Have control over your thoughts. I can pretty much guarantee that this is what those we deem as “masters” have that the rest of us don’t! And how do the do it? They pay attention to what they think and they meditate! I know that I have personally been failing miserably at this recently. I find myself realizing the nonsense that is running around in my mind and I say, “Why? Why am I wasting energy and time on these thoughts!?”
I believe the hardest part of creating a life you want is being aware of your thoughts and having control over your thoughts. Pause throughout your day and pay attention to what you are thinking about. It is quite interesting. I know half the time I am thinking about something I should have done, or I need to do. Or I’m thinking about other people’s business. Or maybe I am replaying last night’s events or thinking about a TV show I watched. Nonsense! It is all nonsense!!
And why is my mind running wild with garbage? I believe it’s because I’ve been all wrapped up in my dramas lately and haven’t taken the time to meditate much. As a matter of fact, I am so involved in my dramas that I find it nearly impossible to quiet my mind TO meditate!
And I can tell you that I have significantly more nonsense clogging my brain when I don’t meditate. My regular routine (when I am disciplined) is to meditate for 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening. Now I could write for days about meditation. I think it is a VERY important topic.
Let me explain to you my process and how mediation benefits me on a physical level. One, it really does slow down the mindless chatter that invades my head all the time. I have read this is worse for women because we have a larger corpus callosum, so there is a greater connection between the two hemispheres of the brain. Meaning that there is ALWAYS something rattling around in our brains! And if we can turn it off, it came with MUCH practice.
So here’s my process: I exercise, or at least do some yoga stretches. This helps tremendously. Why? I don’t know. But the yogis are on to something. Next, I relax my body. I used to have this elaborate process where I had to lay flat, picture my toes turning to sand and blowing away in the wind or visualizing my legs turning to water and washing away. I’d do that all the way to the top of my head, until I literally could not feel my body. I have practiced meditation so much that I can just sit down (if I don’t have an impeding drama I can’t shut off in my mind), take few deep breaths, and fall into a meditative state quite easily. My hearing is more acute and I cannot feel the rest of my body. You know you are in a meditative state when you cannot feel your body. Now, you may feel one part of your body. For example, you may feel like you are all hand or all head. I usually feel like I am behind my forehead. It sounds odd, but it is a very pleasant feeling. It can feel very much like having a buzz. I believe this is why people have called meditation a “wise high”. I often get a distorted physical sensation that could be similar to being high. Not that I would know!
Additionally, meditation can be likened to a buzz because it helps you focus on the present. This is so incredible important and so incredible challenging. I think most of us realize that nothing matters other than this present moment. And most of us are missing it. Our head is dancing with the garbage clogging our minds and we are missing the present moment. Meditation is like the Drano. I am going to talk more about this next time. For now, I’m going to stretch, sit in the lotus position, and get out the meditation Drano!! It is time for the nonsense to get washed down the drain!
