Shift your Attention - Balance the Mind
When I review my own life and the lives of so many of my clients, I can see how an overutilization of the mind creates so many problems.
We worry about things.
We get ahead of ourselves and try to predict and control future events.
We get stuck in the past.
We obsess on how perfect everything needs to be.
We second guess.
We struggle to make decisions.
We run through countless scenarios in our minds…most of which
never happen.
We live in an illusionary space that is so “noisy” and confusing with of
all the thinking.
…and because of all of this we are less confident, less productive, and less happy.
To make things even more challenging, it is often difficult to discern when we are stuck in this mental space filled with unhelpful and unhealthy thinking. We are so used to living this way, and most everyone around is doing the same that it feels “normal” to us, and we can barely conceive of functioning differently.
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It is rare in my experience for the mind to solve a problem that has been created by the mind. More thinking just adds to the problem. Instead, we need to be able to recognize when we are in this pattern, and when we recognize this, we need to move our focus away from the mind and our thoughts, and instead focus our attention on what we perceive with our senses. Only when we set aside the mind and come back to our senses can we begin to find the clarity that we are seeking.
Even though the mind can give us trouble, the mind is not a bad thing. When utilized properly and in balance with awareness of the body and the present moment, the mind can be a wonderful tool that helps us align our values, our goals, and our actions.
The key is to know when to use the mind and when to focus our attention away from the mind. Learning to engage and disengage from the mind is a crucial skill.​
Here are a few questions to help you determine where to best direct your attention and focus…
Is your thinking helping you to do important stuff? – The mind can be a really useful tool for helping us align our values and our actions. Examples include researching, learning, strategizing, planning, organizing, visioning, creating, and problem solving. When not using the mind as a tool to do the important stuff, it is helpful to move your attention to your body, your senses, your surroundings and the present moment.
Do you enjoy the way you are engaging with your mind? – If the way you are using your mind is enjoyable, then no problem. If your mind is making you miserable and unhappy, then it is time to stop engaging with your mind, and instead focus your attention elsewhere by engaging your body, your breath, and your senses.
The main challenge most of us face is how to effectively work with the body and the mind to create the life we want for ourselves.
How do we learn skills to regulate our experience in our body so that we can cultivate greater acceptance and present moment awareness?
The Five Essential Practices
How do we learn to engage with the mind when it is helpful and disengage when it is not helpful? The skills needed to consistently engage and disengage with the mind can be found in the 5 Essential Practices.
These are the 5 practices that allow us to balance and more effectively engage with both the body and the mind:
Observe yourself – Cultivate the ability to observe what is going on within your body and your mind, so you have awareness of your thoughts, feelings, sensations, and knowing. This information is critical for knowing what’s going on and what’s important to focus on – what is true/right for you, as well as where you are stressed or noticing resistance.
Know your values - Know what is important and the interplay of these priorities in your life, and then use these to inform your plans and actions.
Do the stuff that's important – Your actions need to be in alignment with your values. If they are not, what is getting in the way? The challenge always is to find a way to move through/around/past the things that are impeding the alignment of your values and actions.
Calm yourself and carry on – Often when you are doing the important stuff, there will be moments where you will feel resistance, discomfort and/or overwhelmed. There is great power in being able to calm and soothe your mind and body so that you can continue to do the important stuff. There are lots of practices and methods for doing this, so find the ones that work well for you and utilize them as needed.
Redirection for unhelpful thinking – The mind can be a helpful tool in doing the important stuff (researching, learning, strategizing, planning, organizing, visioning, creating, problem solving). The mind can also be detrimental to doing the important stuff (unhelpful mental noise like worry, doubt, indecision, negativity, perfectionism, and self-criticism). In situations where the mind is not helping you to do the important stuff, you would be well served to redirect your attention to the present moment by connecting to your body, your surroundings, and/or the task at hand (the important stuff). Rarely do we get out of a mental trap by thinking more, even though that is what we often try to do!​
I regularly apply these Essential Practices in my own life, and I also work with my clients to do the same. My familiarity with these practices allows me to observe your process and help you to identify patterns of mental imbalance, and then support you in applying these simple, profound practices to the areas in your life where you are stuck, confused, and overwhelmed. Over time, you will develop a greater proficiency with these practices and you will become increasingly confident and adept at applying them in your own life. These are the fundamental human practices that allow us to successfully navigate and engage in life, and help us to create the life we want for ourselves.