Utilising a Growth Mindset in Achieving Deeply Restful States.
Based on the ideas in Mindset – The New Psychology of Success, I have adopted the authors ideas to apply them to the activation of deeply restful states.
This is meant as a counterweight to the stressful, activated, aroused environment we can find ourselves in through the daily (over)stimulation we can experience. The ideas presented here are intended as a challenge to the prevailing mindset, influenced and encouraged by 24 hour news, 24 hour shops, light pollution, and the general over stimulation of our nervous systems, especially in big cities. These are intended to be pointers in recognising some mindset issues which may hinder activation of deeply restful states within the human organism.
Physical
When you have a quiet moment to yourself, firstly hold an attitude of curiosity about what your body is experiencing. Without judgment or ascribing meaning to its state, merely observe what you are sensing about your body/ mind without fear or judgment. Sit comfortably and give yourself a few moments to explore your current situation. Be curious, open and questioning. We are seeking initially to gauge the body as it is, rather than as we would like it to be.
Acceptance as it currently is does not mean that it cannot change, rather that we recognise and acknowledge where we are starting from. Experiment with deepening your connection and internal sensations of what it feels like to be yourself in your body. Notice what that feels like. As well as noticing tension and tightness in your body as breath enters and leaves, do a scan by sending breath through the body from the top of your head to the soles of your feet. Assess how well you can feel the flow of breath or energy flow through your system. If you find it difficult to be still and simply rest, observe without judgment what is going on internally with you whilst this happens.
Mental
Be flexible and aware to consciously acknowledge thoughts and sensations. Witness the sensations, recognise them as belonging to you and arising from you, and release them into the ether. Let them go and feel them leave your being. Realise that the mind thinks the way the heart beats – it is natural and inevitable. Allow thoughts to come and go without attaching to any of them. Like an ocean which has waves, allow yourself to see the waves without riding any of them. Recognise that you may have a fixed mindset about your ability to rest and allow stress to dissipate from your system. Do you say to yourself (for example) “I am always like this”, “I can’t change”, or any other statements that indicate a fixed, stuck position? Recognise that you may have a fixed mindset about your ability to rest and allow stress to dissipate from your system.
Seek to develop resilience-building attitudes and utilise these techniques regularly to change the mental landscape you reside in.
Emotional
Emotions are like the internal weather we experience from moment to moment. What is your internal weather usually set to?
Many physical ailments have an emotional component to them. By recognising the emotional component of the pain, we can learn something about ourselves and the pain, which can help in modulating the sensations we are experiencing.
Building resilience through emotional release work as this helps to heal ongoing stress-related issues.
Have goals for what it would feel like to be enacting DROP in your life.
Seek to recognise the moment when you feel your emotional state is becoming negative or depleted and work at that moment to change the emotional state to something regenerative rather than depleting your energy. If all that feels to much – don’t worry I can help you work to recognise and eliminate stressors in your life.