Mind Your Own Business! No, Really, Do!
… mind must be the creative force, must constitute the sole difference between men. It is mind, therefore, which overcomes environment and every other obstacle in the path of men.
— Chalres F. Haanel
Never you mind! Be mindful of others! Mind your own business! Do you mind? -Yikes! So much emotion related to using the word “mind” … yet, so little mind.
You were born to be mindful. Mind-full. Mind, the power to create your reality through your thinking-emotional process is not confined to you brain. It spreads through every cell of your body, vibrating life out, minding your life – quite literally.
We have gotten accustomed to “mind over matter” concept, which supposes that our mind has ability to overcome any physical challenge. It is more correct, more practical, more thorough to understand “mind” in a context of “mind into matter.” Mind is the current of our intent, vibrating through the biological wires of our anatomical body systems. Mind is what creates and sustains our reality. Mind, like a muscle, if not used and worked out, will atrophy. Very much like muscle, with exercise, it will develop and strengthen.
Mindfulness exercises work out your mind muscle, allowing it to flex with greater strength and health thus creating a more empowering daily reality. Headspace app is a great place to start your practice. If at this point you feel that you are not ready to explore it, then start to be mindful through these three simple steps:
- For a mindful presence exercise, set a phone buzzer for different times several times a day. When the buzzer goes off, for just five minutes, notice what you are noticing and be aware of what you are aware of to the greatest possible degree. For example, as I am typing this, I am going through this “mindfulness presence moment” – I feel the fabric of the chair under my legs, the smoothness of the letters on the keyboard. I feel my breath rising and falling. I see the soft light coming in from the deck facing the ocean. While I do not see the ocean as am looking at the monitor, I am aware of it presence, of its charging power … I am channeling its energy into these words, etc, etc, etc…
- For a mindful breathing exercise, take a long breath in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth as if through a straw – 3 to 5 times as a time – several times throughout a day. More so when you feel stressed. Or, when your attentions travels and your focus is hard to maintain. Pausing and breathing, instead of forcing performance, will both enhance your performance and will improve your results significantly.
- For a mindful thought pattern exercise, first realize that you are not your thoughts and emotions… Obvious, ha, but emotionally sometimes unattainable. When an undesirable thought or emotion is taking control of your present moment, simply imagine it as a dark cloud on an endless horizon of your blue-sky mind. Instead of fighting the thought or emotion, detach from it by observing it literally sail through the blue sky as a cloud, realizing that it is here temporarily. Watch it leave. For the fun of it, imagine blowing at it and watching it disappear. I understand that often we choose to indulge in negativity as it has unfortunately become the strongest emotion we have accustomed ourselves to. Remember, these tips are simply a reminder… You get to decide whether to have a full blown thunderstorm or a tornado of emotion or to learn to let it blow over… It’s your mind after all 🙂
With that, off I go to mind my own business, and truly my own life. After all, you and I are born to be mindful … let’s keep that in mind :)!