Stop the Wandering Mind:An Exercise In Creativity

Hi everyone, I took a small break last week but now it's time to move forward on our journey towards experiencing more creativity. This will be the last preparation exercise before we move into the area of practical application.

Today I want to discuss the importance of calming our wandering minds. This subject is often touchy for many because it brings up many philosophical questions in regards to self/soul, ego/spirit etc... The primary problem arises in one choosing to accept this concept: You are not your mind. Your mind is an element of the human body from which we use to experience life through. You can sit with that and I am sure over time, as I have in previous post, continue to elaborate on this as an understanding of this will help you in your creative endeavors and beyond.

You ask, what does this have to do with me being creative right now? A wandering mind is the enemy of creative thought and experience. Have you ever tried to study something or read a book etc.. and found that while you were engaged in the activity you reached a point where you no longer knew what you were reading about or where you were in the book for that matter? This is wandering mind. Perhaps you were trying to listen to something and then you realized that you had no idea what was going on. Perhaps you blamed the book or the music for not engaging you but the real issue is your wandering mind.

I have discussed this problem with many people who feel as if their mind is trying to keep them from doing what they want to do. The root of this problem lies in a misunderstanding about the mind. This misunderstanding is that your mind must be trained and tamed to work with you towards your goals. Your mind is merely a tool, a VERY powerful tool, but just a tool that must be brought into proper negotiation with you. You must be able to focus on things clearly for an extended period of time. You must be able to recognize when your mind is generating unwanted thoughts and let them go. It is from this space that we can really begin to develop our natural habits of creativity.

AN EXERCISE: 100-0 visualization

Try this exercise to experience for yourself this space I am talking about. Take a deep breath. Close your eyes and visualize the number 100 in your minds eye. Next count backwards towards 0 watching the numbers change from 100,99,98,97 etc... Now here is the catch, Do Not Sub-vocalize meaning don't hear the voice in your head say 100,99,98,97 etc... only see the numbers going backwards towards 0. Lastly, when you notice that your focus has drifted to a passing thought or that you are sub-vocalizing go back to 100 and start again.

You will experience that this is indeed difficult in the beginning but I encourage you to stick with it until you get quite comfortable with this. You will notice results.

Let me say this to close, Hard work in service of yourself is the most valuable work one can do because it is through this labor that over time we will come to a richer self-knowledge that will lead us towards our creative contribution that shall consciously serve the whole, our planetary family.

Peace,
Andrew