Have you ever wished that you could wash your thoughts away? You can! The mind clutter and mental chatter are things that people often ask me about. “Why can’t I make this stop” they ask when the mind gets busy with worries, fears, and judgments about friends, family and the guy who just cut you off in traffic.
The bad news is that it’s created by the ego and the ego is not going away. You need it as a part of your personality. But the ego is constantly trying to maintain your positive feelings about and a sense of being in charge. So if you think of it as an eggshell, that is very fragile and easily nicked or cracked, think about trying to continue the injuries. That guy cuts you off in traffic, and that is what happened before the ego attaches any story to it. But when the stories begin, it may be that the guy is a jerk, trying to ruin your day, doesn’t know how to drive and on and on. Because and on is how the mind works with continual chatter.
You really don’t have to pay a lot of attention to it, just observe that it is happening. The observer has a lot of personal power, more than the ego, and can catch the mind when it starts to act like a run-away train. You can take a deep breath and release each thought as it comes to mind, watching flow go away from you disinterestedly, as though it doesn’t even belong to you. Keep doing this until the chatter slows or stops and notice how calm you feel.
There is a technique called mind washing that I like to recommend because it allows you to release everything that has been on your mind all day and find some still space in your mind. This still space activates the parasympathetic nervous system in the central nervous system (CNS). The parasympathetic system is the one you must activate in order to release stress, relax deeply, heal the body and mind and keep you grounded and centered. It will definitely improve the quality of your sleep and help you to be more detached if things upset you when practiced over time.
For more on mind washing, check out the CD Relaxation for Adults and Children. There is one exercise for you, and if you happen to have children, there are two shorter ones for them. And if you fall asleep and listen to all three, don’t worry. It won’t hurt and will even help you to relax more.
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