As I send out these mindfulness weekly exercises, I too practice the exercises with you. Last week I was observing my thoughts, but not just thoughts but any repeated thoughts. Once I put a spotlight on my thoughts, I was surprised at how often I repeated the same thoughts over and over, day in and day out. Frankly it was shocking. I’m wondering if anyone else had the same experience. I had my work cut out for me.
As I observed my repeated thoughts, I realized these thoughts were taking me back in time or moving me forward, way into the future. This is what I started to do to break the cycle of my repeated thoughts:
1. First, I paid attention to my thoughts and noticed when I would repeat
the same thoughts over and over.
2. Then I asked myself, are these thoughts related to what is happening right now?
3. If it’s happening in the present moment, are my thoughts true about the situation?
(This, to me, is the big changer because so often I realize I’m assuming things about
someone’s actions, or I perceive it as an attack or a rudeness when really it may not have
anything to do with me at all. It can simply be that the other person is having a difficult day
or having their own life issues that have nothing to do with me. This is when
understanding and kindness is necessary so that I don’t take things personally.)
When I recognized that my thoughts were not about what I was doing at that moment, I would STOP my thoughts right there and then, I would BREATHE, and then refocus on what I was doing in that moment. When I was eating breakfast, I would focus on eating; when I was doing yoga, I’d focus on yoga; when working, I would bring even more focus on what I was doing and when I was having a conversation, I tried to listen better and be even more mindful in my response.
“Sweetheart, you are in pain. Relax. Take a breath. Let’s pay attention to
what is happening; then we’ll figure out what to do.”
Sylvia Boorstein
Last week I found myself constantly not being in the present moment because every repeated thought took me somewhere else. I kept practicing getting back into the moment, being more engaged in what I was doing regardless of how small it was and by the end of the week I felt a glimmer of hope that I was able to break the cycle of my repeated thoughts. It was a great reminder that no matter how much I practice mindfulness there is always more to learn and truly it’s an ongoing practice that seems to never end. Little by little we make progress and become more mindful.
