I promised three little secrets to put you on the path to freedom and create mindfulness in your daily life. Below, I am going to share with you Secret #1.
Have you noticed that you have a continuous mental dialog going on inside your head that never stops?
We all do!
Our mind literally narrates the world for us with incessant chatter. Really hard to work toward creating mindfulness!
We could be sitting in a romantic movie, at church or driving in the car and this voice chimes in to create an internal dialog. It pulls you right out of whatever you’re doing just to give you its two cents and suddenly, you’re paying attention to whatever it has to say. That one thought then takes you down another road to another thought and then another . . .
We usually don’t even notice this internal chatter because we never really step back from it to look. We’re too close to it to realize it’s even going on.
This internal chatter keeps us from being present to our true selves, present to awareness itself. There’s nothing inherently wrong with thoughts. It’s just that (HINT) you have to distance yourself from your internal dialog to actually awaken to who you really are at the most fundamental level. YOU -- the essential nature of your soul -- actually exists in that little itty bitty tiny space between each of your thoughts. How’s that for crazy?!
The way to begin to tap into your true self is to become a “witness” to the one who is doing the thinking.
Sound odd?
I can promise you that if you try this for a little while, you will begin to notice and become an observer, as opposed to reacting on autopilot.
This is where Secret #1 comes in!
Quiet Your Inner Dialog in 5 Minutes a Day
This practice will begin to retrain your internal dialog and essentially help you retake control so that you become more present to yourself.
Practice: Sit for a few minutes with your eyes closed. Focus on your breathing. In particular, notice the cool air passing through the tip of your nostrils as you inhale. Then consciously notice the warmer air pass back out of your nostrils on the exhale.
When your internal dialog interrupts, simply return your conscious attention to your breath. This practice will help you notice how often your internal dialog tries to muscle its way into your peace and silence.
This is only the beginning!
First, you’ll awaken to how this incessant internal dialog interrupts and intervenes constantly. In focusing on your breathing instead of the chatter, you’ll also begin to retake control of your inner dialog.
This practice is one small way you can employ mindfulness in your daily life. If you make it a habit, you will experience a releasing of the hold your habitual internal dialog has on you. And when you do, you’ll start to get a teeny, tiny inkling of how you can reawaken and reconnect.
Let me know how it goes! Remember, it’s a PRACTICE so give it a chance and don’t give up! It’s the practice that makes a habit.
Sign up to our newsletters and look for my next email, where I'll share Secret #2!
Join us at Satsang House, San Diego’s premier meditation center, to learn how to set a solid foundation of mindfulness into your daily life. Or consider coming to one of our classes or signing up for an online course! Let us help you work toward creating mindfulness!
