Tuning in to Inner Peace: The Surprisingly Fun Way to Transform Your Life by Joan M Gregerson Read Free Book Online Page B

that I complete the project but I was stuck.
     
    I was constantly picking the problem up mentally, turning it around, looking at it from every aspect. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. I was driving myself crazy!
     
    Out of desperation, I tried meditating. No, you can’t even call it that. I was driving, so I just tried to silence my mind..
     
    When I do, it feels like the power going off on a spaceship. The flashing lights and beeping stop quickly. Whooooooosh. Only a dim glow, the heartbeat of the power supply is evident. A bit too dramatic? Maybe, but this is what’s happening in there when I can turn off the manic thinking.
    Anywho… as I drove, I felt this sudden state of peace. I accepted the fact that either I could figure it out or I couldn’t. …. …. …. Yep, that’s about it.  … … silence …
     
    A few minutes later, I arrived at work, refreshed. Peaceful.
     
    I sat down at my computer and opened the program. I suddenly knew exactly what to do.
     
    This was a situation in life that parallels what we do in meditation when we sit with our hands open. When my hands are closed tight, I am grasping, holding to the past, rigid, inflexible, panicked. Open …a solution just falls onto my palm.
     
    “Logic will get you from A to Z.
    Imagination will get you everywhere.” - Einstein
     
    Deeply Moving: No Words are Needed
    As alluded to, our meditation class taught me about something called “thoughtless awareness.” This is a tough one to grasp for those of us in the West. But, once I got a glimpse of this concept, I realized it explained a lot.
     
    Newly single and without kids, I went to Ghana for a drumming and dance workshop. We started every day with a one hour dance class and a second hour of drumming. Both included singing. The healing power of this experience was profound and not something I could name or easily explain to others.
     
    But, once I knew about thoughtless awareness, I realized Aha! This was a time that I was not thinking. It was my first regular break from thinking. I noticed that if I did think during these classes, my thoughts were unhelpful: You’ll never learn this. You can’t do this. Why are you even trying?
     
    But, if I turned my thinking off or at least down, I was fine.
     
    I realized, too, that experiences in my life that were profound were not defined by words. And, the most profound experiences were times without words: dancing, drumming, having sex, holding a baby, walking in nature, doing sports, making art, or playing with a child.
     
    Words cannot convey the depth of my feelings …sounds like a greeting card cliché (and like most cliché’s, it’s true.)
     
    Defintion: Profound (noun): deep, bottomless, vast
     
     
     
     
    Exercises
              Tomorrow, notice if there are any parts of your day where your thinking is on overdrive. When? How does it make you feel? What are you thinking about? Is it the same thing, over and over, or are you getting new insights?
              Have you ever had sudden inspirations that showed up when you were not thinking?
              Are there situations where you feel yourself getting caught up in thinking, but know that at some deeper level, it’s not true?
              Do you have activities that you enjoy where no thinking is involved? What are they? How do they feel? What is their impact on your life?
              What are the most profound experiences of your life? Are they word-based or something else?
              Try sitting on the floor for five minutes, doing nothing. Watch your thoughts with an amused chuckle. Don’t try to stop anything or change anything. Notice if you feel any different as your day progresses.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     

     

1 2 Meet Your Parasympathetic System
     
    If you're stressed out, your parasympathetic system is out of shape.
     
    Most of Western physical education is directed to our sympathetic nervous