Taming Our Thoughts.
We humans have a problem that can take us down one big rabbit hole and transport us to different universe.
Now I’m sure like me when you sleep and there are different phases of sleep, light sleep, deep sleep, Rapid Eye Movement sleep and awake fullness.
Now RAM sleep is the time when we dream. Now when I dream on many occasions my dream world can be very vivid. Meaning when I awake from my RAM dream state it can be joyous or many occasions is can be rather disturbing. At those times I usually need to get up to pass water and take 5.
When I return to sleep I need to watch my thought processes or even better to stop thinking. How do I do that you might think?
Well I start by concentrating on my breath some times I count to 10 and back to zero. But mostly I have breath mantra. When I breath in I say Calm, meaning to calm the mind. When I breath out I say Relax meaning to relax my body.
Eventually I get back off to sleep. What this proves to me is thoughts are never far from our minds. Each and everyday we have constant thoughts that appear constantly every minute and hour of each day. Sometimes due to circumstances around us or thoughts can be complete random like when we’re in RAM sleep.
I’ve learnt to be “aware”of my thoughts which like every human being on planet Earth are constant. Now these thoughts can take us into an other world a world of happiness or in most cases a world of anger and psychological upset. The old maximum “we our what we think”.
I’ll use my poor old mum who’s not with us any longer. Mum thoughts use to take over her whole being. Her thoughts took complete hold of her until she got herself into such a state of unrest and unhappiness. Could of been something said which was said in all innocents, she’d dwell on that thought and even ruminate on it for days on end and not let it go. Until finally it would take her emotional state to outward volcanic eruption of internal emotions. Because she couldn’t let go of that thought. She’d hone it and ruminate on it for days on end.
Mum was an individual like many others of our species who’s thoughts made her feel that the world wasn’t kind to her. Like saying the “glass being half empty as opposed to the glass bring half full.
Taming our thoughts? Where do we start? The secret is to become aware of our thinking? What do I mean by that? In life it’s the little things that some times set us off with negative thoughts. A word said, some rudeness, or something in a paper or on social media that can take us down thought negative spiral.
What are thoughts actually? Where do they come from? Thoughts are not real they’re in our heads a mental construct.
The secret is to be vigilant and aware of our thought processes. Now things or circumstances are around us everyday. Work, relationships, family and friends. Someone forgot something or said or made a slight about us. Or a negative comment whatever. But the more insidious thoughts are the ones that suddenly come into our minds from nowhere.
Keep a check on your thoughts. “A Thought recognise it.” I had a thought what’s caused that? I’ve recognised this thought and push it away and stop yourself dwelling on that thought. Great you start to recognise it for what it is “it’s only a thought” what made that come into my head?
Push it away and let it go so you go back into a state of harmony or mental equilibrium.
One of the main problems with the modern cyber world is how quickly things in social media can capture us and our thought processes. That’s what the algorithm function is designed to deliver relevant content to us users. Like newspapers that can deliver a bucket load of negativity!
The problem with social media with algorithms it can take us right down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories. Such as covid 19 was a hoax, the deep state, the big reset, and many more strange and wonderful conspiracy NASA never went to the moon. The big steal, and on and on.
So our thought can be our master or we can become their master.
Try it for one day from the moment you get up have a thought book. Write down each 30 minutes your previous thoughts. Thought 1. What was the thought. Thought 2. And so on it might be such an illumination. Are they past, present or future thoughts? How did that thought make you feel? happy, sad, anxious or angry.
Now don’t get me wrong we all can slip into a strange thought which if not checked can takes us on thought journey. In the worse case scenario down the rabbit hole to Alison Wonderland world of make believe. Taming the mind always remember “ You’re not your thoughts”
Finally happiness is a state of being and thought can create a life of happiness or create a life of inner turmoil. Check you thoughts? Be vigilant and aware of them each and everyday. Say it’s a thought and push it away was it a thought of the past of the present or of the future? How did it make you feel, happy, sad or even angry? Learn to push them away and don’t hold on to them let them go completely.