The Mind Aspect Of Mind-Body Connection (4)

In this 4th event of the 'How to find peace, self-confidence, and safety inside yourself' series, we will concentrate on the mind. We'll understand its work, learn to support it, and build a strong relationship with it. In the end, we’ll have a guided meditation.

Transcript

Hello, Hello everyone in our room. I am really happy that you guys are joining our room for today and I strongly hope that we will enjoy our today's session together. So I would like to remind you the topic of this episode. We will talk about the mind, Concentrate on our mind in whole general topic of mind-body connection. So this is the series of events that I called from the very beginning, How to find peace, Self-confidence and safety inside yourself. So I would believe that our discussions and different aspects that we are viewing each week here on these live events and inside timer will help us understand how we can achieve peace, How we can gain self-confidence and feel safe. So step by step I think it will become more clear that it is extremely possible to do so and once again today we will dedicate our time to talk about the mind. So also I would really like you guys to participate here in the comment section so it will not be just my talk but more like a discussion, A conversation with you guys. I am always really curious in the experience and opinions of other people so I am very open to hear from you guys. And let me mention a couple of words about me. My name is Diana Mirceiva. I am a life coach, A meditation teacher here on Inside Timer and a philosopher. And traditionally from the very beginning I would like to say big thanks to this amazing platform, To this great application that helps us to gather for such live events or to use the free guided meditation library. So all of the donations are very welcome. They will be gone to the creators and to the whole team of this platform working for our well-being. Let me start with that question. I would say one of the main ones for today. What is mind for you guys? How do you define mind for yourselves? And probably where the mind is located in your body or what is this term? How do you use it? Because I would believe that it may vary from one person to another from how we see life in general and so on. Let me say that for me, A mind is located somewhere in my head. This is how I feel it personally for me. Definitely because of the brain but it is not just something physical. It is some kind of probably concentration of energy, Thoughts and our consciousness. Such unspecific terms that I'm using I would say but because it is not something physical that we can touch that I can show you. Oh, That is here. So I would give you this definition of mind. And a few questions that you can reflect on. Do you think guys that our minds work independently? I mean just as a mind or is it somehow connected with or influenced by something else either in ourselves or externally? So how do you guys see this aspect of ourselves? Speaking of our physical body that we paid a lot of attention to in the previous part, In the previous life event, Our physical body and our emotions definitely influence our mind. So it is all connected and it is I would say 100% impossible to say that, Alright, This is just the mind, This is just our body or these are just emotions that to live kind of together but separately. So I guess as we human beings are so complex it's difficult to do so, To make it that simple let's say. And to prove so, Kind of to prove of course. I'm sure that all of us and you guys and me as well, We had such days when we feel on top of the world, When we feel so bright, So light, So confident, So powerful and other days when we are just somewhere at the bottom of our life as it might seem. So first of all I would say that it is ok, It is completely normal, There is nothing wrong with that at all. And the question here is what defines for you how you feel, What influences the states when you feel on top of the world or at the bottom of your life. So let me see if there are any answers here. I'm reading your comment. Sure, I see that you are recovering from a chronic pain so you are a firm believer in the mind-body connection. Well, Thank you so much first of all for sharing that with us. And that is perfect to see that you are on the way to your recovery definitely. And I'm glad to see that you also believe in the mind-body connection. Of course, For myself I wouldn't even use the term belief because for me it is so obvious that I cannot personally doubt it. But of course it is all different for other people. Thank you again for sharing that. And of course best of luck for you and all the strength on your recovery path. So one of the most important things that influences us and defines how we feel on this or that day is our mind. How I probably feel physically or emotionally and of course the life that happens all around us non-stop all the time so we cannot be separated from that life. Almost impossible I would say unless you are isolating yourself somewhere in the deep woods with no internet connection and socializing. Well, That would be pretty extreme but let's leave it for another day. I would say mind is the time where we spend most of. . . It is a place, Sorry. Of course mind is a place where we spend most of our time, Most of our lives. Previously I mentioned the same about body but let's think. For me as I view it we can somehow distract from our bodies. We probably sometimes don't even think, Oh, How does my body feel right now? Am I comfortable or not? We are just living and thinking something constantly and thus living in our mind. So I would say we spend even more time, Greater amount of time in our minds rather than physical bodies. So that is why it is so important to work on the state of your mind and your mindset. I would even say that the mindset is a life changer but today we will specifically concentrate on the minds but not mindset. So I hope that the difference between these two terms is also kind of clear. If you guys want me to make another talk on the mindset, So let me know also. I would be glad to do so. But today I would like to ask you in the beginning this question. What helps you to support your mind? So you will feel better, Greater, On top of the world. What practices help you to support your mind? It would be awesome to know your experience, Something that really helps you in the moment or for the future. Oh, Miki, Listening to music is calming for you. Certainly. Well, What type of music feels calming for you? For me that would be probably jazz. That's the first thought that I had when I saw the word calming, Jazz music. But speaking about music in general, It's a really big part of lives of many people, Especially nowadays when it is so easy to listen to music, To find any type of music you love, Definitely, And it can influence our emotions again and of course our minds, Especially if the music is for the lyrics. Alright, Thank you for this moment. Very nice to read that. So let's slowly move to the second part of our talk today where I will share the ways and I again strongly hope to hear from you guys, Your experience, How we can support our minds. So again, Last time we were talking about body, How we could support our physical bodies. So now let's kind of see another aspect of mind-body connection. And of course, As we are here on Insight Timer, The great meditation app, The first tool that I wrote down for myself is meditation, Which I believe is also a big part of your life, Guys. And because we are all here right now. Let me know what kinds of meditations you love to practice or which ones influences or help you change the most. Whether you prefer guided meditations or just you set a timer for yourself and prefer to spend a few minutes just with yourself in silence. Carol, You're going for guided ones. Yeah, Well, This is what I use maybe 80% of the time when I meditate. Yeah. Well, I guess there is no, So to say, Better way to meditate. So it depends on our own preferences which will work best for us. And it helps to build new neural pathways. Certainly, Of course. One of the ways how meditation works and it is a scientific fact which I love. So everything that I am saying here is science-based and less spiritual, I would say. Yeah, So all have the back of science. So speaking of meditation, For example, Just when talking about minds, Observing our thoughts and being present, Really dedicating our time to take care of the minds right now in this very moment. When we shouldn't control thoughts or even eliminate them, Definitely, This is not the point, I would say. But just accepting the thoughts, Our minds as they are right now, Accepting the state of your mind, Even if you don't like that, But being kind of neutral and accepting it as a fact that right now this happens in my mind or this is how my mind feels at the moment. And with the time when you practice that, It will bring you peace. You will be at more peace with whatever happens with you right now and in your mind. And you will understand that these are simply your thoughts which of course have a great influence on you but these are just thoughts. You are not your thoughts or let's say you are not only your thoughts. It's just a little part of who you are. So this is how I can see meditation related to the mind. Alright, Again, We are not talking here about the mindset but the mind. So the second moment of how we could support our minds is journaling. So I am sure that a lot of you guys have heard about journaling before and for many years this practice was difficult for me. I knew all the benefits of journaling but I just couldn't do that. It was meaningless for me. It just didn't work well and I couldn't understand why. I thought, Alright, Maybe it's just not a practice for me or maybe I'm doing something wrong. But what could be done wrong when you journal? But what it required just some little discipline in the beginning. I would say after a week of journaling, Of writing morning pages which I chose for myself, I could see like a switch. Oh my God! This is how it works and I really feel the advantages of it on my mind and on my mental state during the whole day. So journaling really helped me at one moment, At one point of my life previously and today I'm not writing morning pages when you just write down anything that is in your head right now. Not only your worries but even if you kind of don't think anything, You can still put something into your words and on paper. So what I'm using right now is My Great Year Journal which I have created specifically for myself but it can be found anywhere online. This is a short practice for me now which takes about 5 minutes in the morning to just set me up for the day. I call it journaling because it has some sections and what I love is that I still can express what I feel at the moment, What is happening right now or even just to write some free sentences and that's it. So let me know if journaling is working for you guys because it is I would say controversial question, Controversial moment for many people. Yeah, Sudesh if I'm pronouncing your name correctly, Thank you. You're welcome here as well and I am glad to see that our community here is growing at the life event. Thank you for being here all of you guys. So speaking about journaling especially in the first part of your day, I can mention here planning. Planning is extremely helpful for our minds and not just future planning or long term planning which has of course benefits for our lives but what I want to say, Planning of some short term duties that you have to complete or writing down all of the tasks for your day on paper or in your phone in some kind of app is extremely beneficial because it helps you to release the information from the mind so you will not try to hold it and remember during the whole day or even a week in your mind thinking, Oh, I will not forget that. Oh, That's just I will always remember this but it takes the energy, The actual physical energy, I mean the electro signals in your brain to keep this information and you have to always come back to this moment or these duties and tasks which you can just write down on paper and you will remember it for sure and your mind will poof, Just relax, Just let it go and imagine that you can use all this energy that you release from remembering, Trying not to forget something, You can use it for something, I don't know, Something that fulfills your lives or helps you express yourself so in many other beautiful ways rather than just remembering. Besides, When speaking about writing down something on paper, Using your hand and a pen, It is very beneficial for the mind-body connection because it helps you to sort of get the information from the energy form that is held somewhere in your mind, Put it into the physical form. So, With all the movements of your muscles, With the activity in your brain going on, So it definitely is one of the greatest tool to form the mind-body connection which you can use later for various goals but again it is just another big topic. Well, Let's move to the next moment of how we can support our minds. So, Also when we talked about planning, Some duties for the day, There are some tricks that we can use to organize our work smartly. So, These are sort of very practical tools and we will not go deep into the planning or using any specific tools but what I generally use for myself and I recommend my clients also to do so when they try to change it to the ways that they work when they want to make their mind feel at ease, Step by step. So, I recommend to organize your work in two blocks, Whether you have to do some creative tasks or logical tasks. So, For example, You can dedicate two hours a day or in the morning for creative tasks, Take a short break after and then go for logical tasks. Because if you do one creative, One logical, Creative, Logical, Creative, Logical, Your brain and your mind will feel chaotic because it requires different skills, These two types of work and tasks and you have to think differently to complete them. So, Having two groups of the tasks separated throughout your work day will be very helpful. Also, Take a note of when you feel the most productive during the day. So, For most people, Biologically it is the morning time or the first part of the day. So, As probably all of us know, We have to try, At least try to complete the most difficult or the most important tasks first thing in the morning. So, It will not just be bothering us during the whole day. And this is the time when we feel most capable of doing that and solving the most difficult problems. Another thing when speaking about work is to do everything in order. So, Do not try to multitask. It takes a lot of effort and a lot of energy from our brains and minds to multitask. And at the end, It doesn't give us such great and productive results as if you would do it just step by step or one by one. Well, And the same, Try to do some bunch of the same things all at once. So, Do not break them into tiny ones, But if it is possible, Try to complete one multitask just at a specific period that you dedicate to that. Alright, So I hope that you guys didn't get too nervous when talking about work. Let's make it a little bit easier and talk about breaks. Taking breaks is essential. It is crucial for us during the day whether we work in the offices, We have to dedicate some time to take a break. And I mean proper break. When you do not try to do your personal affairs or try to discuss some difficult tasks with colleagues or your friends, But just taking the time to relax. Maybe if you are talking a lot as me for example, As a coach, My break will be completely silent. So I'm taking care this way of my throat and of my mind which will, I will just let myself give the time to just not think about anything. Let's say to let my mind be empty, Kind of. Alright, Another very useful tool, Can I say that, Is to concentrate on here and now. So, Of course, We are all naturally are pulled either to the future or to our past, But all the power that we have is here and now in the present moment. So, Here is a question for you guys. How often do you come back to the present moment throughout the day? Is it zero times? Is it one time a day? Maybe in the morning when you do the morning meditation or just before going to sleep? How many times you actually stop and put yourself in the present moment? If you, Of course, Don't mind sharing it with all of us. Well, For me, A few years back, Maybe five years back, It was maybe one time a day. That was challenging for me and my brain, My mind just couldn't do that for a long time. It was just a matter of habit as I understand it now. So, With practice, Of course, We can achieve a better result and I would say it is impossible to always be in the present moment in here and now unless you're meditating 24 hours, But that wouldn't be possible either, Even for Buddhist monks, I would say. But taking yourselves to here and now will give you the power. So, Our brain creates anxiety for our bodies. So, Coming back to the current sensations or current thoughts or current states will make it feel easier. And as Jonneke Badzinn tells us, The mindfulness guru, That we heal up to four times faster being in the present moment. So, Our physical bodies heal faster, Not even talking about our emotional bodies and so on. So, These are incredible, Incredible changes. So, Here is a task for you guys. Try to pull yourself back to the present moment and I'm sure that you will feel the benefits of it with the time. Well, So, When we were talking about meditation and journaling, For me personally, It is a part of my morning routine. So, Now let's talk about another aspect that will help us support our minds. It's morning and evening routines. Well, I think about two years ago on YouTube this topic was just booming. Everyone was talking and creating videos about their routines and I think that's amazing because it made me more conscious about my routine and I definitely made a few drastic changes into that. I should also mention that in one of the future episodes of this life event series I will dedicate the whole session to organizing morning and evening routines. So, You can follow my page or how is it called, Subscribe. So, You will be notified when this event comes up if you would like to go deeper into setting up your day, Into talking about these routines. So, For now I just mention it as one of the tools that can help you and your mind. And of course, I would say one of the most important ones is to have some time, Even little time, To slow down your mind before going to sleep. So, Not just finish your work, Close the laptop and go to bed as I did as well a few years ago. Try to organize some kind of even a short ritual for yourself that will show your body, Your brain and your mind that, Alright, My day is over, Almost over and I will sleep in a few minutes. So, It will not only help you improve your sleep but also let your mind relax so you can enjoy your night much more and sleep deeper and have a fresher mind in the morning. Alright, So I would say these are all of the tools that I would like to mention for now. If you have something to add, If you have any questions guys, Let me know. Do not hesitate that. Thivi, You have a goal of setting a routine and ritual. Yeah, Well, If you have such a goal and intention, You can definitely do that and you guys can make your routines completely, 100% personalized and in this case it will work much, Much better for you. But, General recommendation, Do not try to set the whole routine all at once. For example, Having planned ten rituals you have to do in the morning and trying to do that from the tomorrow. Yeah, Of course, It will not work that easily and it will cause a lot of resistance. So, Just take it very slowly, Step by step, Very gently on yourself. This will be the best way to not only take care of your mind but also to show yourself that you really take care of your emotional state as well. Not only forcing yourself but understanding yourself and again creating and establishing this mind-body connection kind of trust inside yourself without pushing. Alright so guys, Let me give you a little hint for the future episodes that we will have when talking about mindset. What influences minds a lot is our environment, Our community, The people who surround us. So, Please be very conscious about with whom you would like to spend time, Talk, Talk about what, Try to surround yourself with the people that you want to see in your life, With the people you would like to become, A person you would like to become. So, This will also be a life changer, Definitely. So, This is it for the, Let's say, Talking part of our event and for now let's slowly move to our guided meditation that we will have together. It will last for about 10 minutes. If you have such time, Please stay here with me and just in case I would like to mention that I will upload this episode, The audio, The talk into my profile. So, If you have missed the beginning of it, You can listen to it again or come back to the guided meditation later if you do not feel like practicing together right now. So, Again you can find it in my profile in the next couple of days. Alright so, Thank you guys for listening to the first part of the event today. Let's slowly settle into the surroundings, Into the environment and everything that is just right here, Right now, Around us. Let's fill our bodies. We will start with a breath. Let's take a deep breath through our nose and breathe out through the mouth, With the exhale, With the sigh. Let's make it one more time. In and out. Let your eyes close if you haven't done so already. Let your body relax whether you are sitting or lying down and just try to feel your body all at once. Try to feel the points where your body touches the ground, Whether these are your feet or your buttocks, Your back. Feel the tension in these points. Feel the weight of your body and try to feel the temperature of your body. You can take a few more deep breaths if you want in and out through the nose to calm down our physical bodies and breathe naturally. Feel your breath. Just follow your breath, How it travels in and out, In and out. How do you feel right now? What are your current emotional and mental states? Just take a note of that. Just notice your emotions. Do not judge them. Do not engage in your emotions. And now feel the sensations in your head or outside your head. Just observe what is happening in your head. Observe it from the side. Try to notice all the details, But do not put any tension, Any pressure on yourself. You are just an observer. Evaluate how many thoughts you have. Do not judge. Just be uninterested, Looking from a side. Make it as a little experiment. And now imagine your mind being a blue sky and your thoughts being just white, Fluffy clouds peacefully passing by. How many clouds do you see? A few or too many? Again just take a note of that. See how these clouds, Your thoughts, Go. Let them freely go and do not engage. Follow each cloud and see how it enters and leaves the area of your sky. And if you are watching these thoughts, Then who is thinking of them? Notice how your body feels just being with these thoughts. See how your body and thoughts exist in the very same moment. Now find a spot right in the center of your brain. You can just imagine it. Try to find this spot and feel it. Do you feel anything there at all? Do not force any sensations. Relax your front, Your scalp, Even your hair. You are just in the middle of your head. And look there with curiosity. How does it feel now? You can use any words to describe it or just feel it on the physical layer of perception. And rest your attention there, Just being in the center of your head. And notice how it is possible to be in the center of your head while your thoughts still exist somewhere. Or do they exist? How do you feel generally, Physically, Emotionally and mentally? Awesome job. So let's come back gently and slowly. Take a deep breath. Feel your body and move a little bit. You can stretch and when it is the right time for you, Open your eyes. Well, Welcome back guys here, Back to our room. I hope that this meditation was at least interesting for you guys. And let me know please, I would really love to hear your experience. Did you feel any difference between how you felt in the beginning of this practice and after it, After we have finished? And if yes, If there were any differences, Let me know please what exactly has changed. Well, If to speak about my experience, Even if I wasn't really fully practicing this meditation as I was guiding, I noticed that my emotional state became much calmer. I'm more at peace, I feel more freedom inside, So to say. And I can definitely feel on the physical level that my heart rate slowed down and my body parts such as some tension in my back and in my arms just melted away. So I hope you guys got also some positive benefits from it. I strongly believe that this kind of practices when we are just being observers has drastic, Very big effect. I am also curious how you answered for yourselves the question, Who is thinking the thoughts if you're just watching them? This is the question I ask myself quite a lot during my meditation practices and most of the time the answers are different. Well, I guess this is all for today. Thank you all guys for being here one more time. I would like to say a big thanks to Insight Timer. Thank you guys for all the donations and I would really love to see you on my page and in the future live events that we are going to have weekly. I will upload the next events topic in a few days. So if you are into that, If you feel like that, Please join it. You are very, Very welcome here. Thank you for your time. I wish you to have an amazing day ahead or a great night depending on where you are. So that was a big, Big pleasure to talk to you today and to share with you my knowledge and my vision. Alright, See you later. Bye everyone.