Deborah's Mindful Blog

How to give your mind a rest

1000.  ‘Meditate to Silence’. We spend so much of our time connected up or plugged into something that our minds rarely have any downtime. In today’s society it’s difficult to get away from that mental stimulation, probably the only downtime we have, is when we sleep.
577. We are also losing the confidence and ability to connect with people around us; people are increasingly becoming isolated, getting gratification from ‘likes’ on a screen. Our minds are going into overload and sometimes that amount of knowledge can get heavy. So, what can we do about it? My answer is to be mindful.

What is it to be Mindful?

To be mindful is to become self-aware and really notice what is in the moment and as spring approaches, it brings with it a wealth of opportunities to do just that.

Sometimes our lives can be extremely complex, busy, frustrating, exhausting and we get so bogged down with our own thoughts that it feels as if there is to room to allow anything else in.

We fall into a habit of being too busy to meet friends, never seem to make it to the yoga class you enjoyed, there just never seems to be any time in the day to relax. It’s easy to fall into these patterns but not so easy to get out of them and can lead to feelings of anxiety, isolation, depression.

One of the first things I teach clients is to be in the moment, to bring your thoughts back to what is actually going on right now, what are you wearing, hearing, smelling. Try it now, wherever you are. What can you see? What can you hear? What can you smell? What sensations are going on in your body? What can you be grateful for in this moment?

This is just one small example of how mindfulness can change your thought process.

The other area I teach is meditation. When practiced regularly can, amongst many other things, calm the mind, lower blood pressure, enable you to think clearly and lift your spirits. 20 minutes of meditation is the same as 6 hours quality sleep and it helps with insomnia.

As a sufferer of chronic depression for many years I am a living example of how starting out with these small steps proves it is possible to move out of the darkness and into the light. How it is possible to manage your thoughts, to rewire your brain so it goes to the present, rather than the despair of the past or the worry of the future.

So how do you rest your mind? By finding silence. Silence is within us all, it’s pretty hidden away but with time and practice it can be found, enjoyed and relished. Mediation will bring you silence.