Mindfulness And Meditation

ENGAGING YOUR MIND

Our mind is our universe. Our very existence comes from the thoughts and outward projections of those thoughts, realised through our senses.

We are conscious beings and all outside influences will register, either picked up in our subconsciousness or consciously aware minds, as will the effects from those influences, be received through our nervous system and become internal influences on our mindset.

Without our five known senses, we would still be conscious, but without experiences, we'd be without a basis to measure reality against. Therefore, it must follow that anything picked up through the senses, ultimately becomes our reality. In this sense, reality is dependent on the sensory input we receive and because this is a constant stream of input, our minds can be wildly fickle. We can feel down, unhappy or afraid one instant and in the next, upbeat, happy and carefree. Our emotional influencers are going to sway our mindset and because our minds themselves are powerful influencers in determining outcomes, we need to be mindful of being in the right mindset if we want to have positive and beneficial ones.

We can be led by mindset if we allow this to happen. Frustrated, impatient and lazy decision-making, stemming from tiredness, hunger or elevated stress etc. – these mind states can be sustained for elongated periods of time to continuously feed and keep within the same frame of mind.

Mindful moments can occur early in the morning when the rest of our mind is still in a state of wakefulness. These clear mindsets are when we 'port' our inner intuitive and reflective thinking. Ideas and desires will come to the fore, unobstructed by the usual clutter of our awakened busy minds and the constant stream of distractions from sensory influences which contribute to this stream.

Systems Access

If we are able to access the inner workings of the mind, identify and repair damaged thought pathways and recognise that it's thoughts influencing mindset - we can understand that the thoughts are not what actually defines us. 

Meditation can be our system analysis tool for better accessing the internal workings of our minds. If we can give ourselves just a few quiet moments every day - preferably in the morning for setting up our day, quiet time in the afternoon for mid-day evaluation and some reflective moments in the evening for contemplation - we can monitor/adjust our minds through a process of actioning the required measures for attaining desired mind-states.

In simpler terms - we can keep an eye on things before they manifest into problems with serious consequences. 

There's a saying which goes something like this: 'Everyone who has a bit of free time available to them, should give at least 10 minutes a day for meditation and everyone else who's too busy, should dedicate at least an hour.' 

We all need to monitor our feelings and for some people, this is a very difficult task to do. Men are particularly prone to cover up their feelings, potentially through societal pressures to 'man up'. This usually stems from a premature period in adolescence and can be hardened through early 20's right through and beyond 40+. Over time, the effects of repressing emotions, can lead to depression which has even become unrecognised by the individual experiencing it. Meditation gives us direct access to the inner streams of information coming from the mind and through our senses. Observing this flow, helps us identify with emotions and counter the berating voices that can not only create anxiety but also destroy our self-worth. 

So much self-improvement can be achieved over a very short space of time, from investing as little as six minutes per day for meditation. 

Being able to access the inner workings of the mind in this way, can help us to understand reactive actions, change our approach to be more proactive and live a more mindful and therefore, purposeful life.