Does Your Mind Chatter Ever Drive You Crazy?
Imagine you’re on vacation in a beautiful spot. The weather is perfect, and your day is unscheduled. You have been looking forward to this for months, knowing you desperately need a break from your frantic routine. Eating your yummy breakfast outside in the warm sun, you begin to notice a nagging tension. You realize your mind is running its usual stories; stories that prevent you from enjoying your breakfast and settling into the ease of the landscape.
Instead of taking some time to be with your chatter, you fight with it, giving yourself a hard time for not being relaxed. This makes the chatter louder and louder. Damn, it’s going to ruin my day. It shouts to you, “I should be more relaxed,” “why can’t I enjoy my vacation,” on and on and on, a familiar broken record.
Any change, even a positive one, takes adjusting to. During your first day of vacation, it takes time to slow down and let go of your daily routine. It’s important to honor this time and give yourself a break. The chatter is a signal to you, to slow down and pay attention.
Fighting with it never works. Instead, try the option of noticing your thoughts,
Breathing into them, feeling where they live in your body, and simply being with what is.
The sequence is:
Notice,
Allow,
Breathe,
And let go.
As you breathe gently, you may find that you have to sit with your discomfort for a while. You may decide to get up and go for a walk. You will find that your body begins to relax, your mind slows down, and you are able to be present in the moment and simply enjoy the pleasure of eating a well planned breakfast.
Being present in the moment allows you to experience the beauty of your surroundings. You allow yourself to really feel the warmth of the sun, and and to sink into the pace of a vacation day. A day that will unfold in surprising ways as you lean in to each moment, moment by moment.
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Marty Garrett is a Life & Relationship Coach, working with individuals, couples, and parents to help them create extraordinary relationships with self, others, and the world