Counting Back From 100 - Tapping The Brakes On The Speed Of Your Thinking

Designed to help you tap the brakes on the speed of your thinking and your experience. During these seven minutes or so Thor counts backward from 100, one number at a time inviting you to count alongside them and so help you get your bearings. Using the part of your brain that does the counting helps regulate your stress response. It helps slow down your breathing to encourage better blood flow to your brain enabling you to then re-engage with whatever is going on from a stronger, more intentional.

Transcript

As you arrive in this practice,

Chances are that you are feeling agitated,

Distressed,

Overwhelmed,

Whatever it is.

So what I'm offering you here is to,

Alongside you and with you,

Count backwards from 100.

I expect that you will lose count along the way and that is absolutely fine.

I may lose count along the way and I give myself permission that that is absolutely fine too.

So as we do this together,

Just to tap the brakes on the speed of your thinking,

On the speed of your breathing,

Whatever it is that's going on,

Let's count together backwards from 100 to then give ourselves that space that we enjoy from that.

So let's start.

100,

99,

98,

97,

96,

95,

94,

93,

92,

91,

90,

89,

90,

90,

90,

90,

90,

90,

90,

90,

90,

89,

88,

87,

86,

85,

84,

83,

82,

81,

80,

79,

78,

77,

80,

81,

82,

83,

84,

85,

83,

84,

84,

85,

78,

77,

76,

75,

74,

73,

72,

71,

70,

69,

68,

67,

68,

70,

71,

72,

73,

74,

75,

66,

65,

64,

63,

62,

61,

60,

59,

58,

57,

56,

58,

59,

60,

61,

62,

63,

64,

63,

64,

65,

66,

55,

54,

53,

52,

51,

50,

49,

48,

47,

46,

45,

46,

47,

48,

49,

50,

51,

52,

53,

54,

53,

54,

53,

54,

54,

53,

54,

34,

33,

32,

31,

30,

29,

28,

27,

26,

25,

24,

23,

22,

21,

20,

19,

18,

17,

16,

15,

14,

13,

12,

11,

And 10,

9,

8,

7,

6,

5,

4,

3,

2,

And 1.

Giving yourself a breath to just land at one,

To land here,

Noticing what it feels like to have just focused your mind,

Focused your awareness of something as abstract and straightforward as counting back from 100.

So just notice that in just over five minutes you've been able to shift through the simple mechanism of counting backwards from the state that you were in before to the state that you're in now.

So whatever that is,

Give yourself some recognition for taking the time to step aside,

Almost like pull over from whatever you were thinking and feeling and doing before you took this meditation practice and to where you are now before you then re-engage.

As always,

Feelings are information.

Remember,

It's more helpful to be curious than critical.

And as you re-engage and re-enter into whatever situation that is going on for you at the moment,

Go gently with yourself.

Reviews

That was very nice. I didn’t expect that it would be so calming. So thank you 😊

Hi Thor, it’s about 2 years since I commented on this meditation.. this is still my go to meditation for calming down and slowing my thinking down. Thank you again. I hope you are well.

I found this practice very effective in slowing down the speed of my thinking about what to do next. A few times during the practice I felt the resistance of my mind to continue but once I completed it I definitely experienced relief.

Great way to centre and reconnect with myself, thanks!

Thank you, Thor, for this practice! I feel like I have access to my top scoop again! My mind is no longer racing and my breathing has slowed.

Helped me avoid going into panic mode in a situation that frequently triggers me. Eased the intensity and helped me feel grounded enough to sit quietly waiting for my appointment. Very helpful 🙏🏻🌻thank you

Really useful and simple. Used this meditation in the middle of night and it helped me go back to sleep. Will be marking this meditation as one of my favorites. Thank you, Thor!

A great simple was to slow down,
Thank you