“My mind is a bad neighborhood that I try not to go into alone.
–Anne Lamott
I know how easy it is to get stuck in your head. When my brain isn’t churning with thoughts, memories, worries, plans, analyses, or trying to figure something out, it’s attempting to pull me back into its fold by convincing me that it can solve whatever problem I’m facing if only I obsess about it a little longer.
Our minds are incredible, but they’re only part of our natural awesome-ness, and so much gets eclipsed when we over-rely on them. So as much for myself as for anyone else, here are some reminders from my own experience about why we could all use a break from our brains:
1. Your mind is a dark place.
Most of our heads are filled with catastrophes and worst-case scenarios. Though this scenery bears little relation to the real world, the more time we spend in our minds, the more likely these outcomes seem. And because of this…
2. There’s fear everywhere in there.
You can’t jump from one thought to the next without stepping in a pile of it. Not to mention the fact that…
3. Your mental landscape is covered in rationalization.
Our brains are smart, and they know how to talk us into our out of just about anything, regardless of how we really feel about it. Just ask Lance Armstrong, or someone who’s convinced themselves to stay in a job they hate for 30 years. And on top of that…
4. In your head, self doubt is rampant.
Doubting your abilities is a mental habit, not some intuitive truth about yourself. And the more time you spend in your head, the more likely you are to run face-first into it.
A lot of this can be explained by the fact that…
5. Your brain has bad eyesight.
What I mean by that is when you’re in your head, you’re not paying attention to what’s happening around you. You’re not taking in new information, and you’re not seeing, feeling, or experiencing what’s actually occurring in the real world right now.
When you do…
6. You see that you’re okay, no matter what’s happening.
You observe that there is always support available to you. And you see how much you’re able to handle day-in and day-out, no matter what comes your way. In fact…
7. You feel more powerful and confident.
Without your thoughts distracting you, you’re able to sense into that quiet place within that feels how strong and wise you really are.
8. You aren’t so worried about what other people think.
Self-consciousness stems from thoughts, so without them, you don’t feel so dependent on other people’s approval.
9. You’re less stressed.
These days, our fight or flight response is triggered mostly by thinking (there are fewer actual tigers prowling around in modern times). Without worries, your system is free to rest and digest in peace. And because of this…
10. You’re able to sleep more easily.
When you learn to get out of your head, you can choose whether or not you want to follow certain trains of thoughts. You get to decide which thoughts to amplify and which to let go of. As a result…
11. You obsess less.
And the same skill would make it possible that…
12. You stop beating yourself up over your mistakes.
Not to mention the fact that…
13. You give your poor mind a break.
(Your brain gets tired too.) In addition…
14. You feel more connected to others.
Connection is what happens naturally when we’re present with others instead of trying to listen while really being caught up in what’s next on our To Do list.
And maybe best of all…
15. You stop asking yourself: “Where did all the time go?”
When you’re present in the current moment, time doesn’t disappear. It may go faster or more slowly, but you’re there experiencing all it has to offer—things like beautiful sunsets, dreamy birdsongs, and the delicious food you happen to be ingesting.
It’s true that your brain is smart. It’s also true that your smarts aren’t all in your head. If you got out of there more, you’d see that…
16. You’re more creative.
Ever heard of the shower effect? (It refers to the fact that many of us get our best ideas in the shower.) Or the fact that almost every model of the creative process includes a step called something like “incubation” where you stop thinking about an issue and put your attention somewhere else?
These occur because creativity depends on more than our brains, and in fact, sometimes our brains get in the way of the process. Which is true of something else as well…
17. Decisions are easier.
Neuroscientist Antonio Demasio found that people with brain injuries that prevented them from feeling their emotions suffered a similar effect: they couldn’t make decisions. They’d list out the pros and cons of each choice and bounce back-and-forth among them endlessly without being able to decide. It turns out that emotions are key to making decisions. Furthermore…
18. You have greater access to your deepest desires.
Studies show that our brains are terrible at predicting what will make us happy. Our emotions and bodies, on the other hand, can point to this information much more directly.
In fact, our emotions and bodies have lots of important information to offer us. Which is why…
19. You tap into your inner wisdom.
Here’s what I mean by inner wisdom: Intuition. Guidance. The bigger picture. Knowing what’s most important. Malcolm Gladwell called it “thinking without thinking” in Blink. It’s your ability to sense the truth in ways other than reasoning and deduction. And it’s incredibly powerful.
Because you have so much wisdom within you…
20. You get better without trying.
When you’re following your inner wisdom, every experience is educational and every challenge becomes a teacher. You don’t have to worry if you’re learning enough or doing it right. Your true self is in charge, and it knows what it’s doing.
Because of that…
21. You find what you’re looking for without trying.
Everything we want—peace, love, admiration, security, excitement, happiness, etc.—is already within us. The problem is, at some point we begin to feel disconnected from it, so we start to seek it out—a process that actually takes us farther from our goal. A lot of this effort takes place in our heads. When we relax back into our hearts and bodies, we re-connect with what we thought we were missing.
If you’re at all like me, right about now you’re thinking something like: “That all sounds great, but how do I actually do that?” I’m so glad you asked. I’m super excited to share an opportunity with you to…
Learn how to get out of your head and in touch with the wisdom of your body.
I’ve mentioned some exciting new offerings in the works, and the first of them is coming up! I’m partnering with my good friend and amazing teacher Natalie Biniasz to bring you: Tune Into Your Body’s Intelligence: A FREE Call to Unlock Greater Power, Presence and Wisdom on Wednesday, May 11th at 6:00pm ET. It’s going to be fun and practical and will show you various ways to get out of your head and in touch with your inner wisdom. And did I mention that it’s free?
If you want to get the details about how to sign up for this call and future opportunities, leave your information in the grey box below!
Photo credit: zaphodsotherhead // CC