My Brain Is Running Wild

This morning was a struggle. I have a normal routine. I wake up, go through my dream while still in bed so I can remember it for Dreamwork later, head downstairs, make tea, journal my thoughts for 20-30 minutes and then start the behind the scenes work of running a small business. Well, this morning when my cardinal started calling at 6:15am, (no rooster needed at my house) I woke up and couldn't remember my dream, first bummer. Then, I made the mistake of looking at my phone and getting sidetracked with Instagram as I walked downstairs. I made tea with my phone in my hand, then I tried to detach from my phone and I sat down to write in my journal. My mind was still on Instagram though and how to be "relevant" to help people. So, I wrote 11 more things to do on my to do list. Then, I started journaling. I wrote I am free, I am whole and I am lovable three times each. I wrote a whole four lines more in my journal and stopped. Nothing else came out.

I wish I could say my brain came back online at this point and I wrote something profound, but it didn't. Rather than sit with the quiet and let the words come, I sought out more distraction. I checked my email. I responded to some emails because the person I needed to communicate with was online at 7am as well. By 7:30 though, I hadn't really gotten anything I wanted done. I count on my time in the morning for self-care so I can be kind the whole day. I need it like air to clear out the junk and set myself up for success. As I sat feeling frustrated, I decided to clear my mind with meditation. This would be the answer, plus I could check it off my to do list (yes I put self-care items on my to do list because I love checking things off to feel productive).

Meditating with a racing mind is tough. Mine was not cooperating. I went back to "not accomplishing anything yet," let my inner critique out of her cell and then sat for 15 minutes wondering why I couldn't just focus on my breath. I am really good at telling my brain to count the breath and then while I count in the background, my mind is busy thinking other thoughts. Eventually, in the last couple of moments, I got quiet enough to visualize myself, put the critique version of myself away and see myself filling up with white light.

Can you identify with my mind this morning? In my Qi Gong training, my teacher used to say that the masters compared the mind to a drunken monkey. I can totally see that this morning. It's like my mind jumped from one topic to the next and then looped back to the original thought. I sat in my meditation space for a few moments asking my intuition what I needed to calm my brain and focus so that my day could be filled with calm energy. I instantly thought of several coping mechanisms that really help bring the brain back from chaos.

So I sat quietly and gave myself a triple warmer smoothie that I learned from Donna Eden. Then I reset my cortices of my brain, a technique I learned from my mentor Alma; and I wrapped up with a little qi gong tapping to bring some fresh energy in. I have to tell you I feel so much better!

I know I am not alone with this racing mind syndrome, especially in the current environment. If you can identify with me, take heart. You aren't alone, you can do this, and I promise in less than 5 minutes, these simple exercises will help you gain focus, energize you and calm your brain racing. Give it a try!