Mindful practices for the overthinking overloaded brain – and why you really should do it!
Not enough people stop to enjoy the world around them.
I was talking to a client about meditation and mindfulness and they are working with someone else on this and really struggling to make it work. They said it just wasn’t natural for their overthinking brain to do, they adore their business and love working hard. Stopping felt alien to them.
After a few sessions they said they found it hard going and they weren’t enjoying the process at all.
Any practice like mindfulness is designed to make your brain calm. It alters the chemicals your body releases and thus changes how you respond, react and think and act.
Can you see why it’s part of my coaching?
Because my job is to help you alter the way your brain works so that you think differently and get better results.
One of my favourite quotes for clients on mindfulness, meditation etc is;
“You don’t need to sit on a mountain crosslegged saying OM to practice mindfulness.”
Here’s a few random ways you can get calm and mindful that may be more your cuppa tea, because we are all so unique stop trying to ram yourself into someone else’s model of happiness, healthiness, success, confidence, business and life. Honour who you really are and you get there quicker. Trust me that’s a fact!
(And then I will share why you really really need to do something to help you calm your mind if you want to be more productive, successful, innovative in your business)
- Make a cup of tea or coffee. Leave your phone where the kettle is! Look at the liquid. Think of what went into producing that tea or coffee. The beans on the tree. The leaves on the bush. Think of the sun warming that plant, the rain hydrating the plant, the soil wrapped around the roots. Think of the human that removed the leaves or beans. Think of the journey those leaves or beans went on to get to you. That’s it.
As you do this notice your body. Where are you holding feeling? Tension? Pain? This is signs that you are not in alignment with your mind because your body is literally giving you clues to it! Listen to where it hurts and you will get clues as to what you need to do in your mind. Tension in your jaw? You probably need to tell someone something. Tension in your back? Been strong for too long? - Clothes. Until you read the next sentence you have not considered this (I bet you!) Feel your clothes. Not with your hand. Notice your clothes on your body. Where can you feel them? Weird right? You didn’t notice your clothes at all until I said it. See where you notice them. How they touch your body. Again as above, notice how you feel.
- Take 3 deep breathes – if you aren’t used to doing that you may feel light headed. Now imaging different colours, any colours in any order. How do they make you feel? Red? Loved or angry? (Probably a clue on what you need to do right? Green? Calm? Blue? Cold? As above notice your mind and body.
- Play Candy Crush or Animal farm or any other mindless game you like. As long as you realise your brain has zoned out and you do the noticing your body bit, it’s still mindfulness!
With any type of mind altering and calming process your aim is to get back into flow. To stop fighting all those thoughts. So as thoughts come whizzing through – don’t tell yourself off for them, just let them come in and go out again. For me I imagine a boat arriving on a stream. I have my feet in the water and the boat arrives and what ever image represents the whizzing thoughts is put in the boat and sent off down the river. Even my children end up in the boat waving me good bye and disappearing around the river bank!
Dog barking and disturbing you? Don’t berate the dog, thank the dog in your mind for reminding you the world around you exists and you are an important part of it.
I adore the teachings of Bhudia for helping with a calm mind and philosophy for helping you appreciate what matters and what doesn’t. Adding these to my coaching that uses NLP, CBT, CAT means we aren’t just working on the business, we are working on the human.
The reason these practices are ESSENTIAL FOR ALL HUMANS is because they enable your brain to think better. And when you think better you can flow.
Us coaches talk about flow because when you are flowing in your mind you naturally find the right actions to take. You “by magic” get the opportunities you’ve been craving and business, life, happiness and health all get easier.
This post was inspired by Paul Boorman from White Label Detroit Pizza and Bar who shared this short video.
So park up and enjoy those poppies!
Awesome post Paul Boorman from White Label Detroit Pizza & Bar, thank you for taking some time. All professionals and business owners need to take some time for themselves and this was the perfect reminder – so I’m off to the beach after my client today!