The mind is a funny thing...so so powerful and yet we so often direct it in the wrong place. Those who practice with me will know I name it the monkey brain, this is because it can be so naughty, it can lie, it can con you and ultimately it can guide you the wrong way.
The art of focusing on the thing that’s going to help rather than hinder you is a practiced skill. In Yoga we use the breath as a focus, as the mind try’s to latch onto the body, the muscle stretch, the discomfort, the intense feelings we redirect it to the breath.
Teaching ourselves that we don’t have to focus on the first thing the mind finds, that it’s not always right and that it doesn’t define who we are.
There are many poses my monkey brain try’s to tell me that I may die if I stay in it....totally untrue...no ones ever died from holding their leg in the air!! (Well at least I hope not) but yet my monkey brain keeps telling me this...the art is to really tune into the breath and let that take over the thoughts. How does this help in life?
Well we’re often in situations where the mind tells us something that may not be true, that is just a reaction rather than a response, that may not guide us to the right destination, so if we learn that it’s not always right, that our focus can go elsewhere, that we can find space between the thought and the action....then we can make the correct decision for us, we can take our time, decide without stress and ultimately we will find peace in the process.
So as you go through your day notice the stories you mind tells you, notice how easily you get sucked in, notice how this changes your mood, the way you feel, you’re ability to decide and then practice your breath, breathe deeply, give yourself space between the noise of the mind and the actual reality of the situation and then move forward when you feel ready not when the monkey brain tells you.