2 Ditch the autopilot......

Week 2 of our mindfulness series.

We have all had those moments........ driving the kids to school but taking the road to work, going upstairs to brush your teeth and making your bed instead, starting to peel the vegetables for dinner when you are in fact eating out!

Luckily these are not the early signs of dementia or a poor memory but our amazing ability to act on autopilot.

Our brain is wired in a way that allows us to perform certain tasks that have become habit, without crowding our minds with too much thought or information. And lets be honest the human brain is amazing but still has limits in regards to multitasking.

This ability for our mind to switch into autopilot is our 'doing mode'. You will notice through the day that you have lots of 'doing' times when you fly through your daily routines. for example night time in our house involves me checking the doors are locked, putting the dog out, having a wash and kissing the kids goodnight without waking them. Every night!

While this ability of ours allows us to function efficiently at times, it can also cause us to become overwhelmed, stressed, anxious and even depressed.

In contrast to the 'doing mode' is the 'being mode'. 'Being' is our minds ability to be in the moment, be back in our life - being mindful. Being mindful allows you to 'check in' with your life, and make intentional choices that put you back in control of your body, your emotions, your reactions. This control leads to an increased sense of well-being, less stress and anxiety and a feeling of happiness.

Happiness is one of the top predictors of health and longevity and often goes overlooked or is seen as a selfish or unrealistic health goal. Operating on automatic pilot day in and day out turns happiness into a 'problem' that our mind is constantly trying to solve.

When we try and solve the 'problem' of unhappiness (or any other negative emotion) we rely on rational critical thinking. We may have all heard the following before:

"I am, and I can think, therefore I can change who I am" "I Think Therefore I am" - Rene Descartes

So here's how it works.....you see yourself in your current emotional state (unhappy) and you know where you want to feel (happy). Your mind then uses all of the stored information from past experiences, how you have reacted, how you managed to get to the happy state, and analyses the gap between the two. A little bit like a computer programme, your mind is 'doing' the analysis, trying to work out the best way to bridge the gap. It uses the 'doing mode' by progressively narrowing the gap by breaking the problem down into pieces. This process happens in an instant and we are not even aware of the process. It is a fantastic way to solve problems and allows us to navigate through life and problem solve many complex tasks.

The problem arises when our brain uses this process to solve emotions. It's not a matter of choice it is a natural process of our functioning to solve problems this way. Through the process as we end up asking critical, self destructive questions of ourselves...Whats wrong with me? Where did i go wrong? Why do I keep making these mistakes?

Our thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations are so intricately connected that a brief negative thought can trigger off a cascade of negative thoughts, emotions and physiological (body) responses that make us more unhappy.

You cannot stop negative thoughts and emotions as we all have them hardwired into our brains through memories, and life will continue to throw us curve ball. What we can stop is how we react to them. By creating more 'being mode' moments in our lives our brains can spend a little less time 'doing' and we can change how we feel, our emotions our physiological (body) responses and our reactions!

Are you ready to back control and start switching off the autopilot??

The Challenge:

If you enjoyed last week's challenge - or found it difficult!? You can repeat the challenge but use a different activity. You can find last weeks challenge here:

Week 1/12. Mindful Mondays

You also have the option of trying this body scan as many times throughout the week as you can:

• Start in a comfortable sitting position or lying on your back.

• Close your eyes and take 3-5 deep breaths to settle in. On your last breath inhale deeply and sigh out loudly any tensions or thoughts of other jobs that need doing. Return to natural breathing.

• Start by drawing your attention to your left toes - are there any sensations? are they pressing on the floor? in shoes? are they warm or cold? is there any tingling? or tension?

• Allow the thoughts to rise in your mind and very quickly float out again, try not to 'process' them or 'analyse' them. This is a time for 'being mode' and not 'doing mode' (explained a little bit above).

• Now draw your attention to your left foot and repeat the process.

• Move up your left leg drawing attention to your ankle, shin, knee, upper thigh.

• Repeat on the right lower limb.

• Now focus on you groin area, buttocks, tummy, chest and back.

• Focus on your left fingers and work your way up the arm to the shoulder.

• Repeat on the right side.

• Include your neck, head, ears, and all the features on your face.

• Now draw your awareness to your breath and imagine your breath flowing all the way down to your feet.

• Does this change any sensations? can you 'feel' the relationship between the floor and your feet change? Do your thoughts or the breath flowing down to your feet and through into the floor change things? REMEMBER let the thoughts flit through your mind in an accepting, non-judgmental way.

• Now take the breath down to your hands, your fingers and repeat the process of inquiry here. What changes?

• Finally imagine you are a whale with a blow hole in the top of your head and you are breathing through the crown of your head. How does this feel? What happens to your posture?

• Take a few natural breath cycles before opening your eyes

As you practice this body awareness activity you will find the process becomes easier, a lot easier on your mind and concentration. The process will speed up and the thoughts will very quickly rise and fall in your mind.

If this is all new to you, don't try too hard. We will never 'clear our minds' of all thoughts, our brains are designed to process an extremely large amount of information all at once. It's what makes us unique and is extremely natural!!

Keep at it, I know at first it can be hard and if you feel like you can't do it...... guess what...... that is normal too!

Let me know how you are getting on or get in touch if you would like to know more....... or just want to chat x

Love Living your Life in Motion