Happy Monday, everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend 🙂 My weekend included a beautiful hike in Evergreen, Co, listening to a great band in town, and time with friends. Have I mentioned recently that I love summer?

The past several days I have been reminded the importance of quieting our minds.Creating a more simplistic and Minimalist lifestyle will not be very rewarding if we still allow the trappings of  our minds to keep us from enjoying the life we have created.

Two weeks ago I started working out with a personal trainer. It is something I have wanted to do for a while and I think this decision is going to really help me meet my fitness goals. Anyway, as I was practicing my squats I must have been talking quite a bit because my trainer commented ” There’s really quite a lot going on up there, isn’t there?” The answer, of course, was “yes”. It was an embarrassing ‘yes’ because I realized that I had been letting my mind go crazy with lots of noise to address my concerns rather than just being still and hearing the one voice beyond all the chatter that is my true self.

I have a rather mercurial mind and it has always been brimming over with thoughts and observations since I was very young. In fact, being a rather shy, introverted child my mind was really where all the action was. In those days it wasn’t really much of a problem because I could be still and silence my mind and my thoughts had purpose, even if that purpose was creating imaginary kingdoms and observing the actions of the people around me.

Such an active mind can be a blessing for the creative process. However, as an adult things have changed. More and more my thoughts are  scattered and less creative. Often my thoughts are producing anxiety, doubt, and other unnecessary noise. Of course, the creative thoughts are still there but they tend to be buried under a lot more stuff. So, last week was a wake up call for me to quiet the constant chatter. By quieting my mind, my true creative voice will be free to be heard.

So after some productive thought, I have come up ways throughout the day to help me quiet my mind from all of its noisy an unproductive chatter.  Theres are things I have known to do for a while but I have neglected my own knowledge for a bit too long: 

•  Start the day out with quiet meditation time and try to finish the day in the same way.  I have been a little bit lax on this lately. A few minutes a day makes a big difference in how I face the day.
•  Focus on the present moment. Not thinking about what I did yesterday or what I might be doing tomorrow.
• Enjoy the moment. Even if it is sitting in traffic or doing a load of laundry. If it were my last moment on Earth, I would want to make it count no matter how mundane the moment may seem.
• Go a week without multitasking. I am going to put myself fully into whatever task is at hand rather than have my mind in six or seven different places.
• Periodically focus on my breath. Focusing on breath immediately brings a person back to the present moment and alleviates any anxiety or concerns that may be playing out in the mind.
• Accept Myself just as I am and work on letting go of my perfectionist tendencies. Humm… I think I can do a blog on this as a separate topic. 🙂
• Write down any great creative thoughts that come to mind. The best ideas and insights come when the mind is still.

How about you? Do you have lots of random busy thoughts running through your mind? Do you meditate or use other methods to keep centered throughout the day?

Thanks for stopping by the blog!

Until next time,

Laura