Does Your Self Talk Go Something Like This?

You’ve probably been doing this for years haven’t you? We’ll unfortunately there isn’t a magic pill or technique to turn it off instantly…

However… if you are willing to start with using just 5 minutes of your time a day in to practicing a positive exercise for stilling the mind things will begin to shift.

A 5 minute breathing meditation is a good place to start.

You will need a comfortable, quiet place to sit. No distractions, turn off TVs, radios, your phones and so on.

Start to breathe in and out of the nose and concentrate on the nostrils, imagining the breath going in and leaving the body – in through the nostrils and out through the nostrils. Every time the mind wanders bring your attention back to the tip of your nose and notice the air coming in and out. Initially it helps to internal say to yourself ‘In’ on the in breath and ‘Out’ on the out breath. Just noticing the breath at the nostrils. ‘In’ and ‘Out’ – and as the mind wanders again (and it will – all the time to begin with!) just acknowledge that it has wandered and bring it gently back to the job at hand, breathe ‘In’ and breathe ‘Out’.

Try this for 5 minutes every day for a week and see how you feel – if you like the relaxation it brings try 10 minutes the following week. You’ll be surprised how relaxing and mind clearing it can be, but be gentle with your self. You’re not used to doing this so every time the mind wanders just gently bring it back to the breath. This is the key – being gentle with yourself – it isn’t a competition, there are no musts, shoulds, no negative ‘I can’ts’ just be gentle with your self, it’s about re-training yourself, to controlling your thoughts, for stilling your mind for a few minutes a day.

A meditation – easy huh? – No crossed legs, no Oms or mantras. Just you and your breath.

Got to be worth a try hasn’t it? Heck you could even try it before going to sleep at night if you just can’t find 5 minutes in the day couldn’t you?