Mindset Building and Making a Plan with the Elemental Living Group!
The first thing that we need to achieve in the our search for purpose and mission is to Quiet the Mind. There is a lot of mis-interpretation about this idea of calming the mind. Some people seem to think that meditating is useless because you are not doing anything.
That is old industrialist thinking. Having to justify your existence through working with your hands and body. Don’t live with the pressure of that old thinking. A lot gets accomplished in Mindful living.
WHY MEDITATION is important!
You don’t get things done while you are meditating. This is true. The benefits of meditation come later. The gold is in the information revealed to you from your subconscious mind during meditation. If your mind is operating in chaos and noise all the time, it is much more difficult to know what to do next. What is priority and what is “just being busy”?
There are many types of meditation, but let’s make a division between two basic types:
The first is guided meditation, where you follow someone’s voice, giving you instructions on what to do, what to let go, how to deal with incoming thoughts and so on. In the same category is relaxation music. Your mind follows the beautiful sounds and you try to relax, find centre and feel less anxious.
The second is self-guided, internal meditation. You may utilize a mantra, a sound or a system, but it is generated by yourself. You have an internal sound that you follow, or an internal image that you focus on. It comes from within not from without.
The sound or the image can start outside your mind. A bell sound, a chant, an image, a mandala, but there must be a transition from the external “aid” to your internal processes.
This is often where people encounter discomfort. Things come up that are hard to explain or understand.
When this is the case, then a guide is needed. It is a sign that there is too much junk to deal with in the initial stages of waking up. The subconscious mind is serving up too many repressed emotions, memories, images and issues to deal with in one sitting. A new meditator needs someone to explain these first waves of images. A little like the need for a Shaman during ceremony.
How do we do it?? (the practical stuff!)
Here is a short sequence for finding some answers from your internal source. This is all part or setting up for the new mindset! These questions will come from inside you. I will help you pose the question properly. The answer will come from inside you, from the vast ocean that is YOU, the answer will surface.
Now, Close your eyes, and take a couple of deep breaths. No pattern or rhythm necessary, just fill your lungs, starting at the bottom and moving up into centre part behind your ribs, and once your shoulders start to rise, exhale. Exhale completely with a little push at the end of the exhale. Get all that carbon dioxide out, and take in a fresh breath,,, fill,,, and exhale.
The best start for finding out what is eating you; that which is bothering you and causing you discomfort, is to sit in complete silence, and let thoughts, images and feelings bubble up from the well of your subconscious.
The information that comes up from your subconscious is not in the form of language. If you find yourself “talking to yourself’, or “having a conversation with yourself” then you are still caught up in the conscious part of the self, of the mind,,, controlled by ego and all the expectations and beliefs that you are made up of.
In other words, you are still using external definitions to define and understand yourself.
When we go looking inside ourselves, we find images, feelings, sounds, all kinds of messaging vehicles that are NOT words. Words are actually a physical thing. They are an invention of the mind, developed to communicate with each other; human to human. Even a dog does not understand the words we use, they get the intention, the emotion and feeling behind what we say. They, like We, learn that ‘sit’ means sit. They know when they were a “bad dog” not because we use the words ‘bad dog’, but because we are upset when we say them.
So, in meditation, we are looking for signs, signals, feelings and images that come up from our subconscious well of infinite information. Those messages cannot be perceived or received when there is noise. As I covered in an earlier post, there are two types of noise; external and internal. The external noise we can turn off, the internal noise is also within our control, however, the complexity that presents itself internally reflects the complexity of what we have to deal with.
We all have different levels of intensity to work with. I have worked with people who coast through the internal messaging because they are not surprised to see what they see. The message is more of a confirmation of something they already suspected or knew about.
Some people have completely unexpected messages come up. They are caught off guard by a memory or sequence of thoughts that they never perceived as an issue. If the question, ”why is that coming up?” is the first question, then there is going to be more work involved in understanding why it came up. Makes sense right?
In the process of building a new Mindset, and making a new Plan, the mental noise of memories and past issues has to be turned down. Some people live more in the past than others. The effect of past events on our present moment will vary with each individual, but one thing cannot vary: Your past cannot rule your present moment. If the past occupies too much of your time and mind, here and now, then the present can’t create your future.
“The future depends on what you do today.” — Mahatma Gandhi
Attachment to the past, through memories and reliving those memories, is like an addiction. It is a habit; a habitual way of thinking. It does not mean it is the right thing to do. It just becomes a habit. So, if someone says to me, “that memory must be coming up for a reason”, then we must do two things.
First we explore what needs to be resolved in that memory. Second, once we have acknowledged, accepted and resolved what is packed in that memory, we move on to making sure we change the habitual pattern of the mind. We change the pattern of going back to that memory. Change the habit.
Some memories can become a “comfort memory”. Like Linus’s blanket in Charlie Brown… Linus needs to have his blanket with him; not because he is cold or uncomfortable sitting on the ground… just because! When a memory becomes a ‘go-to’ memory just because we find some comfort there, it needs to be looked at. A comforting memory can be good, but if it gets in the way of living the present moment… your future will be affected. Living in a looping comfort memory, does not create the future you necessarily want.
In Summary! ( this is from the 8 Phases of Big Change with Marcus)
Building a new mindset for moving forward in life cannot happen if there is constant noise in your home and in your head. Silencing that noise can happen in a variety of ways. The big one is a mindful practice like meditation, but an all absorbing hobby or sport, reading, singing are also beneficial. Stop the internal noise.
Once that activity has passed, we then pay more attention to what is rattling around in our head. There are clues coming in all the time. The Art of Listening to Life is all about paying attention to those clues. Ask me about the book!!
Quiet the mind, hear the inner voice. Interpretation of those clues and messages comes later, and often needs some assistance. That is why the network of wellness coaches is so big.
The next step is pick someone you like, and get started. Stop searching and commit to a process. If you go it alone, you may get there, but it will take more time.
Breathe Deep My Friend – Marcus Dupuis
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