Lets face it- Everybody is is Addicted to Thinking..
Whether we realise it or not, we are spending most of the time in our heads listening to a running commentary from that voice of our mind.
That voice we are so familiar with and know it to be "us".
I had never really thought about Thinking, its not something that we talk about in general when really we should be talking and learning more about it.
A few years ago, I was in a book shop and they had an English section and this one caught my eye. Being a "non-spiritual" human back then, it was appealing as it was a more modern technique for beginners to learn how to calm the busy mind.
Actually heres the book cover if I can find it..Oh it turns out the author has his own website!
I highly recommend this book...
I only read the first half of it, and that was plenty to get me going, the rest seemed already way too much thinking!
The thing that has kind of put me off the meditation thing was that people were telling me things and I didnt understand how it was calming the mind to "Go to different Astral Plains" and stuff like that, I just saw it as an imagination thing- and still do.
But then I found that there are many different types of Meditations to do, surfing astral plains is actually one of them.
But this is not re-teaching the mind to think less often, which is the whole aim of learning how to think less.
Heres some examples that you can try right now that are featured in the book-
Ok this is so easy that the mind will get instantly confused and try to take your attention away, after all the mind wants you upmost attention 24 hours a day and this is perfectly normal.
Lets try as we are looking at the screen reading, focus your sight not now only at the text, but look with your peripheral vision (without moving your eyes)at what else is around outside of the screen..... Just do it until the next thought comes naturally along (which it always will!)
Did you notice that there was silence for a short time before that next thought came along?!
If the voice said something like " nothings happening " or "I dont notice anything" then thats already the next thought arrived.
Never be harsh on yourself that the thought came so quick that you didnt realise it had even arrived! This is VERY important.
You can try it again, fix your vision on the screen, and see what else is around the screen without moving your eyes. Now that you a bit more prepared to concentrate, you will definitely notice a longer pause between the next thought.
DID YOU?!
This is one example of how we can have just a few seconds of peace from the chatting mind.
If you found that one boring, we can also instead of just looking at the screen, let your eyes wonder around the room as they will. Look at the walls and the objects around, and everything you look at , I want you to just name the shape of the object out loud.. (TV) Square - as an example.
Take just 10 seconds doing this... and remember to make sure your still breathing!
Now that was nice?! I hope you noticed that the mind was silent during this exercise?
How Exercises Like This Helps Me Personally?#
I get the bus to and from the city everyday which lasts 30 mins each way, and I find this is an ideal opportunity to concentrate on calming my mind. What do you do when you get on a bus? Nothing exactly you sit in silence for the journey. Its very easy to see that everyone is gazing somewhere deep in thinking, or these days , on the smartphone.
Perfect time to practice. Smart phones create mind stimulation and this is not what we want if we want to calm our mind down.
I enjoy to do it with my eyes open (no dirty pun intended!) and these days I can simple look at the space between the seat infront of me for example, and this is perfect for having a time out from the noise in the head, although I find it extremely easy these days to silence my mind on command.
The hardest part of the re-teaching of the mind, is not to be making excuses as to why you should do it later- the rest is easy because theres actually nothing to do, its time to STOP! And you can never be doing it wrong- when you have thought this, maybe now you see the comment just again as another thought? And then can smile and go back to just looking at the space, ready to catch the next thought that will come by.
Its really helped me over the years ive been doing it, and it really effects the things around me if i havent done it in a 3 day stretch. Ive had stages of a month without even taking 5 mins in a day just to sit and look at a gap between 2 things , or named any shapes of the objects in my surroundings. I suddenly find myself feeling sad or angry , short tempered, worrying, anxious for a few days- then it hits me- DING! When was the last time I sat and looked around?
I cannot tell you how it seems that when im out of practice, the world around me literally falls apart and its always like im pushing against the flow or the flow is pushing against what I want to do and everything that can go wrong,will.
You see instantly how to stop the mind, and now its up to your will power to start practicing!
I will be doing more posts on this subject in the future, its becoming quite a popular thing , which is awseome :)
Thankyou!