We all fall victim to it sometimes: the belief that the harder we think, the better our thoughts will be. But what if the opposite is true? What if having too much brain is actually hindering our progress?
Today’s meditation is just about one of the simplest mindfulness practices that you can do, paying attention to your body’s physical senses. It’s extremely practical in a world where our minds get pulled into too many different directions all the time.
“Rabbit’s clever,” said Pooh thoughtfully.
“Yes,” said Piglet, “Rabbit’s clever.”
“And he has Brain.”
“Yes,” said Piglet, “Rabbit has Brain.”
There was a long silence.
“I suppose,” said Pooh, “that, that’s why he never understands anything.”
– The Tao of Pooh
“A clever mind is not a heart. Knowledge doesn’t really care, wisdom does.” – The Tao of Pooh
“The surest way to become Tense, Awkward, and Confused is to develop a mind that tries too hard – one that thinks too much.” – The Tao of Pooh
“I think, therefore I am… confused.” (Rabbit) – The Tao of Pooh
“An Empty sort of mind is valuable for finding pearls and tails and things because it can see what’s in front of it. An Overstuffed mind is unable to. While the Clear mind listens to a bird singing, the Stuffed-Full-of-Knowledge-and-Cleverness mind wonders what kind of bird is singing. The more Stuffed Up it is, the less it can hear through its own ears and see through its own eyes. Knowledge and Cleverness tend to concern themselves with the wrong sort of things, and a mind confused by Knowledge, Cleverness, and Abstract Ideas tends to go chasing off after things that don’t matter, or that don’t even exist, instead of seeing, appreciating, and making use of what is right in front of it.” – The Tao of Pooh
I’ll highlight the core of today’s messages:
“… brain… a clever mind is not a heart… a mind that tries too hard – a mind that thinks too much… I think, therefore I am confused… the more stuffed up it is, the less it can hear through its own ears and see through its own eyes…”
Whenever we become confused, we can trust that we’ve fallen into the trap of thinking too much. And for me personally, I often don’t recognize walking into the trap until I’ve wound myself up tightly in its snare. When my brain has become busier and busier and my thoughts become less clear, I often succumb to the belief that I need to think harder, I need to think “better” thoughts.
Can you see how much of a trap this is? That as my brain waves get pushed higher and higher by more and more thinking, my instinctive reaction is to add even more thoughts on top of already too much thinking? The science obviously shows that this only makes my brain worse.
What is needed of course is to walk in the opposite direction, from the head into the body. From the head, into the heart.
Pooh bear says that “the more stuffed up a mind is, the less it can hear through its own ears and see through its own eyes,” and that is also the answer to a over-stuffed mind… return to the body, see, hear, smell, taste, touch…
This is our journey today, and I’d love for you to remind yourself when you get caught up in a busy mind to walk in the opposite direction for a moment. You can sit at your desk or in your car or if you can spare the time, spend a few minutes outside and drop into your body. It’ll lower your brain waves, and it will regulate your nervous system, so that you can return again to what it is that you need to deal with, having a clearer, calmer mind.
Mantras for quieting the mind:
- When my mind feels frantic, I will connect with my breath.
- When my thoughts get too busy, I will step into sensation.
- My body holds wisdom – I will listen.
- Dropping from my head into my body – this leads back to clear thinking.
Come and try out a journey of your senses along with us!
– pierre –
Today’s LIVE meditation is: Come to your senses.
(credit: https://www.benjaminhoffauthor.com/ )