Energise - Engage - Create: Day 3

In Day 3 we consider attention as a mental currency. Awareness of the present moment allows to control where the attention (and hence the energy flow) goes, whilst compulsive thinking and negative thoughts drain our "mental account" leaving us exhausted and unhappy.

The aim of this series is to help you create a new mindset from which love, compassion and creativity arise spontaneously. Increasing awareness of the present moment allow you consciously and actively create your experience.

Transcript

Welcome back to Energize,

Engage,

Create.

I'm Tomek from Synergy Lab,

Sydney.

Once again,

We gather to create a new mindset,

Rewire your brain and bring new vitality to your body and mind.

If you just started,

You may want to listen to Day 1 and 2 first.

They lay down the foundation for this episode.

We all have to pay bills.

That's how our society works.

Therefore,

It is only natural that you keep an eye on your bank account so you don't run out of money.

Money,

However,

Is not the only resource you spend.

Have you ever thought about the expression to pay attention?

Is it attention a form of a currency?

How do you earn attention and how do you spend it?

Attention is indeed our mental currency.

And today,

I invite you to take a closer look at your daily spendings.

I'm sure that some of you may think,

Why would I care?

This is not a real thing.

Well,

Think for a moment about all the news corporations,

Advertising agencies.

What are they really competing for?

They do not ask you to pay them money.

They do not want your stuff.

They do everything in their power to get your attention as they know that by having your attention,

They can get everything else,

Which includes your money.

Your attention,

Not your material belongings,

Is your most precious commodity.

Do you know the saying,

Where your attention goes,

The energy flows?

Every time you feel tired,

Exhausted,

Dull,

Overwhelmed,

It means that your attention account is empty.

You've ran out of your mental currency and you've got nothing left to spend.

It's time to take control of your spendings and perhaps find ways to save your attention.

The biggest outflow of your mental energy is through thinking.

Research shows that on average,

47% of the time we are unconscious of our thoughts.

That is to say,

We spend mental currency on things that we are not even aware of.

It's like the standing order for the gym membership you've been paying since 2010 and went only twice.

It drains your account without any benefits.

A simple,

But not easy way of stopping leaks of your mental currency is by being aware of your thoughts.

Not only during meditation period,

But at all times.

Particularly draining are the negative thoughts.

Guilt,

Resentment,

Anger,

Envy,

Aversion,

Anxiety.

They can exhaust you in no time.

Awareness is your most powerful tool to stop this.

You don't need to change those emotions.

Simply recognize them,

Acknowledge them and then observe how they ran out of energy once you stop feeding them with your attention.

That is to say,

Playing with them in your mind.

How to recharge your mental account?

The most obvious way is to have a good night's sleep.

A very simple,

But as it turns out,

Not an easy way.

Most of our modern society suffers from various sleep disorders.

Then there is meditation that directly works with the energy flow of your mind.

Simple exercise uses your body to bring you to the present moment and therefore rejuvenates your mind.

Spending time in nature,

Taking walk on the beach or hiking in the mountains,

Listening to the music.

I'm sure you can find at least a couple that already work for you.

As a matter of fact,

Every single thing you do can be used to preserve your mental energy.

If only you are fully aware of it.

Brushing your teeth,

Washing the dishes,

Any daily chore may become an invigorating exercise to your mind.

In this meditation,

I will guide you to your mental process and ask you to follow your mind wherever it leads you.

Then you will recognize whether you are being drained or rejuvenated.

Time to explore.

Time to experiment.

For the next 20 minutes,

You become an explorer.

A scientist equipped with curiosity and open mind to deeply look into the workings of your mind.

Take a comfortable seat.

Feet on the floor,

Grounding you.

Dignified posture,

Allowing unrestricted breathing.

Rest your hands in your lap and get ready.

We will need an extra fuel for this exploration.

Since your brain consumes oxygen,

Has no other organ in your body,

Let's give it some extra.

Breathe as deeply as you can through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth as I guide you.

In.

Hold.

In.

Hold.

In.

Hold.

In.

Hold.

And out.

Breathe normally and relax.

In the first part,

I let you experience a free flow.

There is no focus here,

But simple presence.

Resting in your awareness.

I will hold a space for you whilst you are away.

Even though only a few seconds passed,

You may notice that your intellect is very active and possibly have already jumped in,

Trying to fill the space with your thoughts.

Observe those thoughts.

Who's talking?

Are you identifying yourself with your thoughts?

Are you your thoughts?

How much attention is being drawn to those thoughts?

In this state of free flow,

I give you a minute or two to explore it yourself.

In.

Hold.

In.

Hold.

In.

Hold.

In.

Hold.

In.

Hold.

Now,

Let's try something different.

This time,

Incur your attention to the beat of your heart.

Take a moment to establish the connection.

You may not detect it immediately,

But it is there,

I promise.

The thoughts will still flow.

This time,

However,

Every time you become aware of a thought process,

Return yourself to the sensation of your heartbeat.

If it helps,

You may put your right hand on your chest.

Now,

I'll let you explore it for a couple of minutes.

Hold.

In.

Hold.

In.

Hold.

In.

Hold.

Hold.

Hold.

Hold.

Hold.

Hold.

Hold.

Hold.

This is the end of this exploration period.

Time to return.

First,

Bring your attention to the room.

The sounds.

The smells.

Then,

Add some movement.

Wiggle your toes.

Slowly,

Move your fingers.

Tilt your head.

Gently to the left.

Right.

Take a deep breath through your nose.

Hold.

And now through your mouth.

Open your eyes.

And welcome back.

Congratulations.

You did well.

I hope this practice helped you to see the mental energy at work.

As always,

I invite you to continue being mindful throughout the day.

Every time you feel a strong emotion,

Stop for a moment to observe it.

Perhaps take a deeper mindful breath.

It shouldn't take long,

No more than 10 seconds.

This mental pause will help you not only to preserve your mental energy,

But give you time to respond rather than react to the situation that triggered it.

Mental pause goes hand in hand with the mindful break I introduced you to in the past two episodes.

Set up the timer and carry on with confidence that your day is full of opportunities to be happy regardless of what you do.

Before the day ends,

Take your time to reflect on the events of the past several hours.

Choose one or two that impacted you in a positive way.

Write them down,

Just a few sentences.

And when you wake up,

Start your day by reading them out loud.

Thank you very much for joining me today.

Please share in the comments section below how did you feel.

If you enjoyed it,

Please feel free to listen to the other programs of the series that are accessible now on Insight Timer and from my website,

SynergyLabSydney.

Com.

This is Tomek.

Thank you for listening.

I wish you a wonderful day.

Reviews

I am so grateful for you!

I am learning everyday, thank you Tomek for this wonderful day 3. I am so excited for the next episodes of this 10 days practice you prepared for us. May you continue to do meditations that will help us rewire our brains. God bless you.

Trying to get into the habit of mindful.pause in my busy days

I felt so alive and delighted to watch the beauty of leaves floating away, the beauty of the trees as they stood in the vast green expanse against the blue sky. They were always there but I had forgotten to enjoy their presence! Thank you Tomek! As always each offering you give us is so meaningful. 🕊

Thank you Tomek! This was so powerful for me from the beginning to the end, starting about checking finances, paying attention all these were my priorities foe the day, I reached a block and in deciding to meditate found your session by chance. Your message came to me at the time I needed, word for word. Focusing on our attention on our heart beat, I found extremely powerful and moving! Thank you and amazing session, I’ll be taking the rest of your course. Blessings, Namaste 🙏🏾 💕

Very interesting experiment! Thank you.

Brilliant, thank you Tomek. Such a thought provoking way to consider the value of our attention.

A very rewarding series for me. Useful and enjoyable tools to support my daily practice. Thank you, Tomek.

I really enjoyed these 3 meditations! thank you

The meditation and lesson were valuable. My mind was totally playing games throughout, distracting me. Having said that, the thoughts have left me super-charged to take action. Looking forward to Day Four

Thank you, Tomek! It was a wonderful practice! 🤍🤍🤍

Thankyou Tomek. I have thoroughly enjoyed the last 3 sessions. After each session it always feels to me like I have had a long cool drink of water which has quenched an almighty thirst!

Wonderful insight! Thank you!

Really noticing a shift in my perception and mental energy, thank you!

Beautiful and calming practice. Thank you for your guidance 🙏

Thank you very much.the meditation was very peaceful.

I love the concept of the mental bank account. Like a garden, if you don’t attend to it quickly the weeds grow and we lose our way. Thank you! 🦋

I have enjoyed and benefitted from every meditation I have done of yours! Thank you. Namesta

Lovely meditation, Tomek. Firstly, I've always found it difficult to put into compelling words the reason I meditate. Your explanation here about preserving attention was absolutely spot on. Also, the free flow in the beginning of the meditation definitely enhanced the impact of the meditation for me. Thank you, Tomek.