Postponing unwanted thoughts gives them a time and place, helping keep them at an appropriate scale. When you find your mind ruminating on unwanted thoughts, find a 30-minute block in your calendar. Schedule a time to sit with these thoughts.
Read MoreLabeling the thoughts that arise during a Mindfulness meditation can be a helpful practice. For example, if you notice yourself thinking about what you will be doing later that day, you can label the thought “planning” and then let it go.
Read MoreHumans are meaning-making creatures.
We are constantly involved in this process of meaning-making by creating narratives about our life, ourselves, our surroundings, and the people we interact with.
We fill in the missing details of a particular situation based on our fears, unmet needs, memories, and expectations. These stories help us feel like the world is predictable.
But the majority of the stories we create are works of fiction. And they still hold tremendous power.
Read MoreMindfulness involves paying attention to what is happening in the present moment. Most often when we consider mindfulness, we think about our own thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and behaviors in the moment. It is also important for us to notice what is happening in our environment, as our environment has the ability to impact both our thoughts and our emotional states.
Read MoreMindfulness meditations involve maintaining an open presence and a non-judgmental awareness of sensory, cognitive, and affective experiences as they arise in the moment. Studies examining brainwave patterns during Mindfulness meditation practices have found increased frontal theta power as well as increased frontal theta communication. Theta waves are between 4-8 hz and are associated with the subconscious mind, moments of creativity, and retrieving certain types of memory.
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