"Some people seem to live in their heads and others in their bodies", my son said. (Having a vivid imagination I instantly envisaged people with huge heads and scrawny bodies, and vice verse.)
"What do you mean?" I asked.
In brief, he suggested that some of us become so preoccupied with what goes on in our heads that we may forget, neglect, to pay attention to what goes on with our bodies and some of us focus most of our attention on our bodies and forget, neglect to pay attention to the goings on in our minds.
A wise person suggested to me that practising "mindfulness" may help me to experience my body and mind as a whole rather than constantly "living in my head". Mindfulness?
I had heard the term on a number of occasions, I had even read about it, but I didn't seem to be able to grasp the concept so that I could apply it to my life.
Perhaps a definition: "a present-centred awareness in which each thought/feeling/sensation that arises is acknowledged and accepted as it is."
For some of us who "live in our heads" most of the time, awareness of our thoughts is a given, actually, it may even be difficult to stop the constant flow of them. My older sister once asked me: "Don't you have an off switch?" which lead me to become aware of just how "busy" my head is most of the time. So, how does one switch of a busy mind, I wondered? Some suggested meditation, others suggested to go for a long walk, listen to music, and so on, but none of it worked for me....my mind still kept on buzzing. Some say we have approximately 40.0000-60.000 thoughts each day (how exactly is that measured? was my first thought when I read that stat) and if that is correct, then no wonder ones head is so busy. The image(painting) I have used in this post is made from a photo of a man I took when rushing about in the city. In the midst of all the hustle and bustle, there he was, sitting quietly and peacefully with a "Monalisa" smile on his lips, totally still and what seemed to me to be in a state of contentment. Perhaps he was practising "mindfulness" I thought.
Have you ever been told; "you think too much, you think too deep, you live too much in your head", etc.? Or perhaps, the opposite; "you need to think more, you are too busy doing and not thinking enough", and so on. Is there a "right" amount of thinking then? one may wonder.
Perhaps at times we may prefer to not think too deeply about certain issues, in a sense postponing the thinking for another time when we may "feel" more ready to deal with it. On the other hand, at other times we may choose to stop "doing" in order to allow ourselves to process our thoughts.
As a person with no "off" switch, I often find my thoughts preoccupied with the future and the never ending "what-if's" but as an "antidote" I have found the words "Where ever you are, be there" to be highly effective. Which brings me back to mindfulness......
I struggled with the concept until one day, by accident it seemed, I found my own way of understanding it. Comfortable on the couch reading a book, a late afternoon, a bit windy, fairly warm and with a lingering sense of tranquillity, I noticed a cricket serenading outside the window.
I closed my eyes, put down the book, and focused all my attention on the cricket. Still conscious of the wind, the couch, and the ambiance of the space I was in, I found that by directing my attention like a laser beam to the sound of the cricket, it allowed for me to be truly present in the moment ....( present-centred awareness in which each thought/feeling/sensation that arises is acknowledged and accepted as it is)
It felt like I had put the mind into neutral, (like putting the gear in a car into neutral) and there was a sense of weightlessness about it. Since then I have used other sounds such as: different types of cooling fans, birds, the wind, a particular instrument when listening to music, the sound of the ocean, and so on. The cricket helped me to find a way to put my mind in neutral.......to learn how to enjoy mindfulness. If this is something that sounds good to you, may I suggest that you seek for your own "cricket"....whatever it may be.....:))))
Is this not just like meditation? you may ask. My answer is; not to me...I could not meditate for the life of me, even using a mantra...my thoughts would not settle. Meditation seemed to me to be a mental exercise with the purpose of achieving an increased level of spiritual awareness, whereas mindfulness is more about attention and awareness, of experiencing the moment. (non-judgementally)
If you are a person who prefers to be doing rather than thinking, may I suggest grabbing a moment to sit down and wait for your mind and soul to catch up with the rest of you?
And if you find it hard to switch off your busy mind, may I suggest mindfulness?
“Don't believe everything you think. Thoughts are just that - thoughts.”
(Allan Lokos)
“Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different; enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will); being with the unpleasant without fearing it will always be this way (which it won’t).”
(James Baraz)
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