Hiya,
Welcome to episode 2 and we're continuing with the breath now,
But continuing with the breath is an act of kindness for calming our busy mind.
In the last episode we explored the breath in terms of the nervous system and how the breath supports our overall wellbeing and noticing how the mind and body are interactively woven together and how our breath responds to both.
Yeah,
I think I got that right.
Anyhow,
Today we are turning our attention to our beautiful busy mind or monkey mind.
So the mind is always naturally active and this is is absolutely what it is designed for.
So knowing that this is okay is an important part of this journey.
And the mind is naturally active,
Moving from one thought to another.
So you may be bouncing from the past to the future or being caught up in something in the moment.
So let's give some examples.
Maybe you're playing a memory or worrying about something that's coming up.
And we also kind of have to be a little bit reflective that in our busy and hectic world,
This can feel a little bit relentless,
Like non-stop.
And the noise,
When we're not even noticing it,
Can be relentless.
You know,
You can get to a point where you don't even realize that you're thinking anymore because the mind's just going,
If you can understand what that means.
Yeah,
So it can be quite overwhelming.
The breath offers a gentle and accessible way to notice the mind,
By by not being,
How can I say this,
By allowing not to be swept away with the stream of thought and to be able to create that little pocket of such valuable space a little pocket of valuable space to be away from the continuous chatter.
So the first part of this is noticing the busy mind and noticing where it takes you.
And observing the thoughts as they arise.
And it sounds quite simple,
But because the mind is so active,
It can actually be quite difficult to to appreciate just how far your mind is taking you.
So we're observing the thoughts as they arise.
And then we're looking at giving them some kind of name or some kind of label.
A favorite of mine when I'm working is I'm quite often planning.
Oh,
How can I use that in my next piece of work?
Or,
You know,
Being inspired and then rather than appreciating,
Beginning to plan with it.
But,
You know,
There are other labels you can use,
Like remembering.
That's what old record playing,
You know,
When you kind of go over an event,
Especially one which you wish you could change.
You go round and round and round.
Or you could be worrying,
Oh,
That's a good one,
You know.
Oh,
What if this goes wrong?
And all those negative biases that we can get ourselves caught up in.
And then we have things like imagining and daydreaming.
And yeah,
Those are just a few examples.
But when you catch that stream of thought and you are able to label it,
You can begin to look and explore that thought as a third person kind of going,
Oh,
Is that serving me?
And as you notice them,
You can then begin to bring an element of softness to the thought itself.
You know,
Rather than letting it be edgy and eat you up,
You can bring softness in.
And you can begin to breathe gently,
Giving whatever's happening in the mind some space,
Not to change it,
But just to observe with no judgment.
You know,
Sometimes when we look in as an observer of what's going on in the mind,
And we breathe some space into that space,
It can appreciate and acknowledge just how difficult a situation is.
And we can give it that space to be seen.
And we can give it space to be seen without having to follow it into catastrophe or or challenge.
And when we've given it a little bit of space,
We can then begin to shift our mental focus and be able to,
Like,
Focus on the breath as a way of quietening the mind.
And when we focus on the mind,
On the breath,
Sorry,
I get very confused.
When we focus on the breath and notice where we might be breathing into,
Either the chest or the belly,
We can bring all of our focus,
Give our minds a rest and bring all of our focus into that breath.
And there are a lot of tips and tools that we can begin to notice our breath in much more full and exploring ways.
So we can begin to count how long it takes us to take an in-breath and take how long it takes to take an out-breath.
Or we can begin to notice the pause between the in-breath and the out-breath and be able to extend that pause as a way of focusing the mind.
I can't cover all the tools you can use here,
But you can begin to just say to yourself as you're breathing in and you're breathing out,
I am breathing in,
And I am breathing out.
And these tools of labelling the breath by counting the breath,
By noticing where the breath is going and labelling that in your mind,
Brings focus,
Brings presence and brings a gentle regulation.
You know,
They don't stop the mind from thinking.
The thoughts will come and go,
And that is normal and natural.
But it gives them a place to move without being so jarring,
To be smooth and to be let go of with the things that really aren't serving them.
And coming back to the breath time and time again,
Gives you that simple reference point in the midst of this mental noise and chatter.
So over time,
Noticing the mind as an act of kindness and labelling the thoughts,
Returning your attention to your breath,
Builds a subtle space between thought and reaction.
You begin to see that you're not your thoughts.
This is one I sometimes struggle to get my head around,
But you are the awareness behind your thought and you are the awareness in which your thoughts arise.
And that space is always there,
Always available to you if you manage to focus on your breath.
I hope that makes sense.
Yeah,
The key is the breath for accessing that awareness and space so you can see clearly what's going on.
So whenever your mind feels loud,
Maybe busy,
And maybe that's always,
Remember the breath is here,
Not as a tool to control the mind,
But a tool to focus the mind and hold and create space for you to transform your experience by attending to it.
Even just for a second,
You're inviting and with the intention of clarity and calmness and presence into your experience.
So again,
All this in theory is,
You know,
Quite simple,
But yet trying to explain it,
I noticed that it can feel quite challenging.
So I hope you found this useful and that you have a go at practicing these tools and techniques to soothe and ease your nervous system and calm your busy mind from overthinking.
They're very cool.
It's just a case of really taking the time to give it a go.
Anyway,
I'll stop rabbiting on at you now.
Have a good day.
And yeah,
Like I say,
I hope you found this useful.
Bye for now.
