Hey! Stop for a Minute!

Does your mind race most of the day? Mine sometimes does. So many things to do. So many things to keep track of. So many decisions to make. My mind is like a runaway horse.

The spiritual teachers say that the best relief from this crazed mind syndrome is stillness. And it’s true. In moments of deep stillness, I feel peaceful, centered, grounded. Fears drop away and I’m glad to be alive. Life seems not only manageable but inviting and easy.

Yet getting to that point of stillness isn’t as simple as saying, “Be quiet, mind.” At least not for me. First I have to “come to my senses” – literally. One suggestion we often hear is to pay attention to our breathing. By observing the rise and fall of our chest and belly, we reconnect with our body, feeling the movement, sensing the rhythm, focusing our attention. That is a great way to quiet the mind.

But when my mind is on runaway mode, getting my attention on my breath and keeping it there can seem too big of a leap. Rather than try to shift gears so drastically, I find it helps to not resist the mind’s activity but to work with it – to give it something useful, but sense-oriented, to do.

I used this technique the other day while driving. I had a rash of thoughts going on, with mounting anxiety accompanying them. At the same time, I was looking at, hearing, and smelling things. So I steered my attention to these sensory activities, yet gave my mind something to do by allowing it to name aloud what I was sensing. Using single-word descriptions, I said, “tree,” “sign,” “red,” “jackhammer,” “arrow,” “car,” “church,” “screech,” “cart,” “truck,” “coffee,” etc., one right after another. Moment by moment, I gave my attention to one single thing at a time. The exercise became meditative and all-absorbing afterwhile. My frenzied thoughts about my day’s plans and decisions dissolved as I focused on the present experience, paying attention to what I was seeing, hearing, and smelling. I felt more alive, focused, and alert.  And I noticed my breathing. Then I found that I wanted to stop thinking and talking, to be still.

Using this transitional process made it easier to enter the state of stillness. I had gone from scattered to focused thinking about what I was sensing, then from focused thinking to not thinking, just sensing, then to stillness.

Try this the next time your mind become hyperactive. Spend a few minutes – as long as it takes – to “come to your senses” and find the stillness within.

Author of The Secret Wisdom of a Woman's Body
Visit me at www.patsamples.com