Why Train the Mind? Where do I Start?

Why train the mind and where do I start?

Our body is one of the most sophisticated mechanisms in the entire planet. The food we eat and thoughts we think serve as powerful, elegant tools that have the ability to put everything into balance or wreak havoc.

We are creatures of habit, constantly seeking out that which is comfortable, known, and familiar to us. Familiar feelings, places, and practices are interpreted as safe by our body, so it’s easy to fall into patterns and habits that don’t push us outside of our comfort zone on a daily basis.

Even as creatures of habit, human beings have an incredible capacity for change; our bodies have the capacity to acclimate to external and internal changes and our minds are capable of shifting our worldview with a change in perception.

Albert Einstein famously said, “the most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe”, thus illustrating the fact that our perception truly creates our reality.

How do we start practicing self-awareness in the routine of everyday life? STEP BY STEP

• The first step is having the DESIRE to build AWARENESS of how we’re showing up for ourselves and others in everyday life - without the desire to learn about yourself, none of the other steps matter!

• Once you have the DESIRE, the next step is to acknowledge yourself for wanting to become a better version of you - do a little happy dance, write it in your journal, post it on social media, do whatever you want to acknowledge yourself in a positive way! Careful: others may not be as happy to hear about this and may actually laugh out loud at your efforts, do not let them deter you!

• Take some time to be curious about the habits and thought patterns that shape your perception daily. Tip: reflect on when you were recently triggered or responded in a suboptimal way, ask yourself what caused me to get defensive, upset, or rude? Be kind as you research yourself & develop more self-awareness

• Every morning, set the intention to actively train yourself to observe the mind’s patterns, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Your goal is to OBSERVE them without getting too involved with the thoughts. Careful: when I started this practice I thought I was thinking way too many thoughts and many of them were really mean things my inner critic would say. Fear not, this is normal, scientists say that we have ~90,000 thoughts per day, most of them are repetitive or completely useless!

• Set the intention to be non-judgemental with yourself as you research your personal M.O. (definition Modus Operandi: a particular way or method of doing something, especially one that is characteristic or well-established)

Tiny tweaks in our daily routine can lead to great changes in the long run because all human beings are creatures of habit with a high capacity for change and acclimation… it is the nature of our very existence!

Repeat after me: I AM NOT MY THOUGHTS OR EMOTIONS, I AM SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT!