Don't Let Negative Thoughts Cause You To Miss Out On The Fun!
5 Ways to get out of Your Head and Enjoy the Now
It is remarkable how easy it is for our minds to hijack a moment and keep us from witnessing the fun and connection in the present moment. The other day I was pleasantly enjoying my child’s swim meet when I observed one of the swimmers crying because they had missed their race. My empathetic body and mind went straight to feeling their pain and digging up all of the matching stories of failure, disappointment and embarrassment I had experienced.
These thoughts immediately became my new filter for how I was feeling and showing up at the meet.
Uh-oh, because as someone who struggles with anxiety and bouts of depression it doesn’t take much to get me stuck in the mental discomfort and pain for extended periods of time (aka hours, days...). Thank goodness I have taught myself over the years to catch myself in these story spirals. In that awareness I immediately began a grounding, mindfulness practice that got me back on board my happy train and allowed me to enjoy the rest of the meet, whereas otherwise I may have ended up stuck in my mind and disconnected from the whole event.
We all experience moments where our mind and body react and for some of us it can lead to a rabbit hole of thoughts driving us farther and farther away from the present moment and life enjoyment. The techniques below can help you find ways to get back into the body and out of the mind and the sooner the better.
1. Breathe:
Yes, I know, it is impossible to not read or hear about how important breathwork can be for us. There are many different breathwork styles as well. I encourage you to find an approach that works for you. The 4 count breathing technique or square breath is easy to use. 4 count inhale, 4 count hold, 4 count exhale and 4 count hold. If you are interested in my favorite breathing visualization check out my website blog article: Breath of Life.
2. Body Awareness:
Turning all of your attention to what is happening in the body is another quick and easy approach to getting out of the head. All too often we look for brain distractions to avoid discomfort, I say jump right into it. Feel it, describe it to yourself, notice where it moves, see if you can shake it out, walk it out or just watch it dissipate. As long as you don’t feed it with thoughts, the discomfort will fade and you will be back in action.
3. Visualization:
Visualization is a very underutilized technique for processing thoughts and emotions. The simplest version of releasing discomfort or painful thoughts is to imagine (visualize) them leaving the body like a smoke cloud - you choose the color. You can visualize that discomfort floating away or melting down into the ground.
4. Get Rooted (grounded):
Coming back to the visualization method, you can get grounded out of the head by simply imagining roots growing down from your torso into the ground, or vise versa, roots coming up from the ground to gently keep you grounded (aka: out of your head and in your body.)
5. Mantras or Affirmations:
Mantras and affirmations can be very personal. They are statements or words that help you move out of thinking and can quickly shift how you feel in the moment. Positive affirmations such as, “ I am safe in my body” and “Be here now” are easy to employ and are gentle reminders to be present and connected to the moment and to your body. If you can turn these into matching visualizations then you're really cooking with gas. (as they say)
Having tips and tricks to keep you from reliving past pain or experiencing future worry are key to enjoying life in the now and not missing out on beautiful, connected moments. In my case, my mindfulness practice allowed me to have fun at the swim meet and see my daughter’s excitement when she beat her best time in her race!
If you struggle with getting caught up in the mind, I offer that you connect with me and allow me to share some personalized mindfulness techniques that will help you enjoy the wonder in the moment. Click the button below to set up a chat.
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