016 How to declutter your mind
Hi friends,
Today I’m presenting another easy, short, and versatile practice - a somatic journaling exercise. It’s the second in a series of seven designed to help you connect to your body, quiet your mind, and reduce stress and pain during the holiday season.
Last week’s practice was a 10 minute somatic meditation. In it, you learned a unique way of stimulating your parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) via the breath. You also learned a simple way to connect to your energy system.
We know from earlier editions of this newsletter that your energy system is the gateway to Presence and healing, so learning to connect is vital for reducing pain and stress.
This week, we’re using writing as a way to clear the mind and body. So grab a pen and notebook, put your phone on airplane mode, and let’s go.
The mind is a busy place
Most of us, from the moment we wake up to when we fall asleep, are inundated with thoughts. And often we’re balancing several at once, with each one competing for our attention.
We have thoughts that arise from out of nowhere. They tend to reflect our preoccupation with the past and future. Others are implanted by our external environment.
These are what I call involuntary thoughts.
We don’t choose them and, because they largely arise from our unconscious, we struggle to control their content, frequency, or intensity.
We also have conscious or voluntary thoughts - the ones that reflect our true wisdom and awareness. We create these intentionally, and use them to guide our experiences, actions, and relationships to others.
When we have a craving for junk food or a television binge, we call on a conscious thought to remind us how we actually want to feel and the more effective way to achieve that feeling.
But in a mind that’s constantly full, tumbling from one thought to another and inundated with external stimulation, it can be hard for these conscious thoughts to gain traction. That’s where journaling comes in.
Somatic Journaling
This practice will take between 10-15 minutes. Gather your pen and notebook, put your phone on airplane mode, and find a quiet space where you won’t be interrupted.
Step 1 (3-5 minutes):
Using your dominant hand, write out the content of your involuntary thoughts. These are your worries, regrets, grievances, etc. Be brutally honest and free in your expression. Don’t worry if what you’re writing isn’t “wise” or “true”. Expressing these thoughts will not give them power. You’re putting them on paper as a way to use up their fuel and remove them from your mind.
Step 2 (2 minutes):
Take a moment to connect with your breath and then your body. Make good contact with the parts of you resting on the chair, ground, mattress, etc. Allow your breathing to continue in a relaxed way as you scan your body for sensation. Notice what you feel: Tightness, tension, heat, coolness, energy, emotions, etc.
Step 3 (3-5 minutes):
Using your non-dominant hand, write a response to what you wrote in step 1. Write from the perspective of someone you trust and feel safe with (your therapist, partner, best friend, or even an older/wiser version of yourself). Every experience can be interpreted in multiple ways. Let this be an interpretation of love, acceptance, and wisdom.
Step 4 (2 minutes):
Repeat step 2, connecting to your breath and then scanning your body. Notice what you feel and, in particular, what has changed. Allow yourself to observe without judgement, evaluation, or interpretation. Simply notice what’s present.
That’s it. Simple and remarkably powerful. If you like this practice, try it a few times over the course of the week and see how it evolves. It can be invaluable when the mind is overloaded and filled with clutter.
See you next week!
Energetically,
David