The Four Parts of the Mind, According To Yoga
It was January 2013, and we're all sitting in a circle learning about the psychology or mind aspect of yoga from the Yoga Sutras— the most foundational or referenced book in yoga school. The student next to me says, "it's so refreshing to be able to identify certain thought patterns and behaviors." And I couldn't agree more. I had no idea what I was signing up for in my first 200-hour training but I for sure did not expect this depth.
The second paragraph, sort to speak, in the 252-page book says,
"yoga is the cessation of the modifications, or fluctuations, of the mind."
Another way to put that, yoga puts a pause on the up and down feelings of our mind. The nature of our mind is pretty wild and I think that's one reason why some people say they can't do yoga or sit still in meditation.
Understanding the nature of your mind can help to see the details of your thoughts and how that impacts your words and actions. It also shows that we all have these aspects of our mind and getting familiar with them is the start to giving yourself grace or giving your mind grace when it feels like it can't stop running or thinking.
Yet something I’ve noticed throughout the years is that not many 200-hour, continuing education programs, or even 500-hour speak about these 4 parts of the mind, at least not in this succinct way. When I traveled to India and also started working with a therapist based on Vedic Psychology, this is how it was explained and taught to me.
These are the Four Parts of the Mind you may not know about according to yoga or Vedic philosophy.
The Linear Mind or Manas
Manas main distinction is how quickly it stamps things with "like/dislike." This linear way of thinking is even embedded in social media features. It's quick. Doesn't involve much analytics and can often be emotional or irrational.
This "feature" of our mind is so quick that we may not notice this continuous chatter in our mind with things like, "I like this food" "I don't like how that tastes" "I like this photo" "I don't like this photo"
You may be familiar with Manas from the Yoga Sutras aka “chitta vritti.” Chitta vritti is the fluctuations of the mind. Other interpretations I've seen are mind chatter or monkey mind.
The Unconscious Mind or Chitta
The Chitta is also referred to as the Storehouse of Emotions. This is the heart-mind where all our experiences, memories, and childhood impressions get stored. Those impressions are called samskaras and often become or run our habits.
Some samskaras are really strong— yet unconscious to us— and lead to recurring thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. For example, you see a photo that draws up an emotional memory— that's a samskara. Only you know what that emotion is tied to. Someone else can see the same photo and not have an emotional reaction. Feeling like your always dating the same person with the same behavior and outcome? That’s a samskara.
Many times we have unprocessed or undigested emotions in this part of the mind and they may strive for our attention in various ways. The way we feel stress (aches, anxiety, shortness of breath, tight muscles, etc.) may be a way that our body and mind "strive" for our attention. The way we react to situations could be another.
The Intellect or Buddhi
The Buddhi (similar to the word Buddha) is the rational mind.
This is a wise part of the mind that gives us awareness. The verbal root budh– means “to awaken.”
Our wise intellect is the observer of the situation and quickly is able to integrate past experiences, relate to people around you, and can support in guiding your next move.
The opposite of awake or "awaken" is asleep. The Buddhi is sometimes sleeping but anything asleep can be woken up, right?
The Ego or Ahankara
Sometimes the word Ego gets a bad rap. But the part of the mind that we associate with the ahankara is our sense of individuality, of course in healthy doses.
We need aspects of the ahankara for our personality, and certain emotions. Without our sense of I or ahankara, we’d feel depressed. We would feel lost without our sense of I.
When this part of the mind is unobserved, it can run on competitiveness and constantly comparing itself to others. Having awareness or the support of the Buddhi is the first part of a healthy & balanced ahankara or Ego.
The mind is beautiful. It weaves with your body and soul so quickly infusing each conversation and scenario of your life. Perhaps knowing that we all have these parts of the mind can help you in feeling empowered to continue with your mindful practices, dismantling parts of your mind or Self that no longer serve your highest intention. It's all a process and we're not striving to be better. Simply be better observers and nurtures of what exactly you need in this moment.
With love,
Brenda Umana, MPH, 500-RYT