5 Tips for Training Your Mind
by Ariela Sarai
Are You running your mind, or is it running You?
Is training our mind possible? We all know that feeling of being driven. You may be driven to take things off your plate, to accomplish certain goals, or to get what you want. Even though it can feel like motivation, it can also be uncomfortable. There is a sense of being slightly out of control. It’s the difference between being in the passenger’s seat, or being in the driver’s seat.
Ideally, we would all be in the driver’s seat of our own mind. However, most people are actually being run by their mind instead. How can you tell if your mind is running you? You need to take a moment and get in touch with how you feel and you think. Feeling driven is actually one of the many signs that your mind is running You.
Here are some others:
-There is an automatic stream of thoughts playing in your head
-You focus on obstacles rather than possibilities
-You focus on obstacles rather than possibilities
-Feel overwhelmed
-Are distracted easily
-You have difficulty relaxing
-Seem to always be in “reaction mode”
-Feel helpless, powerless, or discouraged
-You feel fixated on one or more issues
Indicators, Like Mind Training Programs
Each of these is indicators that the mind is controlling You. It’s not that the mind is bad. It just does not mean to be the boss! To the mind, maintaining the status-quo is what keeps us safe. So all of our efforts to evolve and create something new meet with resistance and opposition.
The mind is very much like a computer. It runs programs, collects data, gathers information, predicts, and stores memories. If it takes you over, it will lure you into getting lost in its stories and programming. It can lead you astray with its doubts and invalidation of your intuition.
Would you have your computer make decisions for you? Does your computer really care about people and happiness? Could it have a higher guidance and purpose? What about knowing the value of risk taking?
If you’ve become aware that your mind is running the show, and you are ready to take back control, here are–
5 tips that will help you begin to train your mind:
1. Take on the responsibility of getting in mental shape as a personal challenge to better yourself and the world. Keep feeling the importance of it until you feel a spark that wants this responsibility. Once you make this decision, you will attract what you need to make it happen.
2. Find a training program with effective tools. Good tools are the missing link that you need to diffuse your mind without getting caught in it.
3. Adopt a compassionate attitude towards this process. I once heard a mentor of mine speaking to a student. He was very hard on himself, so she encouraged him to think of the mind as a new puppy. She said that a new puppy will chew up everything and pee everywhere. But would you scream at the puppy in anger and punish it? Or, would you lovingly redirect it and train it? If you treat it as you would treat a puppy that needs training, you will be more gentle and playful rather than judgmental.
4. Throughout the day, practice being aware of your thoughts and patterns. Consequently, awareness of your mind is the beginning of not falling into its traps.
5. Don’t think of it as boot camp! If you welcome the process as an exploration and an adventure, you will enjoy it, and you will be able to stick-with-it.
Some Final Mind Training Thoughts…
I have worked with thousands of people over the last 17 years. As each person takes more responsibility for themselves, they feel a new sense of aliveness and a surge of power, creativity and freedom. We instinctively try to avoid the responsibility, because we assume it’s so hard.
But which is harder, avoiding responsibility and having to deal with the pain of victim consciousness, or facing that moment of stretching out of your comfort zone, and disciplining your mind so you can fulfill your dreams?
About the Author
Ariela Sarai teaches the Avatar Curse around the U.S., after traveling and studying in India. She was a practicing psychotherapist for 12 years and is presenting a blog and podcast series. Find out more at: www.powerofavatar.com
