From the moment we awaken until when we fall asleep,
Our minds start chattering.
As we get into our day,
We become busy,
And even in the quiet moments our minds are active.
If you want to have a really good day,
The best way to do it is to take 10 or 20 minutes out every day of me time to allow your mind to go quiet.
In this time of calmness,
It might at first sound like a waste of time,
But you will find that you get this time back in space.
You will have a much better day,
Your health,
Your vitality,
Your luck,
All those chance happenings that you wouldn't notice when you have a busy mind come in to save you that time back again.
This visualisation is a real treat,
You can do it in the morning,
Or you can do it in the evening as you retire,
You can do it sitting up with your back straight or lying down,
There is no right or wrong way for this,
It doesn't even matter if you fall asleep,
But obviously don't do it while you are driving,
Or operating machinery,
Or flying a jumbo jet.
So get yourself comfortable,
Make sure your arms and your legs aren't crossed,
And just scan your body for any tension,
Start in your forehead,
Let those tiny muscles relax,
Come down to your jaw,
And just notice the position of your tongue,
Let it lie down on the bottom of your mouth,
Let the tension from your jaw disappear.
Scan down to your shoulders,
Make sure you drop them slightly,
Go down your arms,
Pass your elbows,
Pass your forearms,
Into your wrists,
And just give your fingers a little wiggle,
Let that tension flow away.
Drop down your body,
And let the tension flow from your chest,
Go down to your hips,
Down your thighs,
Through your knees,
Through your calves and your shins,
Through your ankles,
Into your feet,
And give your toes a little wiggle too,
Let all that tension just flow away.
This meditation uses two really simple techniques to allow your inner chatter to go to zero.
Both these techniques are based around the basic principle that our minds can only have one thought at a time.
So if you think about what you're thinking about right now,
That thought gets replaced by the thought you're having about what you're thinking about.
Just think about that for a moment.
The first technique is to focus on the breath.
So you're going to breathe in and out,
Really using your diaphragm.
The best way to do this is to put both hands on your belly so your middle fingers just touch.
And when you breathe in,
The middle fingers just part.
And when you breathe out again,
About four times as long as the in-breath,
They touch.
And on each in-breath,
Just say internally the word be.
And on each out-breath,
You say internally the word calm.
So that's be calm.
Be calm.
The words be calm are what is known as a mantra.
Just repeat the mantra in this breathing pattern five times.
So how was that for you?
Are you feeling relaxed and calm?
Did you lose count?
Well,
Let me tell you something about meditation.
There's no right or wrong way to do it.
And if you did lose count,
Then that's actually a really good thing.
So let's explore now the second technique.
Just become aware of any thoughts that are going around in your head.
And most thoughts tend to be in our frontal lobes,
Behind our forehead,
Or around the side of our brain.
That's where most cognitive activity is based and sourced.
It's almost like we've got somebody talking to us inside our brain.
But have you ever thought about this?
What accent are they speaking in?
And who is speaking to who?
And if someone is speaking and someone is listening,
Are they the same person?
So what we can do is this.
As each thought comes in,
We can ask it who sent it,
For what purpose,
Or where did it come from?
And as we ask the thought that question,
The original thought gets replaced.
By us asking the thought these questions,
It's quite simple.
So just spend a few seconds now talking to your thoughts.
And just noticing who is doing the talking,
Who is doing the listening,
Who is doing the questioning.
And remember,
There is no right or wrong to this procedure.
Now has that inner voice ever said to you,
Oh I wish I trusted my gut on that,
Or my heart really isn't in this?
Well that's because our heart center and our gut mind are actually cognitive centers too,
But from an evolutionary perspective they're very old.
And they speak in a very primitive language too,
So our gut mind speaks to us in a yes or no,
And our heart mind speaks in a level.
So our gut will tell us to go or no go,
And our heart will either be in love with something,
Red hot about something,
Lukewarm about something,
Or positively cold.
And we can use these centers to help us make decisions,
And this gives us a really calm mind as our day goes ahead.
So we're faced with having to make a choice about something,
Our head normally shouts very loudly and tells us what to do.
Sometimes our ego can get inflated by some of our choices,
And as a result our heart and our gut don't get a look in.
So if you want to keep calm throughout your day,
A great way to do it is for your head to consult with your heart and your gut before you make any decisions.
And when you get your head,
Your heart and gut in alignment,
You will become unstoppable.
So over your day,
Any time you've got a choice or a decision to make,
Just ask your heart what it thinks about it,
And ask it,
Is it cold,
Is it lukewarm,
Is it hot,
Or is it boiling hot,
And you'll get an answer straight away.
And then ask your gut,
Is it a go or a no-go,
And again you'll get an answer pretty much instantaneously.
So once you've ever put a thought wrong,
It's amazing how calm you'll be throughout your day.
And the two mind calming techniques from earlier in this visualization can be used during the day.
So if anyone makes your blood boil,
All you have to do is remember that breathing technique,
And on your in-breath say B,
And on the out-breath say calm.
And if your mind is really busy,
Let's say you can't get to sleep at night,
Just ask your thoughts,
Where they came from,
Who sent them,
And for what purpose.
And as you ask them this question,
They will start to go quiet too.
And this is even a really good technique to use if you're awake in the early hours.
So this calming meditation is something you can use 24 hours a day.
So when you're ready,
Give your toes a waggle,
Give your fingers a waggle.
Come back into your body,
Open your eyes really slowly,
And come fully back into the room.
And as you go about your day,
Just remember to be calm.
