5 Tips to Creating a Healthy Mind
Experiencing Joy and Healing through good Health includes not only the body but the MIND and Spirit. Here are 5 simple tips on how to create a healthy mind!
Believe in the power of your mind!
The mind is a powerful thing.
Buddah says: “The mind is everything. What you think you become.”
Ask yourself… what do I want to become? Then keep checking in with yourself if that’s what you’re thinking or not. For example: Thinking things like: “I’m not good enough or smart enough or pretty or skinny enough.” Then you’ll never become enough.
Thinking: “It’s too hard. I can’t do it. I don’t know how.” Then you’ll never know and you’ll never do.
But thinking: “I am enough just how I am. I know what to do and I can do it.” Then you’ll be able to do whatever it is you need to do to become whoever you want to become.
And this works both ways. Meaning for example, let’s say you want to become a more kind and loving person that is patient, understanding and generous. But you’re thinking what a waste of time it is to sit and listen to your son ramble on about something he’s interested in. Or maybe you’re thinking how annoying or rude someone is who cut in front of you in line or in traffic.
Again, what you think, you become. Just because I think about becoming a more kind, loving and generous person, doesn’t mean I will, unless I’m repeatedly thinking kind, loving and generous thoughts about myself and others.
“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” —Henry David Thoreau
Learn to quiet the mind.
Because the mind is so powerful it always seems to be going at full speed. Especially in this busy rush and push to get ahead and be successful type of world we live in. And yes we do have to think over and over again the kind of thoughts we want to become. But sometimes we can’t even hear what we are thinking be it good or bad because we’re always thinking so many things at once.
We not only think about what we want and what we want to become but we think about what others are thinking and what they’re thinking about us. We think about what we’ve got to do tomorrow and the next day and week and year. We even think about what we’re thinking about. Too much thinking about thinking and thinking about things and people and what we’ve got going on in life can overload our mind and lead to anxiety, depression, confusion and frustration.
This mind circuit overload can lead to physical body strain and pain as well. Thus to avoid creating such strain and pain in body and mind, it is crucial we learn to quiet the mind. Meditation is a simple and powerful way to do so. (I will write more about meditation in an upcoming post but here’s a brief intro on it.)
Even just five minutes a day of mindful meditation will help you quiet and focus your mind. At first try it might seem like it’s anything but quieting the mind as you will be flooded with all kinds of thoughts and mind chatter. But understand that meditation isn’t necessarily about totally clearing the mind of all thought. Rather it is more about recognizing thoughts for what they are and being able to more clearly hear and focus on what thoughts need clarity and focus. Often repeating a mantra…meaning “mind vehicle” can help focus and quiet the mind. With a more focused and quiet mind, we can better hear and feel and think about what is really important. And allow all the other “stuff and fluff” to just flow away, from our minds and thus from our lives.
Fill your mind with good stuff.
With all there is to read and watch and listen to out there in the world there’s a lot of stuff we can fill our minds with. Our minds have an infinite capacity to hold whatever we put in it. What gets in our minds stays in our minds. We may not always recall everything we put in our minds, but it’s all there and will often come up when we least expect it to or at the exact moment we most need it. We all know from experience how sometimes things will come to the forefront memory of our minds that we thought we had completely forgotten or maybe wished we had. So knowing that our minds keep everything in mind we ought to be mindful of what things we fill our mind with!
Have an Open Mind!
Since there is so much we can put into our minds and that our minds can hold… it’s healthy to keep an open mind to new things and new ways that maybe we hadn’t thought about before. When we close our minds to new ways of thinking or being and becoming by thinking we know best or we know enough and don’t need to know anymore, then we close ourselves from opportunities to experience greater growth and understanding.
I’m not saying that you need to open your mind to embracing and experiencing things personally that aren’t in line with your own values and morals but I am saying don’t be so close minded that you can’t see past your own ways of thinking, living and being that you aren’t open enough to loving, honoring and respecting others for their own choices and ways which may differ from yours.
As you have a more open, positive and loving mind, you’ll be able to see and experience things that you never thought you could, including greater peace and joy.
Don’t believe you’re mind.
I know this seems like it contradicts what we discussed in the first one about believing your mind. But what this is saying is basically the other end of the first. Meaning don’t believe the thoughts you have in your mind that aren’t true about you or others or the world.
As Byron Katie says those are just stories we tell ourselves and those stories create suffering. Since we don’t want to suffer but rather experience joy then why do we believe the stories in our mind that create suffering? Let go of those stories and thoughts, don’t believe what your mind is telling you if it is telling you to suffer instead of experience joy.
Aristotle says it well: “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
So much of what we think or are told to think, isn’t who we really are and what we are to believe about ourselves and our lives. We’ve been told things from parents, teachers, books, movies and society in general about what we are to believe about ourselves, our relationships, our lives, and the world…but again much of those are just stories we tell ourselves or are told by others and are not what we are to actually believe about ourselves or others and the world.
As we learn to believe in the power of our mind and the power of ourselves, as we learn to quiet the mind and truly hear what is most important for us to hear, as we fill our minds with good things through what we read, study, listen to, and watch, and as we keep an open mind to new things and ways, then we will have a more educated and truly healthy mind to know what not believe. We will be able to hear and think certain thoughts and know which ones to accept as truth…to give more thought and energy to… and which ones to not accept as truth…to let go of and be free of believing and thus becoming.
So what do you think? Share with me your thoughts. Don’t worry I’ll take them into consideration and decide for myself what I need to believe or not just as I hope you would do the same with what I share here.