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Balancing Act

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 2508

I don't text or Skype and get very little email so the computer in this sense is not a problem for me and I don't have a smart phone either. I do have a dumb phone as I call it and plan on keeping it that way. I can see where this constant chatter is causing a problem for the masses in general and how it effects many lives. Like healthcare for instance healthcare workers and doctors too are now on line all the time and seem to have a problem being present in the present moment with the patient they are trying to help. The lecturer mentioned this in one of his lectures and how they are now trying to teach mindfulness to the doctors and staff so that they can be present for there patients. So as you can see we are not the only ones dealing with chatter in this day and age. It is having a profound effect on all of us in some way directly and indirectly. I am hoping that the doctor and I will both be able to stay present at my next appointment. It is something that we both seem to struggle with. I will do my part to be present and practice mindfulness in the waiting room while I wait to see her but I can not say if see will be present too or if her mind will be filled with chatter about what she needs to do especially if she is running late again. The doctors seem so worried about keeping up that the are always so focused on the past patient or the future patient that they lose sight of the patient that is sitting right in front of them...She did ask me if I had tried mediation to help me quit smoking and I have been thinking about it off and on ever since. So maybe on my next visit I will mention mindfulness to her and she what she says. Hopefully that will bring her back to the present during our visit..Red:)

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

I do this too. I use my lathe. I started doing this a few years back. I become one with the machine. Nothing else matters.

The focus becomes what is in the wood. It works so well it can stop the chatter in it's tracks.

Email and programs let me know if something is there so I don't continuously check. Skype is limited to a small window in the evening and I don't text. I know far too many people addicted to their devices to fall into that trap also. I have a very large window in my bedroom and french doors in my kitchen. The outdoors is a good distraction for me.

I find being retired I have too much time on my hands that needs direction. There is no one but me to tell me what to do. And no one but me to do it for. This is hard to do.

Davit

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 2508

Hi Davit...Just read your post after posting mine.Makes sense to me..When using mindfulness you can look at yourself and your surroundings and your place in it with No judgment your mind will decide for you what to do with the thoughts and reduce the chatter. They call it letting go. Just letting the thoughts and chatter drift up into the clouds or flow like a leaf down river and then moving on to the present moment...It was nice chatting with you on this subject and now I am going to move on to working on one of my hobbies or pleasant distractions as some people call them...Till next time...Red:)

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 2508

There is something else I want to add here that I use and that is positive distraction. Like my hobbies for instance for me they are a form of mediation they are something that I am interested in that I can be totally present in and focused on. This engagement on my part stops all the chatter and lets me relax into my own. The lecturer I mentioned in my earlier post refers a lot to the present use of electronic devices computers, smartphones and such in everyday life and the need to keep checking and responding to email and text messages all the time and as such the person never is really being present in the present moment with what they are doing. I this is akin to not taking the time to breath in and smell the roses in your present life. Also referred to being in the Now, not being in the past or future but learning to live in and enjoy the present moments in ones life..Being mindful of one's present that is and being present to and in it.......Speaking of being present. I did stop off here to post this because it was on my mind and now I am going back to enjoy what I was doing which was working one of my positive distractions. Of course posting this did turn out to be one of my positive distractions too..Now it's time to let go of it and move on....Red:)

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Hi Red

All that chatter is supposed to be subconscious unless important. If you notice it then it is thought to be important to have got to that point. All thoughts pass through a part of the brain for survival where if they are not needed they are discarded. If they are considered important they are sent to the hippocampus, two little glands in our brain that handle fear and memory. It decides what to do with this thought based on past experience.

Two things happen if you think positive thoughts. First more of this chatter is positive so not needed for survival so it gets discarded or if it is important it goes to a different part of memory. Second it reduces the amount of negative solutions hippocampus can use so anxiety is greatly reduced.

If by using mindfulness you can look at yourself and your surroundings and your place in it with no judgement your mind will decide for you what to do with the thoughts and reduce the chatter simply by deciding most of it is not important.

You need seratonin for the discarding process as do you need dopamine and a few other things. calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium being the main ones that control the neurotransmitters that control the discarding of the chatter.

CBT controls the hypothalamus which controls the neurotransmitters and the symptoms you get with anxiety. All technical but it boils down to positive thought reduces activity and we get to live a more stress free life without conscious chatter even though it is still there. Just not noticed.

Davit

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 2508

Last night I slept like a baby. This morning I woke and tried using mindfulness to stop the chatter they say we all have to some degree. They say the mind is full of thoughts and that ruminating about them is something that we do. This is where mindfulness comes in. Quieting the mind and being present in the present moment. Of course this is easier said than done and I find that for me, CBT is a crucial component in my process...This is where I find that the 10 question list used in cbt to be very helpful. Challenging my negative thoughts is very necessary part of my process. So it is my idea that maybe if I relax my body and mind with meditative breathing than I will be more receptive to this process and therefore in the end more present in the present moments in my life...Red...

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 2508

Hi Cardio, Thank you so much for coming on and posting about your experience with mindfulness. Your example makes the process much more understandable to me. Oh and thanks for the head up on Jon Kabat Zinn's program. I did a search on line today and spent the afternoon watching several of his lectures on youtube. I was very inspired and even did a meditation along with him. Mindfulness does seem to be the missing piece that I was looking for..I also read some of the writing from the Dalai Lama last night and was deeply moved by his words. Thanks again for sharing...Red:)

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

This is how Karin described it too. She did say staying focussed can be hard.

Davit

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 162

I still practice....although not as much as I should. I do the mindfulness yoga routine we set up with the MBSR course almost every day, and I also try to incorporate it into something I do daily: showering, the dishes, riding in the car, etc. Ashley's friend's description is exactly right: to be mindful is to note the things currently going on around you, or within yourself, in a non judgmental way. You notice something....perhaps think "Oh, that's interesting"....and then let it go. Every time you notice your thoughts wandering away from "now" you gently bring it back without getting angry or upset with yourself.

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