Page 10 - The Wave Holistic and Metaphysical Journal July/Aug 2016

We all have them; days where we get caught up in regretful thoughts of the past and anxiety that things won’t go the way we expect in the future. And when you get caught up in it, perhaps thinking things will never go your way, your brain accepts it as fact. Since our brains believe that whatever story we tell about ourselves, (positive or negative) is REAL, we need to manage our thoughts and our emotions in order to tell the story we want our brain to believe is real!
The great author, Mark Twain, said “I’ve had a lot
of worries in my life, most of which never happened.” Getting caught up with the fears, anxiety, and stories of the mind is not only a waste of energy and emotions, it zaps your ability to be happy and to manifest success.
Harvard psychologists Matthew A. Killingsworth and Daniel T. Gilbert put this into perspective:
“Human beings spend a lot of time thinking about what is not going on around them, contemplating events in the past, what might happen in the future,
or will never happen at all. Indeed, ‘mind wandering’ appears to be the brain’s default mode of operation. Although this ability allows people to learn, reason, and plan, it may also have an emotional cost” if it promotes constant feelings of anxiety.
Killingsworth and Gilbert decided to quantify how much the mind defaults into ruminating and projecting. Thousands of people took part in a study that tracked their happiness, using a specially designed app called Track Your Happiness (trackyourhappiness.org). The results showed that people spend at least half their time thinking about something other than their immediate surroundings, and that most of this daydreaming didn’t make them happy.
The app “pings” you on your iPhone and asks you “Are you paying attention to what you’re intending to pay attention to?” “How are you feeling?” along with other questions that help you cue back into the present moment.
There are also natural ways of stopping rambling thoughts, using noticing exercises that can help you realize what is around you and your relationship to it. Try these exercises to reign in the wandering mind and be focused in the present:
1. Walk outside and notice the warmth or coolness on your skin. How does it feel?
2. Notice how many things around you are living and growing. Observe them.
3. Next, notice three things about you that are soft to the touch. Name them aloud.
4. Now, notice three things about you that are hard to the touch. Name these aloud.
5. Now notice what is directly to your right and name it. 6. Notice what is directly to your left and name it.
To complete this process, close your eyes, and take a deep cleansing breath. After you let it out, you can open your eyes and truly perceive where you are in relation
to your environment. You’ve just hit the reset button on your brain, interrupting the negative self-talk, and are now prepared to receive new, positive thoughts.
Now, think those thoughts and change your life!
Happiness vs. The Runaway Mind
Marjorie Favuzzi, Certified Dare to Dream Life Coach, ADD and Addiction Specialist, has been educating and coaching since 1996. Her greatest joy is seeing the
light of hope in her client’s eyes. Her signature series “Turning I Can’t into I CAN!TM” utilizes Brain GymTM based exercises, and the EFT Matrix Re-imprinting techniques of tapping, to stimulate acupressure points and turn the brain around so that it can release trauma, unlock ultimate potential, and manifest goals. 707-206-1477 www.SuccessInHand.com
850 Third St, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
10 www.TheWaveHolisticJournal.com