Hi and welcome back to healthtalks. Today I'm here with Melisa.
Hello.
We're in for a real treat today
because Melisa is going to share some wonderful advice on how we can begin to reset our minds.
Yes, its super important. The thoughts that we think
and the programming that we have accumulated over X amount of years
is how we run our lives, how we do things and how we make our choices.
So the thoughts that we think, are super important.
So one of the things that I like to do and use as a technique
to reset my mind and my thoughts is meditation.
So what this does is that it brings us back into the present moment,
calms the nervous system down and kind of like... wipes the slate clean for the thoughts.
Tell me a little bit about meditation because are afraid of it,
or they might think its a bit "woo-woo", or just don't think that they have the time to fit it in.
So ... hwo can we do it?
Well meditation isn't just for the monks in India anymore,
it's becoming more and more common.
You can do it sitting on the bus, on an aeroplane, in the toilet at the work cubical,
Getting spiritual on the toilet as we like to say!
Yeah exactly .... or could even take it into the Post Office while you're waiting in line,
you can be meditating wherever you want and super easy and ... it's free.
Yeah thats one of the biggest bonuses seeing as everything costs mint these days.
Exactly.
Its good to have one of those freebies in your back pocket.
Exactly
- So I want to do a little demonstration with you. - Awesome.
Meditation is super easy, you don't need any handbooks or CD's or anything like that,
I just want you guys to place both of your feet flat on the floor,
and make sure your spine is upright so that the energy can flow through all of your shakras.
Now place your palms upward like this and gently close your eyes
and close your mouth. And I want you to breath in through your nose.
and fill your diaphram up like a masssive balloon and hold at the top for two counts.
and then slowly let the air out of the balloon.
Then we do that again. Breath in through your nose, fill you diaphram,
hold at the top ..... and slowly release.
Visualize your diaphram filling up like a big balloon one more time.
In through your nose ..... hold at the top ..... and slowly release,
and now gently open your eyes, how do you feel?
Relaxed. Yeah that was really easy.
So easy. And pople think its difficult, they need a degree in meditation,
or they need to go and get some sort of certification but it really is that simple.
Focusing on the breaths, focusing on the air coming in through your nose and out through your nose
and just calming your mind.
And if you notice that your mind is going BRRRR! at a million miles and hour
just concentrate on the breaths.
Focus on on feeling the air come in through your nose and feeling it go out.
It really is that simple.
And we should probably say that thoughts are OK.
A lot of people think that when you meditate, you shouldn't have any thoughts in your head.
But thoughts are normal. Even the Dalai Lama has thoughts when he meditates.
- Exactly. - So what should we do?
When thoughts come in just .... acknowledge them?
Exactly. So when a thought comes in it's not to label and judge it.
"Oh my god I'm thinking" !!
And then your ego goes - "Oh you're an idiot and Duh Duh"!
Just go "Oh well" .... and you let it go.
There's a thought .... and you let it go.
And it gets easier, it's a muscle you have to practice this.
And even if it's just for 5 minutes every day,
it's like going to the gym and working a new muscle,
just doing a little bit each day, you're going to get better at it.
And now I can sit and meditate for an hour and a half.
So it's pretty special and it's not only going to reset your thoughts,
but also calm down your nervous system and bring you back into the present moment,
bing you back into your body and the here and now,
cause we spend so much time in our heads, in the past, in the future,
this is a great way to bring you back in the now.
Mmmm. And you said something before about the ego,
about how when we are telling ourselves things,
it's not just a thought, it's reprograming your mind.
- Exactly. - So how how can we begin to reprogram our ego?
The ego is so clever. It's so so clever,
and it will jump in there .... I like to call my ego my "Mean Girl",
and it will jump in there and try andf take over whenevr it can.
We've had x amount of years of conditioning and programming,
so again, like when you're in meditation, just observe the thoughts that come in,
not judging them and labelling them and going " thats a judgement or whatever",
just letting it go -
like it would just come in .... and out. Like your breath.
In ..... and then out. Not even giving it power or acknowledging it,
just ..... letting it go. It's so simple yet our ego tries to complicate it.
So what else can we do to start to reset our minds and to start reprogramming our thoughts?
So another tool that I use is Affirmations and Mantras.
Have you ever used these before?
Yes I love Affirmations.
-Yeah. - A big part of my day.
So basically with all of the years we've had programming
and we've picked up things along the way,
Mantras & Affirmations are a great way to re-set.
It's almost like we unconciously wake up in the morning and say
"I'm tired, I'm fat, and its not even that we really feel it, or really believe it,
it's just programmed into us to think like that.
So like going to the gym and doing some meditation, Affirmations & Mantras are another way
to work that muscle to re-program.
If I'm feeling something in particular, I'll use write out my own.
But you've got to find what words resonate with you
and then I write it out on a Post-it note and I'll stick it on my mirror and refer to it all day.
One that I say all day almost every day is " I love and accept myself unconditionally".
Whenever I notice one of those ego-ic thoughts come in
I just straight back to the "I love and except myself...",
and it's like ..... Ah ! It's nice.
You've just got to practice it. At the start everyone's "it doesn't work, it doesn't work"!
but you've got to do it every day.
And work that muscle.
And we should alos say that when you begin,
using Affirmations like " I love and approve of myslef",
that can sound pretty confronting because we're not used to looking in the mirror
and telling ourselves that we love ourselves.
We're used to looking in the mirror and saying, "my hair looks horrible or I'm getting wrinkles".
So ..... when you say "I love and accept myself", It's different,
so you've got to stick with it and eventually it's going to be 2nd nature
you're not going to fell weird doing it.
You'll be driving along in the car repeating "I love anmd approve of myself" over and over again.
-Yeah. -Reprogramming yourself.
Exactly ... and that's all you have to do. Just keep working that muscle.
You've just got to keep doing it every day, catch yourself,
don't be hard on yourself if you're having a week of going really well and then
you notice these thoughts come in. Just go "great, another opportunity to practice my Mantras".
- Yeah. - It really is that simple.
You don't need a degree, or a handbook its just about practicing and working those muscles.
So, give it a go.
I hope you've enjoyed todays segment and I hope you picked up some good tips
to start implementing meditation into your own life.
You've seen how easy it is so there's really no excuses.
And we'll see you next time.