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How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
Benefits of Mindfulness: Mindful Living Can Change Your Life
Mindfulness 101: A Beginner's Guide
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Untangle from the unhelpful or anxiety-provoking thought process and find a new sense of inner freedom.
The human mind is truly incredible.
On the outside, it enables us to plan,
solve problems, create goals, work
towards our dreams and so much more.
But the mind is also a double edge sword.
The dark side of the human mind is that
it also tends to haunt our inner worlds
with scary and hurtful words and pictures.
It criticizes us, belittles
us, bullies us, and blames us.
Constantly tells us what's
wrong with us, tells us when
not enough, and puts us down.
For many of us that voice inside
can become our own worst enemy.
It also tends to spend a lot of
times simulating possible bad things
that could go wrong in the future.
It worries, plays out scary movie scenes
of things going wrong that could happen,
and thinks of all the 'what if' scenarios.
Now, when our minds do this, we
experience what we might call worry.
Even if everything's actually totally
fine and safe in the present moment,
when the mind projects itself into
the future and imagines these scary
or unpleasant possible scenarios
that could happen, the body reacts.
When we do this a lot, we call it
having anxiety, but really what
stress worry and anxiety are is
that they're all forms of fear.
Our bodies experience fear in the present
moment when we think of terrible things
that could happen to us or others.
You might fret about your health
deteriorating, your relationship going
downhill, your financial future, or your,
you career being ruined, even though
nothing's actually happening in the
present moment, you're fine, you're safe.
When we think about thoughts
like that, we still feel fear.
So why do our mind do this?
Well, the mind has
evolved to keep us alive.
It's always trying to protect
and serve us, which is an
important thing to remember.
But our minds have evolved over the last
150 to 200,000 years in a very different
environment to the one we live in today.
In fact of the hundreds of thousands
of years that the mind has been
evolving, it's only the last couple of
thousand years that have been anything
like the civilization we're in today.
Most of the time our minds have
been evolving, it's been through
our hunter-gatherer ancestors.
And their world was a very
difficult and dangerous place.
The cave men and cave women had to
constantly try to anticipate all
sorts of things that could go wrong
just so they could stay alive.
They were constantly on guard, looking
for threats it's because they had to be.
Predators, food shortages, competing
tribes, difficult environments, these
were constant challenges for them.
The cave men and cave women who did
not constantly think about potential
threats and problems and try to improve
their chances of survival, didn't last.
Now, even though we don't live
in the same environment as our
ancestors did, we've inherited this
protective instinct in the mind.
It's wonderful that our minds can protect
us from the threat of physical harm.
And if there's a wolf loose in the
village, your brain is well-equipped
to figure out how to protect you.
Problem is that our minds often
get stuck in this survival mode
thinking when it's really not helpful
anymore and can cause us plenty of
unnecessary anxiety and suffering.
Even so, again, it's important to
remember that your mind isn't the enemy
and that there's nothing wrong with you.
When unhelpful or anxious thoughts come
into the mind, it's completely normal.
It happens to all of us.
It's not your fault that the mind is doing
this, and it's not your fault that you
were born with this complex human mind
that's evolved in this particular way.
But when it starts to cause you
suffering and distress, there are
things you can do to buffer yourself
from this tendency of the mind and
find a new sense of inner freedom.
One simple practice to help you untangle
from these kinds of unhelpful or anxiety
provoking thought processes, one way
that really takes the power out of them
so they no longer yank you around, is a
practice from Acceptance and Commitment
Therapy called thanking your mind.
So here's how you do it.
Whatever your mind says to you, no
matter how mean, awful or scary it
is, just with an attitude of warm
playfulness, even humor, you simply
reply mentally to yourself, thanks mind.
Thanks for sharing.
So if your mind says to you, Oh my God.
What if the kids leave when
you get old and you'll have
nobody to take care of you?
You just mentally reply to the mind.
Thanks mind.
Thanks for sharing.
And then the mind might
say, you know what?
I haven't been feeling
well and you know what?
I don't know what's wrong with me.
It could be cancer.
Then you say, thanks mind.
Thank you for sharing.
And the mind might say, you,
you don't thanks mind me.
If you ignore this, you're going to die.
You could have cancer.
Do you know how painful chemotherapy is?
And you simply say, thanks
mind, thanks for sharing.
So this isn't about getting into
a debate with your mind, you
know, an argument of any kind.
No matter what the mind says, simply
thank the mind as many times as you
need to, you know, warm and playful
time, and then you put your energy
and your attention back on what you'd
like to be focusing on in that moment.
So whether it's taking in the views
on your morning, walk, working on your
computer or doing the dishes, just feel
free to let your mind keep rambling on
and on with what it's evolved to do,
and just keep on thanking the mind and
returning your attention and energy
to the things that matter to you.
Now minds can be tricky.
So your mind might keep challenging you
with all kinds of thoughts or showing
you scary scenarios of what could be.
But if you simply acknowledge that
the mind is simply running these
simulations out of habit because of its
evolution and they're not serious, you
can simply thank the mind each time.
And when you do this, you're going
to find yourself less and less caught
up and more and more feeling at ease.
So today, and for the rest of this week, I
invite you to take this practice with you.
And any time you find yourself getting
caught up in negative unhelpful,
or anxiety provoking thoughts, just
have a play with this practice.
See how it feels for you.
Whatever you do with this practice,
just remember to do it with a warmth
and a humor and a playfulness.
No matter what your mind says to you,
no matter how serious it claims to be,
no matter how mean or hurtful or scary,
just have a sense of smiling at the
mind, mentally saying, thanks mind.
Thanks for sharing, change the
focus of your attention to something
more helpful and nourishing.
And each time you do this practice,
you build your capacity to unhook
from unhelpful thoughts and bring more
lightness, ease and joy into your days.
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