Take a Break from Your Thoughts
By Gordon Rosenberg
When you’re going through deep personal growth and change, such as spiritual awakening for instance, or other life disruptions for that matter, it’s important to give yourself a lot of “down” time. To get in touch with your inner process and learn what your body and spirit want you to know, you must take time to relax and listen.
It’s always healthy to give yourself the opportunity to relax at least once a day, however you can do it, and especially during times of personal growth. Take a hot bath, sit in the sun, meditate, do yoga, or simply lie down and relax somewhere. The important thing is that you allow yourself to relax and begin sensing what the body has to tell you. Let the sensations come from deep inside you. One of our greatest challenges when we’re seeking to awaken to our higher knowledge is learning to reduce our dependence on our ordinary thoughts. Here are some questions that may come up:
What Do I Do With My Thoughts Which Are Always There?
For one thing, you can learn to tell the difference between thoughts which come from higher knowing and those which are mostly the mind’s fears or delusions. When thoughts arise, try to feel them in your body. Just see whether you have a physical sensation of the thought someplace other than in the mind. If you can’t feel a thought in the body, it’s coming from the mind and likely isn’t accurate from the perspective of higher knowledge. Thoughts which you can feel in your body are telling you that your soul wants you to know something. The more you can relax, the greater will be your ability to hear the wisdom of the body and soul and not just the mind’s chatter.
How Can I Learn To Relax More Deeply?
The important thing is to sit or lie down whenever you feel like it. Don’t fight the need to rest, even if it doesn’t seem like an appropriate time. Our minds pay attention to time; our bodies tell us when they’re tired and want to rest. Bodies also tell us when the soul wants to speak to us, if we let them. Your soul may want to speak to you in the middle of the day, or the middle of the night. Let it happen, as best you can. Close your eyes for a few minutes, be silent, let the answers come to you.
Is It Okay To Simply Rest Awake When I Might Normally Be Asleep?
Sure, your mind doesn’t always need to be asleep in the old way for your body to relax. The mind can do whatever it wants. We’re used to having the mind be asleep while we’re resting. But this isn’t necessary. Some yogis and the like don’t sleep at all, because they’ve learned to slow down the mind all the time. They no longer have the need to sleep in order to release all the busy thoughts which most people’s minds accumulate during the day. It’s possible to release each thought and its effects as it occurs so the mind won’t need to replay it and release it later.
