Understanding The Noise Pollution Of Your Mind

Much like the noise pollution we can experience in our external world, there can also be an internal noise pollution. Our overthinking mind. Both have an impact on our health and vitality. In this talk I'll help you to understand this internal noise pollution, why we don't always recognize it, and then I'll give you some helpful tips to navigate it.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the Peacekeeper Project.

My name is Ben.

Now today I want to share some reflections,

Some thoughts and perspectives on the impact of overthinking on our health,

Well-being and our vitality.

And then,

What you can do about it.

So there's an expression,

Overthinking is the art of creating problems that don't exist.

So most people have this constant stream of thoughts,

Stories and dramas running through their mind.

There's usually this base level of thoughts.

But then you add in some emotion,

Some reaction and everything gets amplified.

So something might trigger an emotion,

Might be your own thought triggers an emotion.

That emotion fuels more thoughts.

Those thoughts fuel more emotion.

Those emotions trigger more thoughts.

In this vicious cycle they can go on and on.

Creating these problems that don't really exist.

Except in our emotionally reactive mind.

Now does this sound familiar?

Can you relate?

Now,

No judgement.

Just acknowledging it.

Because this is a common experience.

Now,

You might have heard the term body-mind connection.

So you're probably aware that there's a connection between your mind and your body.

For example,

You know that when you feel stressed or anxious,

You feel different than when you feel peaceful and joyous.

You feel different in your body.

But the big question is,

Can you really comprehend the full impact of your thoughts and emotions on your health and vitality?

It's challenging because this constant cycle is always there.

It becomes the usual and familiar.

So it's difficult to comprehend the full impact.

Now to understand this better,

Let's use the example of noise pollution.

So say you live in a city and you're surrounded by this constant noise pollution.

So maybe it's the constant traffic.

The sound of traffic.

Maybe it's construction.

Maybe it's all of the telecommunications that's all around you creating a certain buzz.

Maybe it's just all the people around you in the neighbouring apartments.

So there's a constant buzz,

This noise pollution.

But you learn to live with it.

You get on and do what you need to do.

It doesn't bother you.

You go to bed.

You sleep.

You get up.

You go to work.

So you learn to live with it.

You start to filter it out.

But filtering it out and learning to live with it does not mean that your body and mind are not affected by it.

Although you may not consciously notice it,

It does still have an impact.

And there are more and more studies now pointing to the negative impact of noise pollution on our health and wellbeing.

But that's not what I'm going to talk about here today.

You can do a search online and you can find these studies for yourself.

But what I do want to talk about is something that you can feel and verify for yourself.

Because that's where the real understanding comes from and the real transformation is possible.

So okay,

You live with noise pollution.

You live in a city.

So how do you understand its impact?

Well,

You take time away.

So say you go away somewhere.

Somewhere quiet,

Into nature.

Maybe you go camping.

Or maybe you go into a small town where it's more immersed in nature.

It's much quieter.

There's less traffic.

And you go there and you start to notice your body responding.

It might be subtle in the beginning,

But the more you're there it becomes more and more tangible,

Especially if you become aware of it.

So the more you're there,

Your body responds to the quiet.

You can feel this letting go in your energy because it's not constricted by the noise pollution,

This buzz of the city cramping down on you.

And you sleep better.

You wake up and you feel more rejuvenated,

A more nourishing sleep.

So in these experiences,

The impact of the noise pollution we usually live with becomes obvious because now by contrast,

It's not there.

As your body relaxes and the quality of your sleep improves,

The effects of noise pollution on your body and your mind become clear because there is this contrast of stillness and quiet.

Now why do I use the example of noise pollution?

Well because it's a similar principle with our own mind.

So the overthinking,

The cycle of thoughts triggering emotions emotions triggering thoughts,

Create a certain noise pollution within our own mind.

Now I like the term noise pollution to describe what's happening inside us because that's what it can feel like.

That constant stream of thoughts,

Dramas,

Stories is noisy.

But what's worth reflecting on which is really valuable,

Is that as long as you identify with the familiar noise in your mind,

It won't necessarily feel like noise.

It will simply feel like you.

The usual and familiar internal environment that you live in.

How does a fish objectify water?

It can't.

Because it's lived there its entire life.

It would have to be removed from the water and then it would know.

Then it could comprehend water.

Now in a similar way we don't comprehend the full impact of our thoughts,

The heavy burden of our thinking,

Because we're always immersed in them to some degree.

But just like taking time away from noise pollution of a city,

When we learn to quiet the noise in our mind then that noise in our mind,

We start to see it for what it truly is.

A layer of pollution that creates stress anxiety,

Overwhelm,

Drains our vitality and disconnects us from each other and our heart.

So,

What can we do with this?

Well,

I have two things to share with you.

The first,

Meditation.

A common experience in meditation is this sense of relief.

This sense of relief when everything drops.

The thoughts the emotions,

The usual stories and dramas,

They drop.

And a sense of freedom and peace emerges that's deeply nourishing.

As our mind lets go and the nervous system relaxes and our energy softens,

It can be a profound experience we feel through our whole body.

There's a letting go through our whole being and this connection between our mind and our body is instantly taken to a deeper level.

And it's at that level that we can actually comprehend the impact of the usual thoughts stories and dramas that fill our mind.

Because we have that contrast.

We can observe it,

We can objectify it like the fish out of water.

We're having an experience outside of the usual and familiar.

And it can also be something like a massage.

Sometimes we don't realise how much we need it until we get it.

Someone applies some pressure and we realise.

And meditation is like that.

Sometimes we don't realise how much we need it because we don't realise the full impact of our thoughts and emotions so we don't realise it until we start doing it,

Until we start quietening our mind.

And we start to feel that freedom and peace emerging from inside.

And then we realise how much we need it how much some part of us has been calling out for it.

And I really believe that learning to quiet our mind is one of the greatest life skills that we can learn.

And it can be learned.

It just takes practice.

Okay,

So my next suggestion is spend time in nature.

Nature has a natural calming effect.

The more time you spend there the more you can feel it.

The more you feel your body,

Your mind,

Your energy relax and soften.

So when you go into nature pay attention to how you feel before you go in.

And then notice how you feel during and after.

Just noticing these differences,

The contrast,

Helps you to develop a greater sense of self.

Understanding yourself,

Self-awareness.

Now,

With this practice I recommend doing it without listening to music.

Just you and nature.

Now I have nothing against music.

Music is great.

But I'm just suggesting this as a practice to really connect to nature and feeling this lack of noise pollution around you and how that affects your energy,

Your body and your mind.

Because ultimately this is about stillness.

And stillness is always there in the background.

But our mind is usually too busy to recognize it.

And if we don't recognize it then we can't rest on it.

And if we don't rest on it then we don't get the benefits that it can bring.

This deep stability and peace.

So spending time in nature we can connect to the stillness that's there because nature really expresses stillness.

We can feel it.

Because it's not impacted by the noise pollution of a city.

So we can really feel it.

And with meditation we're really connecting or reconnecting to that stillness that's inside.

Because as we quiet the noise in our mind,

This noise pollution of our mind,

We realize the stillness that's there.

We reconnect to it.

And our heart responds.

So as we connect to stillness through nature,

Through meditation,

We realize the impact of our usual thinking,

Thoughts,

Stories and dramas.

At the same time we gain the relief from it by finding stillness.

It is the antidote to the noise pollution of our mind.

Alright,

So I'm going to leave this here.

Thank you for being here and I really appreciate your presence.

Until the next time quiet your mind and live from your heart.