To me the most valuable asset in the world is my mind. So I wish to protect it.
I like to think of the mind like a garden. We all want a beautiful garden but very few of us actually take the time to do the weeding, or simply maintain it, and even fewer people actually take the time to landscape their mind garden. As a result, over time, the weeds begin to grow and grow and very quickly they become overwhelming. And this causes big problems.
I have noticed when working with clients with anxiety that the very thought of having anxiety is like a weed in the mind that can grow very quickly. For many clients it becomes the central theme where the weeds have overtaken the natural beauty of the garden. In fact, it looks like a jungle and even the idea of looking at the garden becomes overwhelming.
How does one begin to weed out the garden? How does one begin to plant seeds of amazing fruit trees and beautiful flowers? How does someone move from where they are -a seemingly impossible place – to change and make that change a reality?
Simply: One weed at a time.
A very simple strategy that I teach my clients is first to become aware of the connection between the body and the mind—this means every time that you are aware that you feel restricted, tight, anxious, worried, fearful etc, become aware of how you are holding yourself in your body. Become aware of where you are holding your tension, become aware of your breathing, your posture; even small things like the position of your head. Now see if you can become aware of what you were thinking about, and marry the two.
Now, our thinking that causes tension in our bodies is all coming from some kind of stress. And there are 5 main patterns of distortion or ways our bodies react to different life tension patterns. For example, when you are worried or fearful about the future, your body holds itself in a different way to when you are worried about what it will mean for you if you get something wrong and fail.
When you know what these 5 main patterns are and how they are playing out in your life causing you pain—you will become aware that your mind garden is not like it is by accident. You will also discover how to shift your thinking, how to pull out a weed and replace it with a nice healthy seed that will reward you for years to come.
If you want to discover these 5 patterns of thinking that cause the weeds in your mind you can check out my books, “Wellness Words, how to think speak and feel great” as an ebook here or “How to break free from anxiety”.
No matter how full of weeds your mind is, change is possible—when you know where to look and what to do, change can happen easily. It’s too stressful to live life in pain, especially when you don’t have to. Imagine, what happens if your anxious mind was a result of your mind garden being full of a certain type of weeds, and you learnt how to landscape it and you were now free? The key question to ask yourself, therefore, is, do you want a new lease of life?