Practising Mindfulness

Category: blog

  • Something from Nothing

    How can something come from nothing? What happened before time? What was there before the birth of the universe? Can something really come from nothing?

    I sense my addiction to stimulation on a constant basis. Indeed there was a time when my need for stimulation was at the extreme end of the scale. I needed chaos. I needed mania. There had to be something going on constantly. And if not I would find a way to create the chaos I craved. Drama. Oh yes please.

    Imagine coming to the understanding that the thing you prided yourself on (thinking) has actually been the cause of your troubles.

    I used to spend a lot of time in my head. Loneliness will cause this. Thinking, judging, ruminating, puzzling, questioning on and on and on. Constant chatter and deliberation. Chaos in my head and chaos in my life. So here is the solution . . . nothing.

    In my current role I spend a lot of time doing nothing. There are periods of time when I don’t see a customer for days. This can be excruciating for someone who needs stimulation.

    There is a need to keep the mind occupied if you’re addicted to stimulation. This can take the form of thinking or perhaps reading or watching something. Anything to take the mind out of the present moment. Because in the present moment there is nothing happening. And for me, purely because of my addiction, this nothing can be very tricky to deal with. There is even the possibility I’ll look to fill this nothing with eating! Again my addiction to sugar kicks in. Can you gain a sense of my dilemma?

    A dilemma until I find myself able to cope with nothingness in the present moment. And then something does come from nothing . . . calm control over my mind and my beautiful life.

    Learn to improve mindfulness from the gentle art of meditation

  • Focus on the Positive

    Your point of focus becomes your reality

    For the very reason it’s an obvious thing to say we can easily become blind to the fact. We must remind ourselves that the unconscious mind is constantly drawn to what it believes and doesn’t question whether our viewpoint is healthy or not.

    You might believe that human behaviour is crazy, perhaps some of it is, even so, what we must be very cautious of, is the tendency for the mind to generalise

    Because of this unconscious tendency to generalise beliefs (all humans are crazy) the mind will constantly draw us into finding confirmation of this. Watching the news is an example. The majority of what we see on the news is evidence of crazy behaviour. In order to steer the mind into a more positive viewpoint, we must become actively involved, in controlling what we expose ourselves to. In addition to this, we must actively remind ourselves of the mechanism of mind (hence this post) and how this awareness can improve the quality of our lives.

    Under no circumstances are all humans crazy. What humans are is gameplayers. As I heard recently: “It’s all a game and the point of it is seeing how long you’re able to remain on the board.”

    Staying on the board, for as long as possible, involves looking after your mind and body. Mental fitness is achieved through training the mind to remain present (as much as possible) and remaining aware of the tendency for the mind to be drawn toward generalised beliefs. If these beliefs are useful, up to date, and positive, all is well. The elimination of negative believes firstly involves the process of becoming aware of them.

    Remind yourself to look toward the beauty and love that’s there, provided you’re aware.

  • From Turmoil to Stillness (limitless potential)

    There’s a torrid restlessness driven by a longing that must be satisfied. The driving, to fulfill what the heart believes, is so overwhelming, that nothing can stop its progress. Only once you hold the potential in your hands will you ever calm the torment of a restless mind

    We’re all longing for something aren’t we? And how many of us actually know what it is we seek? Perhaps, like most, there’s a driving that comes from deep within that can’t be defined. We don’t understand this desire, we just blindly pursue it. We’re restless until all the pieces are in place. And yet what are the pieces? What is it we want?

    Even though we’re unable to define this longing within us; unable to see the end goal, we keep on striving for it

    It’s like the new born child who doesn’t understand hunger but just knows there’s something required. In order to survive the baby senses their needs. The methods used to gain these requirements is to appeal to its carer. The appeal is formed through crying and wriggling – to display restlessness – until soothed and provided for. Why should our minds now be any different? As long as we believe there is a requirement for our survival, that’s not being met, we will feel the very same torment and restlessness, experienced by the child.

    And what of us who’re unable to find this requirement? That, I would suggest, is most of us. There is no satisfying a restless mind that doesn’t understand what it seeks, and so stop your pretense. Instead, own up, to your incompleteness

    If patience is a gentle appreciation of potential, perhaps the turmoil will cease, when everything is in place. Perhaps, once the egg has been laid, the waiting is made bearable through the potential that grows within it.

    When you sit and meditate, seek the understanding of how it is you, that grows within the egg. What comes to you then, as a result of waiting patiently, is not the brief satisfaction – gained from achieving what it is you believed the requirement was – but the simple stillness of mind gained from acknowledging your limitless potential.

    Learn to meditate

  • The Grey Market

    Image by amh1988
    Your brain is a very delicate instrument that may not have been handle with care in the past, ensure it’s treated with respect now

    As with all things on the market today there’s the good, the bad, and the ugly. When it comes to mental health, one of the first things to be aware of, is the tendency for the mind to continue with familiar themes. What the mind knows and has become accustomed to will be the general theme pursued. To put it bluntly, if all you’ve ever known is an amateurish attitude to your wellbeing, then that’s unfortunately the very thing you will seek.

    To a greater or lesser extent everything is grey market. Buying a product from those who manufactured it is very rare. When visiting a therapist you’re not actually meeting the creator of the treatments

    So with this in mind, what we must look for, are the signs that identify the product or service, to have originally come from the genuine source. We must look to ensure corners aren’t being cut and that professional standards are being met. You cannot expect to feel better, through pandering to the minds whim, of pursuing the amateurish treatment it might have become accustomed to. Get to meet the genuine article and show your mind the respect it deserves.

    Home-based Hypnotherapy Services now available

  • Stimulation

    Image by Pexels
    The need for stimulation is fine and creating the need for it’s opposite is also fine

    Think of a child constantly seeking stimulation. When a child is stimulated, it’s often because a parent, carer or teacher, is being attentive to them. They’re being entertained, educated and played with. When the child is stimulated in this way the result is happiness, excitement and growth. Ultimately, and for obvious reasons, we can become totally addicted to this.

    On a personal level the later part of my childhood was filled with the kind of stimulation fear brings: chaos

    Interestingly enough I feel that as a result of this chaos my mind often craved calm. The only problem with calm is it’s seeming lack of stimulus. Children that are unfamiliar with calm, only knowing chaos, become very accustomed to the need for stimulation. We can end up conflicted, wondering about the exhaustion we often feel, and why we can’t seem to turn of our need for constant stimulus.

    Wanting is driven by our addiction and craving for stimulation

    It harks back to childhood and the way in which we were stimulated then. The positive of this was experienced by lucky children who where encouraged to find stimulation through creativeness. We can easily recognise those individuals, especially those who continue to be creative all their lives. Caution is advised though, because craving the kind of stimulation creativeness brings, does engender a degree of danger. However, the survivors of this danger, are those who’re able to find balance and a calmness of mind inbetween their creativeness. Sting would be a fine example.

    And so we can experience happiness, growth and contentment if we have a healthy balance between our need for stimulation, and our need for calm. Learning to meditate, in order to find improved mindfulness, is the easiest way to begin finding this kind of balance. The alternative, could well be a lifetime seeking to understand the conflict, caused by our addiction.