The Art of the Reset

This is mentioned in the Mahabharatha:

यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम् ।

ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशं नयेत् ॥

yato yato niścharati manaś chañchalam asthiram

tatas tato niyamyaitad ātmanyeva vaśhaṁ nayet

Which means that "From wherever the restless and unsteady mind wanders away, one must restrain it and gently bring it back under the control of the Self."

Essentially, this dialogue is between Krishna and Arjuna just before a massive war was about to begin. 

Arjuna was one of the best warriors of his side and he suddenly feels overwhelmed and adrift and says so to his charioteer - Krishna, the king of Dwaraka, who was one of Arjuna’s best friends and Krishna was also a warrior par excellence himself.

However, on hearing Arjuna, Krishna does not dismiss Arjuna’s anxiety or fear. Neither does Krishna tell Arjuna to restrain his thoughts. 

Instead Krishna acknowledges that the mind is always restless and unsteady. So Krishna does not even consider Arjuna’s loss of focus as something wrong. 

According to Krishna the true failure would be to let the mind stay astray.

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When we work on something new, we expect a laser sharp focus until the work is done.

Then reality hits.

Distractions surface, worries crop up and suddenly the end result is that our mind drifts.

The wise words above instruct us in something far more simple - accept the drift and then bring your mind back to the point where you lost your focus.

Minds do not become focused by never getting distracted, they get their focus by mastering the art of the gentle focus.

So the next time you realize you are distracted remember this:

• Pause without self-judgement, 

• Acknowledge the drift

• Reset your mind.

Restlessness is natural, but the power to return is completely yours to reclaim.