“There is nothing more important to true growth than realizing that you are not the voice of the mind – you are the one who hears it.” – Michael Singer
On part 2 of this anxiety requirements series, I talk about training the mind. The mind that jumps around from one catastrophic thought to the next. We can implement two tactics to settle this untrained dog of a mind: behaviourally and cognitively. You can use your behaviours to settle your stress response and then engage in that internal voice to break negative thought patterns. Below, are the key points discussed in this episode.
- The mind can be a well attended garden or one that is neglected and full of weeds. The mind can be a well kept room or one that is piled high with stuff. Why does the room piled high with junk trigger your anxiety? There’s too much to attend to. There are many obstacles. Obstacles that get in the way of simple tasks. This produces negative emotion. The mind is required to use more energy to move its way through the environment. That is why the state of your home is a direct reflection of the state of your mind.
- To sort out all that mess up there in the mind, you must approach it in two ways: behaviourally and cognitively. You can alter your physical routines and this will shift your mental state. Sacrificing negative friends, caffeine, complex carbohydrates, waking up at 10am, Netflix, is a good example of this. Then, replace those impulsive tendencies with habits that calm the stress system like: meditation, time in nature, exercise, fasting, and reading.
- Then, you can engage in that inner voice to shift your mindset. Throughout your whole life the mind has been going on and on about what you like and don’t like. All those emotionally fuelled reactions to situations that you do not like have been piled high internally. There are to ways to release this baggage. 1) Practice re-framing exercises (listen to the episode for more details). This shifts your attachment over the past experience and release the grip you have over it. 2) Use that internal voice to break and release current thought patterns. The mind became so conditioned to respond to the negatives in your life that it is now your new normal to feel down and out. But, you can disrupt and release these thought patterns by repeating mantras to yourself like: “so what or relax or if it kills me let it.” Then let the feelings present themselves and ride the wave of negative emotion until it subsides. Remember to keep saying that mantra to yourself while those uncomfortable feelings are bubbling up.
Make sure you listen to the full episode below!