Tag Archives: Mindfulness

Exercise 4: BE Still

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Exercise 4: BE

Psalm 46:10 (NKJV) says:

Be still, and know that I am God…

I love the directive from something greater than I to BE STILL.

Get out your journal and contemplate these questions:

  1. What does it mean to you to BE STILL?  Does it mean to STILL your body or your mind or both?
  2. What would it look like for your body to BE STILL?
  3. What would it look like if your mind was STILL?
  4. What activities do you do to STILL your MIND; to STILL your BODY?
  5. Is it hard for you to BE STILL? Why?
  6. Read these quotes and write out what they are saying to you:
    • All creativity requires some stillness. –Wayne Dyer
    • Learning how to be still, to really be still and let life happen – that stillness becomes a radiance. –Morgan Freeman
    • Being still and doing nothing are two completely different things.  –Jackie Chan
  7. What do you think would happen if your body was STILL? If your mind was STILL?
  8. What can you do in the next couple weeks to BE STILL in body and mind?

Feel free to share what BE STILL means to you in the comments.

Cheering You onto a Whole Stilled Heart,
Barbara

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Exercise 3: BE Here Now

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Welcome to Exercise 3: BE Here Now.

BE HERE NOW is a book by Ram Dass that discusses learning to be in the present moment.

Being present means that instead of being focused on what happened yesterday or what could happen tomorrow, you are simply here, now. It’s about getting off autopilot and becoming aware of the automatic actions and reactions you are used to, and finding a place of clarity and calm. The present moment offers peace.

Many times through out a day, we can find ourselves snagged in an unpleasant emotion.  Many of which are caused by our mind going into “the land of stories” whether they be from a past event or a future wondering.  Sometimes these stories seem like the present, yet still cause us to dwell in a negative emotion or mood.

Getting up in the morning and having dread about going to work can be an example.   Yes, it is true that you may feel dread, yet what and where is your mind wandering to?  What stories are being spun in your mind that are bringing about the dread?

While those are great questions, the exercise for the next couple weeks is to notice when you are caught in an unpleasant emotion and become present by practicing these two techniques:

  1. Stop and take three slow, deep breaths. You can do this with your eyes open or closed. Concentrate on feeling the air of your breath as it goes in and out your body. Bring your attention solely to your breath.   OR
  2. Stop and look around, wherever you are, and start naming the objects you see.  I see a chair, a dish, a spoon, a tree, etc.  Bring your attention to naming all the things you see in your line of vision.

Take note of what happens to the emotional snag as you do this.  Notice if the feeling diminishes and, even if for a moment, you feel calm and peace.

Cheering You On to a Whole Be Present Heart,
Barbara

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CHECK IN for Week 35: Bushwack

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Checking in on Week 35‘s Task. 

This week, before we bushwack, your task is to write out your 70-80 thoughts.

How is that going?

This is part ONE of the BUSHWACK process.

It will be important for you to list your thoughts.

  • Writing them out will automatically reduce their power providing you a chance to BUSHWACK a new thought.
  • More importantly, you will have spent some time paying attention to the thoughts going through your head. Once again, an extremely important step in changing your thoughts and thus becoming a lighter, more loving you.

Maybe you are noticing categories , such as…

  • food
  • clothes
  • body image
  • worries
  • work
  • future
  • past
  • etc.

Take note of your categories.

The thing is….DON’T SKIP THIS STEP!

Sit down and write out your 70-80 thoughts!

Cheering You on to a Whole List Before Forging Ahead Heart,

Barbara

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2018 Week 35: Bushwack

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Week 35’s task of 50 Weeks to a Lighter More Loving You is to BUSHWACK!

bushwack:

(v): traveling/hiking through dense growth by cutting throughbranches and bushes;(n): it is also a term used by hikers to describe a very strenuous, obstacle ridden trail with brush, branches and/or bushes etc.

I’m not going to send you hiking, though that would be an awesome activity to do this week!

We are going to do a bit of hiking in our minds.

I like to hike.  I like to follow trails.  I like trails because they are

  • easier…already trampled and free of obstacles,

  • less stress filled...no extra equipment needed to traverse a well-worn trail,

  • well-marked…also making it easier, and

  • safer…hopefully, as most trails have been planned/created and been proven worthy by many travelers.

Bushwacking, on the other hand,

  • takes courage to go off the beaten trail in order to forge a new path,

  • takes extra equipment like a knife or hatchet to cut down brush and branches,

  • takes bravery to face uncertainties and the potential to get lost, and

  • takes extra effort to keep one’s self safe and “whack” one’s way through brush and bushes.

If you are like me, the well-worn trail is more relaxing, peaceful, and, basically, pain-free.

What does this have to do with our minds?

Out thoughts cut “trails” in our mind.  These are often WELL WORN!   Not all our thought trails are fun or nice BUT they are easy, safe, and well-worn.   They are familiar to us and take no extra effort to travel down.

We think over 60,000 thoughts a day.  85% of them are negative in nature, and so many of them are well-worn trails.

If you could catch just 5% of those negative thoughts, and BUSHWACK a new trail (a new thought), you could have a more positive and different life.

The key here is to CATCH THEM!

Studies have shown that we think the same 70-80 thoughts everyday just in different ways.   These would make up our 60,000 thoughts.

Before the BUSHWACKING, comes AWARENESS.

This week, before we bushwack, your task is to write out your 70-80 thoughts.

YES…get out those journals and write out your 70-80 thoughts!   (At least I didn’t say 60,000.)  You might notice that they tend to fit in certain categories, which is why the 60,000 turns in to 70-80, just thought in different ways.  This is similar to WEEK 4 where the task was to GIVE NOTICE to your thoughts.  This time, however, write them out.

Feel free to share how it was to list your 70-80 thoughts in the comments.

Cheering You on to a Whole Aware Before Whacking Heart,
Barbara

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