Stop Thinking
We realize that a big part of wellness is getting the hell out of our thinking minds. The problem is, we’re not great at it.
With all of the distractions of modern society, It’s tough. We’re doing better than, say, five years ago, but neither of us is where we’d like to be.
That’s why we go for an annual (at least) “Intuition tuneup” in nature. This year, we were lucky enough to have two such adventures. We believe that the answers we each need are right inside of us. You just need to quiet things down long enough to be able to tap into your own intuition.
That’s part of the reason why, during September, we have a wellness theme going on here. We want this behavior to be more integrated and less situational. Here are three things we’re currently doing to nudge us out of our monkey minds when we’re not deep in nature.
1) We’re getting outside. We’re great at this on the road and – as big runners and walkers – pretty good about it in Seattle. Taking it to the next level, we’re trying to spend our time outdoors appreciating the blue sky, fresh air, green grass, etc. Sounds silly but it works.
2) We’re getting silent. Every day, we’re each trying to take the time to just be – to sit in stillness with no distractions. No computer, no music, no television. Just 10 minutes is like a therapy session.
3) We’re getting in touch with our breathing. A few years back, we learned an amazing trick. When you focus deeply on your breathing, you can’t think of anything else. Try it; you’ll see what we mean. This practice works especially well in conjunction with #2. Having a stressful moment in your day? Close your eyes and focus on ten breaths. Can’t shut down your brain at bedtime? Do the same thing.
So far this month, we’ve talked about a couple obvious and not-so-obvious dimensions of wellness. Next up, We’re taking it on the road.
First, we’re going to a wellness wonderland – Hawaii. We’re going to take in as much of the Aloha Spirit as possible with the hope that some of it will rub off on our everyday lives.
Good story. There is no doubt that we have lots of distractions and our world resolves around computers, TV’s. mobiles and other gadgets. I have not tried focusing on breathing, I will try it.
Amazing how well it works. Report back!
This is exactly what drew me to Buddhism. Not the religious aspect but the meditative inner self. Right now we’re battling letting the blog take over our lives. Ugh.
That can be the biggest battle ever – we know
Great advice. I can definitely relate to having too much noise in my life sometimes, and this sounds like a great way of just calming down the mind.
We’re in Hawaii, and it’s working
I am SO good about getting outside when I travel, but I find I struggle with it in my day to day life. I can go DAYS without leaving the house since I work from home. I KNOW this is something I need to change.
Interesting…. If I went too log without getting outside something bad would happen. Working from home makes it tough.
I’m good about the getting outside bit, but the quiet bit is harder to come by.
Looking forward to your posts on Hawaii!
We’re too blissed out to write any posts
Gentlemen, you should have your own show about wellness or something. Complete with topless helpers.
I’m planning a detox soon and your posts are pushing me towards doing it – a national park, a temple stay, both? My mind is always buzzing whenever I’m awake and it’s exhausting!
p.s. just seen your photo of Hawaii on Facebook – jealous! Can’t wait to read about your time there.
Good decision about the detox! Quieting the mind is a smart endeavor.
You may have to try to add Hawaii to your USA plans.
Whenever I used to find myself not getting enough quiet time to meditate, I would pretend I was a character on the Real World and give confessionals out loud in the shower. True, sad story. But it helped me work through my feelings and sort things out. Have fun in Hawaii!
So the shower was your confessional video room? Complete with crying
Someone once taught me the technique of #3 in order to achieve #2. It sounds easy, but even 3 minutes is a challenge.
We may stay in hawaii. Numbers 2 and 3 are much easier here.
Hawaii is the perfect place to practice wellness! I love #3. It really does work wonders. I have been doing a lot of yoga lately and it reminds me to breathe.
We have to talk before you head over to Maui.
You have definitely hit it on the nail with these tips! I love getting fresh air after spending so long in cities. The whole ten breaths thing is also really good for relaxing you for a good night sleep!
And, as I keep saying here, it’s working even better in Hawaii.
Great tips. I think it’s harder and harder for a lot of us to just shut our minds off and do nothing because we’re so used to working all the time and being entertained all the time (ipods, iphones, TV, internet) – we’ve actually forgotten how to just *be*. I like the breathing technique for calming down and unwinding as well.
Here on Maui, we’re being even more mindful of disconnecting (as planned!). It’s funny to watch all the people who sit on a beautiful beach staring at their phones.
Thats a fantastic theme, I love it and I especially agree with the second point. We must spend some time with ourselves, without any distractions. To flush out the negative thoughts out of our minds.
Have a wonderful day
Thanks, Arti.
I love your spirit and philosophy!
You know what they say about Hawaii, either the island welcomes you in and you have the most incredible experience or it spits you out.
We were thankfully welcomed in. So much so that I got pregnant with my second son, Axel, and I found myself hugging the Eucalyptus trees.
Glad to have found you two!! Enjoy!
Do you make it back to Hawaii from time to time?
I love Maui.
Not surprising!
I know about the breathing thing, but forget it all too often. I still ahve all the tricks that I used against panic attacks, but for whatever reason the current set of stress doesn’t make me remember them enought to bring them out.
Silence is such a rare thing in our lives these days. There is always a whirring or a buzz somewhere off in the distance. Even though nature isnt silent either, it is at least natural silence.
We had such good luck with our “stop thinking” experiments in Hawaii. We need more of that in our lives. Then… we went on to China and all of that progress was out the window
Well that in essence is the basic of Vippasana meditation course. Breathing and silence. You may have heard of it, but in case you have not you should check it out. – http://www.dhamma.org/ For 10 days you just focus on you breathing to bring your mind to a still. And for these 10 days you are not allowed no communication to the outside world, no TV, Mobile Phones, Internet, Twitter, blah, blah and no communication verbal or non verbal with you fellow participants as well. May be you should try that out.
I am going to try that out early next year.
Cheers
Venky
I think I have heard of something like that. I thought it was longer though.
I don’t think either one of us could hack it. And our clients would go off the deep end.