can decide. A good mind ought to be incited, a bad mind restrained. The mind that is often employed about little things will be rendered unfit for any serious exertion.  Over the past few decades, mainstream psychiatry has focused on using drugs to change the way we feel, and this has become the accepted way to deal with hyper- and hyporousal. We have a host of inbuilt skills to keep us on even keel. Emotions are registered in the body, and some 80 percent of the fibers of the vagus nerve (which connects the brain with many internal organs) are afferent; that is, they run from the body into the brain. This means that we can directly train our arousal system by the way we breathe, chant, and move. It is a certain elevation of mind alone, a sensibility of what is great and good, a comprehensive view of what is desirable or contemptible, which sets a man above the common level, and show him everything in true light. It is the first proof of a superior mind to liberate itself from prejudices of country or education. Learning how to breathe calmly and remaining in a state of relative physical relaxation, even while accessing painful and horrifying memories, is an essential tool for recovery. When one deliberately take a few slow, deep breaths, one will notice the effects of the parasympathetic brake on your arousal. The parasympathetic is part of the automatic nervous system that counterbalances the action of the sympathetic nerves. It consists of nerves arising from the brain and the lower end of the spinal cord and supplying the internal organs, blood vessels, and glands. It serves to slow the heart rate, increase intestinal and glandular activity, and relax the sphincter muscles.

The more one stays focused on one’s breathing, the more one will benefit, particularly if one pays attention until the very end of the out breath and then wait a moment before one inhales again. As one continues to breathe, and notice the air moving in and out of the lungs, one may think about the role that oxygen plays in nourishing one’s body, and bathing one’s tissues with the energy required to feel alive and engaged. This will restore that calm dignity of mind that accompanies conscious rectitude. Since emotional regulation is the critical issue in managing the effects of trauma and neglect, it would make an enormous difference if teachers, police officers, army sergeants, foster parents, and mental health professionals were thoroughly schooled in emotional-regulation techniques. Right now this still is mainly the domain of preschool and kindergarten teacher, who deal with immature brains and impulsive behavior on a daily basis and who are often very adept at managing them. To think the man, whose ample mind must grasp whatever yonder stars survey—what is your opinion of that image of the mind’s grasping the whole Universe? I am shocked to find a man have sublime ideas in his head, and nothing but illiberal sentiments in his heart. Mainstream Western psychiatric and psychological healing traditions have paid scant attention to self-management. In contrast to the Western reliance on drugs and verbal therapies, others traditions from around the World rely on mindfulness, movement, rhythms, and action. Yoga, tai chi, qigong, and rhythmical drumming are just a few examples, which allows the mind, age after age, to march on—like the ocean, receding here, but advancing there.

The heart loves repose and the soul contemplation, but the mind needs action so other cultures have spawned martial arts, which focus on the cultivation of purposeful movement and being centered in the present, abilities that are damaged in traumatized individuals. Being out of touch with the Self (mind and body) leaves us feeling unstable, empty, and ontologically insecure. By contract, if we neglect our sacred manifestation, we might rest in deep and timeless being/awareness, but there is no development of the unique gifts and talents by which we might potentially contribute to our loved ones and our community. A person’s mind is a kingdom to itself. Cheerfulness depends as much on the state of things within, as without. To ignore the path of individuation, then, means the Self or Spirit might end up expressing through an inadequate vehicle, a vehicle moved about by powerful, immature, unconscious forces which not only short-circuit our potential for love and creativity but also distort and derail our quest for stable spiritual realization. Anything less than realization of the seamless totality of essential being and sacred individuality is virtually impossible unless we learn that the mind and body are one and both need to be fed. Pain of mind is relieved by an abstraction of solid thought. When the body becomes diseased, it is not uncommon for the mind to be affected also. The real superiority, even of manners, must be placed in the mind. The great secret for managing the mind of a man is to find employment for it. All things fulfill their destiny.