Quieting down our mind can be a real challenge. How do you stop overthinking
everything and find a peace of mind? I've got an exercise that I'll take you
through. So at the end of this video, you're going to feel what it's like.
Here's a powerful way to connect with your own mind. And before I get into that,
here's why. You will either run your mind or your
mind will run you. And if you have to choose between those 2 which one do
you want? To run your own mind, you have to know a little bit about how it
operates. So go to this level with me for a moment.
I call this metacognition. Metacognition is a made-up word. We make up words in
psychology because it makes us feel smart. All it means is thinking about
thinking. I want you to notice that you can do this. Because as you think about
your own thinking, we create a little space. And in that space is where choice
exists. This will be really important in our strategy to stop overthinking
everything and experience some peace. Metacognition, thinking about thinking
turn that on for a moment and I'm going to walk you through a little exercise. I
got this idea from a book that I've been reading called "The Power Of Now" by
Eckhart Tolle it's an amazing, profound book that helps us to do what I'm
suggesting here --to think about your own thinking. So, here's the exercise. Clear
your mind for a moment. That can be easier said than done. Just as much as
you can. Clear the stage and I'm going to
inbvte you to think about something. When I make that invitation, don't try to think
about anything. Simply watch and observe what happens in your own thoughts. Okay,
here's the exercise. I wonder what thought I'll have next.
Now, just observe. Is that a little crazy? What happened when I presented that to
you? Let's try it again, Try it again. Okay, clear the mind again.
The same prompt. I wonder what thought I'll have next. Now
just watch. As you watch your own thinking, you're going to notice a couple
of things. And I've done this with a lot of clients. There's a couple of very
common responses. Sometimes when we do this exercise, your thought will be, "Well,
I got to think of something." And you'll try to think of something. Don't try to
think of anything. Simply watch. Kind of like a cat who's watching for a mouse to
pop out. Just crouching and watching, observing your own thoughts. It's like
that. Don't force it. Just watch what happens.
Observe. One more time, let's try it. I wonder what thought I'll have next.
Isn't that amazing? Most people find when they do this, that their mind is usually
really noisy. When we're overthinking things, there's a lot of noise in there.
When you stop to observe your own thinking like we did in this experiment,
you'll notice that there's a brief moment at least when it's quiet in there.
It's quiet. Nothing's going on. And you're waiting to see what's going to come out.
In that moment, it's quiet. How does that feel? It's something like peace, isn't it?
Okay, that's important. So, hang on to that thought for just a moment and let's talk
about the power of now. In Eckhart Tolle's book, he points out that now is all
we've got. And I think I agree with him because everything happens now. Well what
about those things that happened before earlier in the past? Yes,
when did they happen? When they were happening,
it was now, wasn't it? What about all that stuff that's going to happen in the
future? Which incidentally you don't know what's going to happen in the future. But
you've got a really great imagination. And when you imagine the future, when is
it? It's now that you're imagining it. The past doesn't exist neither does the
future. The only place either of those exist is in our current thinking about
it. That's huge. Keep that in mind for just a moment. As
we look at what happens when our mind gets too attached to or focused on the
past. This is where we experience depression, shame, guilt, fun feelings,
right? Not so much. And where are they focused? On
the past. When we feel anxiety, fear, worry, nervousness, where's our focus? It's on
the future. Because our mind is imagining all the things that might or could or
probably will happen. Fear, anxiety, nervousness. Here's the next exercise. Try
this one with me too. Right now. Right now in this moment, is there anything lacking?
No. Do you have enough air? Well, yeah. Do you have enough money? That's a tricky
one for a lot of people. Because you might think I don't have enough money.
Well do you have enough for right now? Actually, yeah. I got enough for right now.
I'm just worried about the bills I have to pay in the future. And that causes the
nervousness, right? The anxiety. But right now, you've got enough. What about love?
Acceptance? Food? Resources? One of my clients was sitting on my couch as I
took him through this exercise and he said, "Well, I'm a little hungry."
Oh, you're a little hungry. So... But are you okay, right now? Oh, yeah. I'm fine now. I'm
just worried that if I don't eat, I'll be..." See that? Turns our focus to the future.
Notice that everything right now is okay. And I think that's always true one. Of my
clients asked me, "What about if you're dying?" Okay, have you ever interviewed
someone who died? Because I have, In fact, if you go to my podcast, Live On Purpose
Radio and look up my interview with Norm Angel, appropriately named apparently.
Because Norm died twice. He had 2 experiences where he was flatlined,
no pulse, not breathing, he's dead. And it was temporary, he came back.
Okay? He calls it a temporary death experience. He remembers everything.
And what Norm shared with me? Even in that moment, you're good.
In fact, he felt an experience that surprised him. That there was peace and
warmth. And a feeling of love and acceptance. Interesting. You know, we
haven't interviewed a lot of people who died. But I've interviewed at least him.
And even in that moment, you're good. Now, things are good. What that suggests to us
is if we can stay in the now. We're going to experience peace, we're good. Stay in
the now. When your mind wanders off to the past, you're at risk for depression.
When your mind wanders off to the future, you're at risk for anxiety. Right now,
we're good. Did you feel it? Do you want someone else to feel that? Would you
share this video with at least 2 people that you thought of as you were
experiencing this today? I would appreciate that. And I love that you're
here in this community. New videos coming out every day. Let's invite our friends
and our family to join us here.