Would you mind?

Hey! Hope you had a great weekend.

We’re going to spend today going over what Mindfulness is, the brain’s part in it, and a couple options available to you to get your practice off the ground.

I’d love to hear your interpretation and tips you have which have impacted your practice and journey.

The Elevator Pitch.

Here’s my mindfulness elevator pitch: Mindfulness is that moment you spend in an elevator with your thoughts and feelings, preparing for what’s on the other side of the door.

The Longer Elevator Pitch.

While you’re ascending in the metal carriage you experience a handful of thoughts, emotions, and feelings.

Another day at work, a big job interview, or a huge presentation, any scenario is going to bring thoughts and feelings to the forefront.

You quickly determine what’s a priority, what can be taken care of later, and what can be disregarded because you had a terrible commute.

The doors open and you hit the ground running, doing your best to hold on to feelings and thoughts which will serve you best in the upcoming moment.

Mindfulness is coming to that discovery.

What’s the brain’s part in this?

You may or may not be aware of this: the brain is kinda complex. Neurons are consistently firing and transferring information, especially with all the stimuli we experience daily.

Naturally, we’re going to react by creating thoughts and feelings toward things.

The majority of them are temporary and add no value to our lives. But there are ones that become ingrained into our subconscious. Which in turn impacts our values and beliefs.

But thoughts as a whole still take up space as well as our attention, possibly being a distraction, and reducing our efficiency output. The same goes for feelings.

Knowing the goals we’re working towards in addition to everyday tasks we have to complete, we want to leverage thoughts and feelings which will aid in getting things done.

Sidenote: Sometimes you’ll see unconscious and subconscious be used interchangeably. Sometimes you won’t. For context, I will use conscious and subconscious when speaking of mindfulness and the way to approach thoughts.

Freud created the Iceberg Theory: The part of the iceberg above water is our conscious mind. Right below the surface is what he called the Preconscious with the deeper end called the Unconscious. 

Psychoanalysts will have something to say about the usage of the subconscious and unconscious. While that area of study is something I find fascinating, for simplicity’s sake I’ll keep it to above and below water: Conscious and Subconscious.

Side sidenote: I’m not a psychologist, psychoanalyst, or psycho. This is a hobby I’m passionate about and I want to share my experience and research hoping others can find some value in it.

“We all live in the Yellow Subconscious…”

Without knowing it, feelings and emotions gain control on the subconscious level. The subconscious can be considered a part of the mind where actions and processes are executed automatically.

Think about someone in your life who you don’t hold in high regard. Notice you’re more aware of their negative traits and characteristics and you have to actively look for positive things about them.

The initial impression of them has been cemented in your subconscious. It then automatically looks for other qualities and traits associated with that initial impression because that’s all it knows when it comes to that one person.

It works the same way when it comes to the impression we have of ourselves, our values, and beliefs.

You may hear the term limiting beliefs tossed around. It’s as it sounds, beliefs you hold which are limiting you from becoming a better version of yourself.

“I can’t do that thing.” “I’m awful at it.”

I know you think it doesn’t make sense. “I would never think so poorly of myself!” But we hold more of those beliefs than what we’re aware of.

You tell yourself you can’t do something and creates an impression in your mind relating to that thing. That simple statement is creating a pattern for your brain to follow when it comes to that specific action.

The brain automatically pulls from the subconscious and then paints a picture. Now when you think of that thing, the brain reacts and presents options that compliment the picture that’s been painted. Preventing you from doing what you set out to.

It’s the same for everything that enters your mind.

So who’s pulling the strings?

We change the patterns we follow by changing what’s deep inside the brain, the part of the iceberg underwater.

You’ll often see people suggest you change things little by little. It works because you’re creating a new routine and changing habits you’ve been maintaining in small increments.

Starting with surface traits and patterns you want to correct is commonly encouraged for new mindfulness practitioners. It also gives us an opportunity to course correct if needed.

My cheat code is something I’ve borrowed from the Stoics which is asking myself: “Can I control this?”. Or more specifically, “Can I control my response to this?”.

We can’t control the creation of feelings and thoughts, but we can control how we respond to them and the impact we allow them to have.

Most feelings and thoughts are passing and don’t fully encompass the bigger picture and how we really feel about it.

You can determine their worth and value which determines if they become a part of the subconscious, the part of the iceberg underwater.

Fine. What are my options?

Before you download a meditation app or go searching “breathwork practices” on YouTube, you have to understand this is a process. It’s not flipping switches in your mind on and off and then going about your day.

A great place to start is becoming comfortable with being aware. Aware of your feelings. Aware of your thoughts.

Pay attention to how easily they come and how quickly they can go. Notice how easy it is to bring your attention and focus back to your practice.

All of this can be accomplished through either meditation or breathwork practice. Try a few out to get an idea of what works for you.

Journaling was a great addition to my mindfulness practice. It can be structured or unstructured as you want it to be.

Be it to-do lists, ideas to solve problems you're facing, or even a good old pros and cons list, it’s your call.

At the very least, you want to treat it as a track record. You want to see how your relationship with feelings and thoughts has changed over time.

And that’s it!

The mind is such a complex thing with various theories and ideas on how things actually work.

The good news is we can be more efficient and we can find more peace in our lives.

We just have to sort a few things out.

Have a great week!

-Matt