STABILIZE: Focusing the power
It should be fairly obvious by now that even on our best days mind chatter can be difficult to deal with. And when fear and self-hatred raise their ugly heads, it seems impossible. The harder we try to control the chatter, the more it fills the mind. Try not to think for 15 seconds. Don’t think about not thinking, as this is still thinking. You will quickly find how difficult this is. The mind is a field of intelligent energy in constant motion. Like a crazed monkey jumping around in a tree, the mind hops from one thing to another, often making unexpected and undesirable leaps and turns.
We try all sorts of things to control the mind – positive thinking, sleep, and drugs. Unfortunately, many of the things not only don’t work, they create even bigger problems for us. Our inability to control the chattering monkey mind is exceeded only by the frustration and suffering it creates for us.
There are times though, when the mind behaves perfectly, and seems to be under almost complete control. Remember when you became so focused on your work that even time seemed to disappear? Psychologists call this “task absorption,” or a “flow experience.” It often leads to a “peak experience,” a time of great personal fulfillment and expression.
Now contrast this experience with the time when you had a lot of work to do, but sat around and worried. How did you feel after several hours of working like this? More than likely, you couldn’t concentrate, your mind and body were out of sync, and you feel frazzled, tense and irritable.
Unfortunately, we have far more of these experiences than the peak experiences of task absorption. Work, relationships, and leisure activities don’t always fascinate us to the point that we become completely focused on them. We need something for times when we aren’t completely absorbed in the task before us.
What if you had a simple, effective technique to control your mind chatter, one that could be used anywhere at any time, and was effective the moment you used it? And what if this technique, when refined to a high degree of skill, would provide you with absolute control over your emotional reactions? Would you practice until you become very skilled in its use?
Well, get ready to practice because there is a technique that will provide all of this and more. The more skilled you become, the greater benefits you gain. This technique is called breath awareness and is one of the most powerful self-management tools that you will ever use.
In either case, by remaining in control of yourself, you take control of the situation. Your thoughts remain clear and focused, and you solve the problems presented to you more effectively and efficiently without giving yourself high blood pressure or an ulcer.
BREATH AWARENESS
When you inhale you will feel a slight touch of coolness right at the opening of the nostrils. When you exhale, you will feel a very subtle touch of warmth. You may have a little difficulty feeling warmth, but you will feel the air as it moves through the opening of the nostrils. Now don’t think about the breath, concentrate on feeling it as it enters and leaves the nostrils. Whenever you find your mind wandering off into thought, bring your attention back to the feeling of the breath. At the same time, be aware of how you feel, and what happens in your mind. But keep your attention focused on the coolness of the inhalation and warmth of the exhalation.
What happens to your thoughts? Does your breathing change? Do you feel anything different in your body when you focus your attention on feeling your breath?
Three things happen when you focus on feeling your breath:
The chatter in your mind stops and your mind becomes clear and calm.
Your breathing slows and becomes more stable, creating balance in the autonomic nervous system.
You feel a slight release as your body relaxes because there are no longer any demands being made by your mind chatter. The body’s natural state is one of relaxation. The more focused, calm, and quite your mind, the more relaxed your body.
It should be fairly obvious by now that even on our best days mind chatter can be difficult to deal with. And when fear and self-hatred raise their ugly heads, it seems impossible. The harder we try to control the chatter, the more it fills the mind. Try not to think for 15 seconds. Don’t think about not thinking, as this is still thinking. You will quickly find how difficult this is. The mind is a field of intelligent energy in constant motion. Like a crazed monkey jumping around in a tree, the mind hops from one thing to another, often making unexpected and undesirable leaps and turns.
We try all sorts of things to control the mind – positive thinking, sleep, and drugs. Unfortunately, many of the things not only don’t work, they create even bigger problems for us. Our inability to control the chattering monkey mind is exceeded only by the frustration and suffering it creates for us.
There are times though, when the mind behaves perfectly, and seems to be under almost complete control. Remember when you became so focused on your work that even time seemed to disappear? Psychologists call this “task absorption,” or a “flow experience.” It often leads to a “peak experience,” a time of great personal fulfillment and expression.
Now contrast this experience with the time when you had a lot of work to do, but sat around and worried. How did you feel after several hours of working like this? More than likely, you couldn’t concentrate, your mind and body were out of sync, and you feel frazzled, tense and irritable.
Unfortunately, we have far more of these experiences than the peak experiences of task absorption. Work, relationships, and leisure activities don’t always fascinate us to the point that we become completely focused on them. We need something for times when we aren’t completely absorbed in the task before us.
What if you had a simple, effective technique to control your mind chatter, one that could be used anywhere at any time, and was effective the moment you used it? And what if this technique, when refined to a high degree of skill, would provide you with absolute control over your emotional reactions? Would you practice until you become very skilled in its use?
Well, get ready to practice because there is a technique that will provide all of this and more. The more skilled you become, the greater benefits you gain. This technique is called breath awareness and is one of the most powerful self-management tools that you will ever use.
In either case, by remaining in control of yourself, you take control of the situation. Your thoughts remain clear and focused, and you solve the problems presented to you more effectively and efficiently without giving yourself high blood pressure or an ulcer.
BREATH AWARENESS
When you inhale you will feel a slight touch of coolness right at the opening of the nostrils. When you exhale, you will feel a very subtle touch of warmth. You may have a little difficulty feeling warmth, but you will feel the air as it moves through the opening of the nostrils. Now don’t think about the breath, concentrate on feeling it as it enters and leaves the nostrils. Whenever you find your mind wandering off into thought, bring your attention back to the feeling of the breath. At the same time, be aware of how you feel, and what happens in your mind. But keep your attention focused on the coolness of the inhalation and warmth of the exhalation.
What happens to your thoughts? Does your breathing change? Do you feel anything different in your body when you focus your attention on feeling your breath?
Three things happen when you focus on feeling your breath:
The chatter in your mind stops and your mind becomes clear and calm.
Your breathing slows and becomes more stable, creating balance in the autonomic nervous system.
You feel a slight release as your body relaxes because there are no longer any demands being made by your mind chatter. The body’s natural state is one of relaxation. The more focused, calm, and quite your mind, the more relaxed your body.
