THE VOICE IN MY HEAD THAT WON'T SHUT UP!
THE VOICE IN MY HEAD THAT WON'T SHUT UP!
THOUGHT, EMOTIONS, & MEDITATION
This is a topic that has weaved its theme throughout my writing, as well as my life... This affects every single person alive! This is also such a neglected topic, as it impacts each of us yet it is barely discussed. Have you ever realized there is a "voice" in your head that never shuts up!? With practice, you can have moments of silence, but the majority of the time it is a steady stream made up of criticism, fears, hopes, wants... this is the thinking mind.
The thinking mind consumes each human beyond its purpose. As I stated in one of my previous posts how looking at this topic in an abstract manner may help put things into perspective for you. First off, what a wonderful gift it is to hold a form of aware consciousness, and the ability to think! "The thought of thinking..." that is something that gets me every time!
The thinking mind consumes each human beyond its purpose. As I stated in one of my previous posts how looking at this topic in an abstract manner may help put things into perspective for you. First off, what a wonderful gift it is to hold a form of aware consciousness, and the ability to think! "The thought of thinking..." that is something that gets me every time!
I had never thought of this before, as a teenager and young adult I spend my last ten years or so in pursuit, on a quest to revelation. Seeking our purpose, exploring our afflictions, conditioning, the psychological ticking of the human psyche. I wanted answers! As I believe we all do, but I knew that what I was being fed by my school, society, religion etc. just touched the surface and hadn't hit the heart of the matter of truth for me.
One day I came across an interview with a prophet of a man who seemed to really penetrate my soul, in search of the truth. His name was Eckhart Tolle, and he was discussing the two books that he had written. "The Power of Now, and his second A New Earth" the next day I ran out to the bookstore and picked myself up a copy. I have since been a permanent "self-help spirituality section junkie"
Within the first few pages of his book "The Power of Now" one simple paragraph lept off of the page, and hit my heart and soul with such magnitude and impact that it forever changed the way I thought about thinking...
He begins to speak about his moments of desperation, depression, and suicidal angst stating...
"I cannot live with myself any longer." This was the thought that kept repeating itself in my mind. Then suddenly I became aware of what a peculiar thought it was. "Am I one or two? If I cannot live with myself, then there must be two of me: the 'I' and the "self' that 'I' cannot live with..." "Maybe," I thought, "only one of them is real."
-Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now page 4.
I found this to be one of the most profound statements I have ever read. I had never looked at it from this stance before and found it to be such a revolutionary, life-changing statement. He proceeds throughout the book to discuss how we are identified with the thinking mind, and what discomfort it causes in our day to day living stifling us from understanding and reaching our full potential.
Through this post, I am going to break down what I've learned from this book and how it ultimately changed my life and how it impacted and continues to influence my day to day living, choices, and thoughts.
1. Disidentify yourself from your thoughts:
Your thoughts as I've said are a conditioned stream made up of your fears, feelings of inferiority, impactful statements from your parents, family, teachers, and peers, your emotions, hopes, dreams and so on...
YOU ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS! Especially beings your stream of thoughts are usually self-critical and made up of criticisms that often put you down, and lead you into a state of depression. Generally speaking the majority of the time your thoughts do more self-inflicted harm than good. So "How can I disidentify with my thinking mind?" you might wonder...
By simply being aware of WHAT you are thinking, and investigating WHY you are thinking it. More often than not once you follow the reason for your thought it often comes down to many fear based feelings such as jealousy, anger, frustration, fear, anxiety, inferiority etc. Once you realize this and begin to "WATCH" and "INVESTIGATE" the stream of your mind, you take away the power of your thought when you CHOOSE to disidentify from it.
2. Your thoughts are influenced by your 'Emotions':
What are Emotions? They are closely related to your thoughts, and how you feel & respond. More often than not the thought comes first, and the emotional reaction follows. Therefore, once you think a thought of inferiority as we often do like-
"I'm such a fuck up! I always mess everything up!"
-the emotional repercussions lead to affirmational examples of why that is "true". Creating a vicious cycle that continues with a habitual response for the rest of your life unless altered or changed to reprogram the WAY you think and respond, as well as the WAY you think about yourself.
"I'm such a fuck up! I always mess everything up!"
-the emotional repercussions lead to affirmational examples of why that is "true". Creating a vicious cycle that continues with a habitual response for the rest of your life unless altered or changed to reprogram the WAY you think and respond, as well as the WAY you think about yourself.
3. Your thought is a TOOL
Your thought is to be utilized and used AS NEEDED when NECESSARY. Most of the time thinking is NOT necessary. But we identify our thoughts as a part of WHO WE ARE, and begin to live life as such. We have been gifted this conscious thinking mind in order to create, fulfill, and materialize a reflection of our internal world through the means of expression. Using the mind, we can touch upon our creativity, connect with our empathetic emotions in order to understand and relate to others, as well as to instill logic and critical thinking through our lives in necessary situations. Other than the blessing of our "senses" the thinking conscious mind is truly our most profound yet powerful gift. Without it, what exactly would give us "humans" our evolutionary edge?
That all being said, how exactly can you TAKE THE POWER BACK from the mental slavery of your thinking mind?
HOW TO RID THE CONTROL OF YOUR MIND
1. ATTENTION/ MINDFULNESS:
Do not be so quick to take the bait when a thought or emotion arises! Be mindful, WATCH and INVESTIGATE your Ego's thoughts, emotions, and reactions. With practice, your stream will be somewhat laughable as you will realize the deep disconnect between who you are inside with the stream of your thinking mind, and the gap between the two will begin to grow.
For example; If a thought of jealousy may arise, I notice it and then begin to investigate why I am feeling this emotion!? The answers give me a deeper insight into who I am, how I react, and what I can actually do to transform my feelings of inferiority into the strength and power to change the root of my issue. When you "OBSERVE/ WATCH/ INVESTIGATE" It takes away the power from your mind and gives YOU your power BACK.
2. MEDITATION:
Meditation is a highly skeptical practice for many "Meditation Virgins". There are many misconceptions as to what meditation is, how you do it, and it's actual benefit. Meditation has been proven to reduce stress, pain, and anxiety. It is a fairly new concept here in the Western world, but people have been meditating for hundreds of years! It's philosophical origins date back to the early development of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Hinduism. All of which focus on key foundations of their belief through the dissection into the afflictions of the human mind. Exploring our connection to the mind, body, and soul while aligning, and clearing away our blockages and obstructions from viewing our ultimate potential. In hopes of reaching our highest possible level of enlightenment.
Meditation has healing benefits towards renewing our energy's effectiveness, creativity, awareness, and frequency. It is relatively easy to do, and anyone can do it! The problem is we think too much about it while we are "trying" to do something. You don't try, you do! When trying something leads us to travel into uncharted territories we often criticize, overthink, and scrutinize our attempt with pitiful inclinations. Often people are met with frustrations and give up! But that is precisely meditation's entire purpose, to clear you from thinking! You begin with breathing exercises, you sit and you watch your thoughts. The more often you do it, you will begin to witness your thoughts come and go without attachment until you are in a completely liberated state of mind. A place where you are free from thought, free from the mind, you then begin to think NOTHING!
Meditation is a highly skeptical practice for many "Meditation Virgins". There are many misconceptions as to what meditation is, how you do it, and it's actual benefit. Meditation has been proven to reduce stress, pain, and anxiety. It is a fairly new concept here in the Western world, but people have been meditating for hundreds of years! It's philosophical origins date back to the early development of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Hinduism. All of which focus on key foundations of their belief through the dissection into the afflictions of the human mind. Exploring our connection to the mind, body, and soul while aligning, and clearing away our blockages and obstructions from viewing our ultimate potential. In hopes of reaching our highest possible level of enlightenment.
Meditation has healing benefits towards renewing our energy's effectiveness, creativity, awareness, and frequency. It is relatively easy to do, and anyone can do it! The problem is we think too much about it while we are "trying" to do something. You don't try, you do! When trying something leads us to travel into uncharted territories we often criticize, overthink, and scrutinize our attempt with pitiful inclinations. Often people are met with frustrations and give up! But that is precisely meditation's entire purpose, to clear you from thinking! You begin with breathing exercises, you sit and you watch your thoughts. The more often you do it, you will begin to witness your thoughts come and go without attachment until you are in a completely liberated state of mind. A place where you are free from thought, free from the mind, you then begin to think NOTHING!
3. POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS:
What you say to yourself, and about yourself matters and heavily impacts your effectiveness, beliefs, and growth in life. What you say to yourself is what you then begin to believe. Usually restricting us to live within the boundaries in which we have set FOR ourselves, based on our limiting belief ABOUT OURSELVES.
As cheesy as it may sound, it is true... CHANGE YOUR VOCABULARY! Choose your wording when speaking and thinking about yourself, and others. Remove CANT, NEVER, WON'T out of your daily use. Instead of saying " I can't do that" say "I could do that, just have to figure out how" always leave room for growth, using supportive, self-compassionate positive reinforcement.
What you say to yourself, and about yourself matters and heavily impacts your effectiveness, beliefs, and growth in life. What you say to yourself is what you then begin to believe. Usually restricting us to live within the boundaries in which we have set FOR ourselves, based on our limiting belief ABOUT OURSELVES.
As cheesy as it may sound, it is true... CHANGE YOUR VOCABULARY! Choose your wording when speaking and thinking about yourself, and others. Remove CANT, NEVER, WON'T out of your daily use. Instead of saying " I can't do that" say "I could do that, just have to figure out how" always leave room for growth, using supportive, self-compassionate positive reinforcement.
SO... next time a steady stream of destructive thought comes to mind take a step back in perspective and ask it why it is there, and what is it there to teach me?
UNTIL NEXT TIME...
NAMASTE
#STAYWOKE
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