My Mindful Remedy

There are times when your thoughts take hold over you and an avalanche of less than happy ideas tumble down taking your mood and emotions with them. Once you are buried under the weight of these heavy thoughts it seems difficult, if not impossible to dig yourself out.

So how do we free ourselves from this law of attraction natural disaster? Ideally, by not letting our negative thoughts snowball on us. As it is said "don't make a mountain out of a molehill!".

These are a few of the ways I have learned, and personally practice, to tune up my vibration, and bring my awareness to thoughts that bring me satisfaction. I like to call it My Mindful Remedy.

1. Wakefulness

Start everyday just as you are waking from sleep. Even as your mind is switching from the unconscious to the conscious, begin to guide your thoughts towards delightful and satisfying sensations and feelings.

I like to notice how warm and smooth my sheets are against my legs. I completely appreciate the weight of my blankets on my body and how relaxed my feet are. My toes are usually cold and refreshed, poking out of the covers below. I absolutely love my bed, how comfortable I am, and how my mind begins to spark with these wonderful thoughts just as I am rousing.

It has been a game of practice to get in the habit of reaching for these good feelings and sensations each morning, but the mornings I do take this time to generate gratitude, I really notice how differently my day unfolds, and it is much more pleasant.

Bringing your attention to how you are feeling in those first few waking moments before your mind begins to wander off into what the day holds for you, or before it slips back into memories of days before, sets the tone for the rest of your day.

As you are holding yourself in this sacred space, practicing this morning ritual, start to imagine how your day is going to unfold in the way that serves you the best. Visualize your morning routine and let it fulfill your simplest pleasures. See everything working out for you in ways that are even better than you can imagine.

Take hold of your thoughts and remember that you are in control. Often we let our thoughts control us and we feel powerless to the momentum that they can gain in a short period of time, particularly if it is a thought we practice often. But when we can pause and acknowledge that our thoughts can be whatever we choose, we can make the choice to have the best thoughts possible and then more thoughts like those will follow.

2. Meditation

Mindfulness is often discussed in conjunction with meditation, the intentional practice of "being aware of one’s natural breathing process/rhythm. When engaged in this practice, the mind will often run off to other thoughts and associations, and if this happens, one passively notices that the mind has wandered, and in an accepting, non-judgmental way, returns to focusing on breathing."  So the practice of bringing your awareness to your thoughts at any given time, is in of itself like practicing meditation.

By slowing your breath, you slow your thoughts, quieting your mind and allowing vibrational ideas and emotions to come to your awareness from sources beyond yourself.  When I was young, one of my first experiences with meditation taught me to trap my thoughts in a bubble as they came up and then let them float away. I still practice this to this day.

I used to have this misguided understanding of what mediation should look like and in my mind it felt very difficult and therefore I was intimidated to try and practice it. It wasn't until I reevaluated that view, the duration and the rigid posture that I felt like I had to achieve, before I was able to relax and really begin a mediation practice.

Honestly, most of the time I meditate now, I am reclining on my couch, resting deeply on various pillows with my feet up off the floor.  I no longer sit in a crossed leg position, staring at the flame of a candle for hours at a time. Instead, I eased my way into meditation with various guided meditations on YouTube, Apps and others that I downloaded. I have gradually felt more confident to meditate without any guidance, just listening to the sound of a fan in the room or sometimes my breath.

I will maybe sit like this for 15-20 minutes and be happy with that. I love the thoughts that come out of my meditations, often they feel inspired and I feel very connected, but it took a few good weeks of guided meditations to reach this place, and I am grateful that I made it a priority. Just 15 minutes a day!

3. Listen to Abraham Hicks audio.

https://www.abraham-hicks.com/

These recordings are my reset button and instantly put me in a better feeling place.  I can't quite remember when I first heard one of these recordings, but I immediately recognized the value that they held for me. It took a little while to understand the language that she uses, and recognize the variation in definitions but my outlook on life has improved drastically since that day.

I try to make it part of my daily routine to listen to one or many of her messages, as she helps me feel more connected, grounded and calm. As soon as I open up my YouTube App, there is an Abraham Hicks recording offered to me and it is always what I need to hear at that moment. What I am compelled to share with you, I have learned from her.

I am always excited to meet others who have also discovered her teachings, and I am so grateful to have her guidance in life. Her perspective is easy for me to understand as it embraces everything that is good in this world and beyond.  When you can recognize that it is only your thoughts and beliefs holding you back from experiencing everything this world has to offer you, you begin to trust her and yourself unconditionally.

4. Take a shower.

Next to being in bed, having a shower is my favourite place to be. I used to say that my idea fairies came to me when I was showering. Now I understand that it is one of the safest, warmest, most comforting and relaxing moments of your day. When you are in the shower, you are most likely to be in the parasympathetic nervous system or the "feed and breed" state of mind rather than in "fight or flight".

Because of all of this, it is natural for your thoughts and your vibration to improve, therefore improving your mood.  I truly feel inspired while I am showering. My mind almost immediately starts to channel great ideas and words come easily to me. So easily that my husband has offered to get me a waterproof case for my Iphone in order to capture some of these moments as they come, rather than me trying to hold on to them until I can wash my hair and dry off enough to write them down!

5. Exercise

I love practicing Kundalini Yoga because it combines excellent yoga stretches with movement, breathing exercises and meditation. It is the coming together of all these mindfulness techniques into one practice.

It focuses on the spine and activating and releasing the energy of creation from within. It parallels so many of the lessons I have been learning and truly deepens my spiritual practice. One of my favorite or go to videos on YouTube is by the Giving Mom. I also follow her on Instagram and she introduced me to and taught me how to put in my wool dread lock extensions.

This is just one of many ways to add exercise into your day. I also love nature walks to help clear my head and crazy, mad dancing in my living room. As JT says "the good, good creeping up on you. So just DANCE; DANCE; DANCE." Any way that you exercise is great for shifting your mindset and creating good feeling endorphins in your body and mind.

6. Finally, when you really can't seem to shake off a bad mood, as Abraham Hicks says, take a nap.

I can almost guarantee that when I can practice all 6 of these remedies in one day, that day is going to be spectacular and the universe will go further and further to surprise me with something even more amazing than I can imagine! I would love to hear more about your mindful remedies, so feel free to add them in the comments below!

Love you,
Kerri