Perhaps sometimes you may wish that there was an off button to your mind.
An overly busy mind can halt us in many ways throughout our lives.
And one of the main things a busy mind interrupts for millions of people around the world is a good night's sleep every single night.
So why is this?
To answer this,
Let's relax your mind just a little bit right now.
Imagine that your mind is represented by a river,
With waters that sometimes flow by slowly when there's a lack of rain,
Or sometimes very quickly,
Depending on the weather and the time of year.
Your mind is the river,
And your thoughts are the water.
How quickly is your river of mind flowing right now?
How fast are the thoughts?
How fast are the thoughts represented by water flowing in the river right now?
Just watch this flow as if you're sitting on the riverbank,
Just enjoying it.
Good.
Now allow for the seasons to pass,
And the weather to change,
And watch your river change along with it.
The seasons represent your overall happiness in life.
Are you achieving quarterly goals you set for yourself?
Seasons change,
But each one of them can be viewed as beautiful.
Seasons can be tough,
Or they can be mild and enjoyable.
The waters of the river represent your thoughts.
When you focus on your thoughts,
On your goals and desires,
Your river slows and becomes crystal clear.
The birds in the wildlife are able to see fish that they will catch to feed themselves and their offspring.
The fish can find sources of food because the water has slowed enough to allow for bits of plants to settle on the water and soften,
And live bugs can land on the water for them to catch.
Now for a moment,
Imagine a storm of thoughts is coming,
Coming for your river.
See the waters rise and animals scurry,
The fish hide in safe areas,
And there are no bugs flying around.
It's only rushing by a little faster now,
Yet the storm is building.
The more thoughts you let into your mind,
The more water rushes by.
It becomes a threatening river very quickly,
And you can't sit on the bank watching your river any longer.
You must seek shelter from the storm.
The storm of thought has taken the ability to observe away.
It takes a while for a storm of thoughts to pass,
And even longer for the after effects of the storm to calm.
The waters continue to rush at high speeds for several days.
This is what happens when you allow a storm of thinking to enter your mind.
It disrupts you for some time until the waters can naturally settle.
We want to always remain on the bank of our river,
Observing abundant nature in clear,
Calm water.
We all know sleep is necessary for rejuvenating,
So why do so many people suffer to achieve a good night's sleep?
Because they do not take charge of their busy mind.
Now like I mentioned before,
Allowing a busy mind to go free is like never training a great horse.
The mind needs you to be in control,
And needs you to train it how to work.
A calmer state of mind allows for you to not only sleep better,
But eliminate anxiety,
It increases focus,
Treats depression,
Stops circular thinking,
Improves memory,
Betters your relationships,
Satisfies the body,
And increases emotional intelligence.
Now the key to attaining all of these things is actually very simple,
And natural for all of us.
The key is to bring into our mind the awareness of all of our physical sensations,
And bring into your mind your emotions,
And bringing into your mind your thoughts.
This is meditative,
And simply doesn't allow for bothersome thoughts to have any power over you.
Your ability to emotionalize and feel things is much more powerful than a busy mind.
Your ability to create and ponder new ideas,
And a new self-image,
Supersedes a noisy mind.
All a noisy mind is good for is distracting you.
It doesn't achieve anything,
It doesn't build on new ideas,
It doesn't emotionally connect with others around you,
And in fact,
An overloaded and out of control mind acts to disconnect you from others and yourself.
A bustling mind is tiring,
Yet it doesn't allow you to rest.
Giving up control of your mind is like feeding a child nothing but bread and sugar and candy.
They're going to lose control because of the unhealthy information they're taking into their system.
Let's put our mind now in the being mode,
Right now by implementing positive affirmations.
So say to yourself now,
Thoughts are only thoughts.
I live in the present,
Not in the past or in the future.
I draw from my past when I need to plan for my future,
But I always live in the present moment.
I take notice of my body often throughout the day,
Easing and relaxing my body by doing so.
I take notice of my surroundings to ease my mind.
When thoughts begin to swirl in my mind,
I have compassion for them and acknowledge them.
Stopping my thoughts is impossible.
Instead,
I observe them arriving and leaving.
Instead of jumping into thoughts emotionally,
I observe which thoughts I want to cultivate more.
I know that which thoughts I put my energy into is what I create for myself.
By taking the time to practice these methods,
I really do feel a difference.
I have the patience to retrain my mind.
I retrain my mind so that I can get rest when I need it.
I have patience when I'm training my mind just as I would have patience training the most magnificent horse.
I am kind to myself with this new way of being.
I am kind to others and I never allow overthinking in the form of judgment.
I am present because I know the rewards of great awareness.
I see the benefits right from the very start of my practice.
Good.
Now remember that each day you practice mindfulness techniques,
The more restful and deep sleep you'll receive.
So just relax,
Even more letting your body make any last adjustments it needs so that you get the most restful sleep every night of your life.
Good night and Namaste.
