Without realizing it we allow ourselves to be consumed by our thoughts. 

Welcome to the mind of a stay at home mom.  She just returned from dropping off kids at school.  Ahhh peace for a few hours.  Or is it?  Shh, let's listen in.

I can't believe I had to take them to school again..and he wore the shirt he slept in to school... oh, jeez my shirt is inside out, great, I talked to the perfect skinny mom this morning in the parking lot like this..stupid stupid me, what must she think?  This shirt makes me look fat . I want to go shopping  but I have to clean up everyone's mess..messy house, last years clothes (don't fit), *sigh* everyday is the same. I'm sick and tired..sick and tired..sick and tired.

They say the body goes where the mind goes.  Buckle up, mom is heading for ...Sick and Tired.

We see life  through the colored lens of our overactive mind.  Patanjalis Yoga Sutras call these citta vrttis.  These citta vrttis muddy the waters of our mind.   As a sort of moving meditation Viniyoga helps to develop  a mindful awareness.  It serves as a means of recognizing this constant mental static that  sometimes grips us and contributes to the fears and anxieties.  Learning mindful awareness, teaches us that we are NOT our thoughts.  If we can recognize how we might be allowing our own thoughts to contribute to creating our difficulties, we can free ourselves from them.  Focusing and quieting the mind enables us to more clearly see ourselves and our world around us.  Seeing more clearly  allows us to break free of harmful or unproductive patterns.