A Year to clear what is holding you back by Stephanie Bennett Vogt
It is all about slowing down, taking time for yourself and establishing new habits that will last a lifetime.
Theme – Changing the Channel
The focus this week was to use simple tools and mind games to change the proverbial channel.
In what ways have you caught yourself thinking things that don't serve or support you?
I can be a worrier if I let myself be and worry about things that I have no control over the most. Therefore, I have started to actively not allow those thoughts into my head. ‘Bury-head-in-sand’ comes to mind but that is not the case, I only ever now actively concentrate on things that I can physically or mentally make a difference to by mulling the options over in my brain.
What phrase or phrases have worked to stop a thought before it triggers any stressful hormones in the brain?
‘On the Floor’ is the phrase I use to discard anything unwanted that enters my brain unannounced. If I just decide not to think about something, then it is guaranteed to be the only thing my brain wants to focus on and then does so regardless of my wishes. So, the only way to get rid of it is to discard it completely and not even think about not thinking about it.
What energetic differences did you notice between watching "mindful TV" and "dumb-down TV"?
I now have a policy of only ever watching what interests me, be that drama, documentaries, history or comedy and if it bored me I turn it off. The older I get the more store I have in the phrase that Life is Too Short to be wasted on things trivia that is of no importance to me. Occasionally I will watch something because my husband wants me to and, for the most part it is something I like but the odd times it is not the consolation is that I am knitting so the time is not completely misused.
The only time I watch mindful television is whilst settling for sleep at night in bed. Nearly every night I have it on low for background noise, so the thoughts have no chance of getting in.
This now is the only way I can actually get off to sleep.
How did each experience make you feel?
The proverbial throwing away unwelcomed thoughts really works for me and I find I am stressing less and less about the unimportant matters that can cloud my brain. I now worry less and with the aid of the television as background noise I no longer spend hours trying to get to sleep, trying to switch my brain off as the saying goes.
Over the past few weeks these two actions have had a dramatic effect on my inner command of working towards worrying and dwelling on only the things that it is within my power to do something about.
If you can’t change it let it go … or mentally throw it on the floor and walk over it.