Mindfulness to control thoughts

As mentioned in one of my previous blog, a person can have around 6200 thoughts per day. These thoughts can be positive or negative. We have seen that thoughts play a major role in affecting a person's body and mind. So imagine if most of these incoming thoughts are negative, the impact it would create on the person would be drastic.

Mindfulness is a very effective technique to control the flow of thoughts that bombard our mind. Mindfulness is the process of observing every thought that is coming to our mind and eliminating the ones which are unnecessary. It also helps us to increase our focus, awareness, concentration, productivity, performance, health and relaxation. Mindfulness is one of the technique that you can practice regularly so that you become better prepared to take up Meditation.

There are different ways to practice Mindfulness. Some of the different ways are :

• Focus on your breath : Probably the easiest way to practice Mindfulness is to focus on your breath. Just observe the slow, relaxed and deep inhalation that you take in each time and also the slow exhalation. You can repeat this process for 2-3 minutes as per your convenience. Whenever you feel angry, stressed or anxious, deep inhalation would help you to keep yourself relaxed and calm. Another variation to this exercise is to take a deep inhalation. Hold your breath for anywhere between 30 seconds to 1 minute. After this release your breath fully. This exercise can be repeated 2-3 times. You would notice a deep sense of relaxation after doing this exercise.

• Focus on your thoughts : In this step, you need to watch each thought that enters your mind. Whatever thoughts enter your mind, make sure that you focus on each one of them with patience, awareness, openness, intention in an uncritical and a non-judgmental manner. Here when a new thought comes, you should pause and ask yourself whether this thought is necessary and whether it would help you in achieving your goals and objectives. If the answer to this question is 'No' then it is better to avoid that thought from your mind. By repeating this exercise regularly for say 5 minutes or so, you become more focused and aware of yourself. Mindfulness also helps you to focus on the present moment and to eliminate all the unwanted thoughts related to the past and the future events which are meaningless. Thoughts have a direct effect on your emotions. If you have a better control of the flow of thoughts then you would be able to eliminate the unwanted negative thoughts and thereby vibrate with positive emotions on a regular basis.

• Focus on your activities : Closely observe each activity that you do in your daily life. Ask yourself the question - Are you doing things the right way? If yes then continue with it. If not then ask yourself questions like - What is expected of me? Do I have the knowledge to do this activity?  Am I exactly clear on what needs to be done? Do I have the resources to get things done in a proper manner? Is there any way to get this done in a better way?  Do I need to contact an expert to know more about this etc. Asking questions to yourself would help you to focus more on the task in hand. You would become better aware of the current situation. Once the mind is very clear of what needs to be done then getting things done properly would happen with ease. 

• Focus on your body : Relax yourself in a bed or on a chair. Take deep breaths for few times. Now start to move your focus slowly from the bottom of your body that is from the toes to the top of your body. Focus on each part of your body for say 10-20 seconds. Observe all the body sensations. Make sure you relax the specific part of the body once you focus in that area. This exercise helps you to relax your body in a better way. It also helps you to feel and understand your body very closely. 

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