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Thinking too much? Why it can make you ill

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Thinking too much
“Hmm… I should have thought of that.”

Thinking is a good thing, of course. If we didn’t think, we would get nothing done. There would never be any brilliant new ideas and there would be no education. Life would be a series of responses to basic needs and not much else. The ability to assess, calculate and learn is a staggering faculty that we take for granted. It is one of many aspects of a miraculous state called consciousness, though certainly not the only one. Thinking intelligently is a great gift, but most of us – and I most certainly include myself in this – suffer from unintelligent thinking. It is this that has the potential to make us ill.

Thinking without thinking

More than ever, there is a pressure in society to have an opinion on just about anything at all. It is so important, that corporations spend billions of pounds every year on ensuring that we do. Addiction to social media guarantees that at any given moment millions of people are expressing their opinions on this that or the other. Click Like if you agree. (No, please don’t – that was a joke.) The end result is that our minds are constantly active on things that don’t really matter. So how can this affect our health?

Too much focus can easily create tension

Energy flow

For good health, we need vitality. For that, our energy needs to flow easily through the body. When the flow of energy is blocked or restricted for any length of time, discomfort can build up, eventually leading to illness. We know if we are too sedentary or eat unwisely, there can be a negative impact on the body. But probably we don’t consider the effects on the body of our thinking.

Awareness, not thinking

The fact is that all our mental responses affect our energy circulation in some way. In short, too much thinking creates tension that interrupts the free flow of energy. Yet the nature of consciousness is not to be in a constant state of activity – it is to be aware. It really does pay to stop sometimes. Stop thinking and just be aware. It’s a treat for the body and a boon for the mind. Oddly, it’s great for our health, too.

How we can reduce unnecessary thinking is explored in my third book The Art of Not Doing. Available in print and on Kindle.

Related posts:

  1. Clarity: why it’s a vital antidote to this mad world
  2. Action: Why everything you do and say is more important than you think
  3. Mortality: why our own impermanence is such a wonderful gift
  4. Time: why keeping an eye on the clock shortens your life

Mind secrets: amazing space, amazing peace

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“Mind – what does it actually look like?” someone once asked me. They had just had their first experience of meditation. The question threw me for a moment as it came outside the normal ambit of practical questions, such as the best time to practise. I’d never thought of anyone assuming that the mind looked like anything. The natural response, which I gave a moment later, is that it doesn’t have any appearance or shape. It is rather like space.

Mind – can it be measured?

But the question arose because we have a habit of labelling everything as this or that. As an old scientist friend once told me, “According to science, if you cannot weigh it or measure it, it doesn’t exist.” My questioner wanted to be able to label the mind, or at least to quantify it.

If we turned the inquiry round a little bit, we might ask how space can be measured or weighed. A quantum physicist may have some good answers to that but in layman’s terms, you can only measure the distance between objects, not space itself. If you take the objects away, there is still space.

A conventional description of mind might be that it is the sum total of our thoughts, beliefs, perceptions and so on. Does that mean that if they stop, the mind ceases to be?

Mind – the illustrious container

Everything we see, hear, smell, taste or touch, we analyse. Because we analyse, we separate. This is different to that. Then we can filter it into our memory as beneficial or harmful, pleasant or unpleasant, neutral and so on. More significantly, by assigning quality to what we perceive, we regard everything as distinct from us.

If we look at a flower, it appears to be outside us. But all our observations, our perceptions and analyses take place within us. The only thing we see is a mental picture. If we look out of the window, all we see is within the mind. It is a mental picture.

Amazing space

If we stop thinking for a few moments, we may fleetingly experience the space-like nature of mind. Then the jumble comes back in. But if we make a habit of stopping, of observing without thinking, we will experience more of our space. And because space is space, we may be lucky enough to realise that the space of our environment – the “out there” – is one and the same as the space of the mind – the “in here”.

This is extraordinary. Then the mind relaxes, worry ceases, peace comes and bliss arises. That really is amazing space.

More on this in The Art of Not Doing

Free guided meditations

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Light lies ahead – we just have to see it

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Light is a real tonic, isn’t it, especially as now when the days are short and often dark? The world of humanity seems to be in something of a dark place at the moment. We need some light, some joy and something to look forward to.

Light up an ostrich today!

Ostriches are extraordinary birds. They are reputed (wrongly) to hide their heads in the sand when trouble approaches.light ostrich

I know a number of people, and you probably do, too, who refuse to read newspapers or watch or listen to news on television or radio. There is merit in that because what we are served up as a picture of reality in the media largely focuses on what is wrong. Apart from being negative in nature, there is the added factor of news manipulation, so we don’t even know if it is correct anyway.

So we can probably agree that news bulletins are generally neither very bright nor uplifting. But if we only want good news or none, and choose to ignore the existence of human suffering, maybe we too have become an ostrich.

We become what we digest – in the mind as well as the body

The old adage is “we are what we eat”. We know that what we take in as food and drink affects the body. It’s not just what we swallow, either. What we breathe affects us, as statistics on poor air quality and health clearly show.

But in many respects, the mind is more important than the body because it dictates everything we say or do. It is responsible for everything we think and all that we make of our world. The mind largely governs our feelings and our moods – it controls our life. It needs light.

The media is an aspect of our environment

Environment is much more than our physical surroundings. Our mental environment is just as important. If we keep taking in information that is predominantly negative, there is a danger that we could become gloomy, too. At the very least, it will sap our energy.

Positive people carriers of light?

Positive people tend to uplift us. They create a light environment. They may be a pain at times, too, but usually only because their lightness and cheerfulness accentuate our shadows.

light aheadEveryone has light within them. The difference between a positive person and a negative one is how that light manifests. The former carries light and passes it on. The latter chooses not to.

There is more light than dark

The world is not Trump, Putin, Brexit, the NHS or anything else. The world is as we are – as we perceive it. If we look around, there is far more goodness being done by ordinary people than there is bad. By making a habit of seeing that, we create a positive mental environment for ourselves which affects those around us. Our words and behaviour reflect increasing amounts of light. Isn’t that why we are here? Happy new year!

More on social responsibility and the need for love in society can be found in Awakening Heart: The Blissful Path to Self-Realisation. If you fancy a long read, I recommend Matthieu Ricard’s Altruism.

Related posts:

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Criticism: 3 reasons it’s bad for your wellbeing

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Criticism, as everyone knows, can hurt. No-one likes to be criticised. But even so, we tend to be experts at judgingCriticism judgment what is good or bad in someone else. Often, we will be too well-mannered to say anything and remain silent. Nevertheless, our minds form a judgment. It’s a habit that goes back to childhood. And, as energy follows thought, it’s bad for us and our sense of wellbeing.

Criticism – the antithesis of happiness

Being judgmental, even silently, is the antithesis of happiness. When we are on the receiving end of criticism, the ego is easily bruised. Perhaps we feel a little indignant or defensive. Probably, we have a sense of being deflated. The wind is taken out of our sails. Our self-esteem takes a knock. Most of us have experienced this many times in our lives.

But giving criticism can be just as damaging for ourselves, too. Here’s why.

1. It destroys our inner peace. A peaceful mind doesn’t judge. Those times we feel good occur because our innate wholeness is alive. When we are truly at peace, the mind is whole. There is no division. But when we judge that this is better than that, that this is good and that is bad, we have lost our equanimity.

2. This sets in motion a chain of events. Anyone or anything that supports what we judge to be right generates a positive response in us. Conversely, a negative reaction arises towards those who are against our belief of what is right and good.

3. When we see what we like, it makes us feel better. Our dislikes, on the other hand, make us feel worse. With the former, we are more relaxed and the latter generate tension. Moods and sense of wellness fluctuate. This is normal human behaviour, so we may think there is nothing we can do about it. But the cause isn’t “out there”, it is in the mind. That means we have choice.

Cultivate a mind that is at ease to enliven your wellbeing

A mind that is at ease naturally accepts others and circumstances as they are. That doesn’t mean we are free of responsibility to act, but we can do so without a sense of blame. The world is full of rhetoric about what is right and wrong. It comes from people who think their view is the only correct one. That means they haven’t been really listening to the other. It also means they have closed their minds. When our minds are closed, we are not free. We become our own prisoner. That is no way to be and is an unhappy state.
So relax and be aware. Let the mind be at ease. When criticism raises its head, chop it off. Gradually, life becomes more pleasant. We feel better. Our sense of wellbeing improves and we begin to restore wholeness. We don’t need to fight the world anymore. A measure of peace and joy can live in our hearts. And that’s just what the world needs.

More on easier living in Awakening Heart: The Blissful Path to Self Realisation

Good article by Oliver Burkeman “Is moaning good for you?” in today’s Guardian

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Be happier in 7 easy steps

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Be happier and bring some lightness into this crazy world! Finding and increasing happiness is a fundamentalbe happier smile human desire. In fact we could say that being happier is part of our life’s purpose. We have physical requirements – food, shelter and so on. Then there are emotional needs such as feeling loved, nurtured and appreciated. Happiness is more than the satisfaction of these needs. It may include them but essentially is a state of mind. We may be loved and well but can still be unhappy and feel sorry for ourselves.

Be happier: improve the mind

Improving the mind is essential. This doesn’t mean we have to study a foreign language or spend our leisure time doing endless brain exercises. It means seeing ourselves, and consequently others, in a different light. Before we can do that, our mind has to become clearer. But how?

A major problem most of us have is that we think too much. Our minds are cluttered and that is uncomfortable. To avoid that discomfort, we think about something else. Let’s book a holiday. Or buy this. Or eat some chocolate. Any dream will do. Then the mind starts getting busy again and we are back on the treadmill.

The mind needs to be calmer. We need to become calmer. That’s easier said than done, you may say, and you’d be right. But it’s not that difficult. Not really. We just need to ease our foot off the accelerator (that’s the gas, if you’re on the other side of the pond). Apply a little gentle pressure to the brake. In fact, take a break. Just slow down and allow your mind to be at ease.

Once is never enough

To improve our quality of life, there needs to be more than just an occasional top-up of greater calmness. There how to be happierhas to be some adjustment to how we approach life. Learning how to be happier is a process of forming new habits and dropping some old ones.

Seven easy things that will increase your happiness

  1. Slow down your activity. Although it is not possible for many of us to slow down all our activity, it is surprising how much we can adjust and actually perform what we have to do better simply by slowing down. Sometimes do something deliberately slowly, in slow-motion almost, and this will help to break the habit of doing everything at a fast pace.
  2. Slow down your thought processes. Rapid-fire thinking is not helpful because it agitates the subtle energies and creates tension in the body. Try to think calmly and clearly and on one thing at a time.
  3. Be aware of the breath as much as possible, even in activity.This will help to slow the mind down and it will increase awareness. This doesn’t mean we should concentrate on the breath – simply be aware of it in the background.
  4. Live in the present moment and do whatever is in hand with full awareness. If you are eating, for example, be fully aware of what you are chewing and not thinking about the next mouthful, the next course or what you have to do next. If you are listening, listen fully and give the other person your full attention without the mind wandering. If you are walking, enjoy feeling your steps.
  5. Smile. Smiling releases endorphins in the brain, increases the sense of well-being and helps to promote stillness. Just a light smile is enough – we don’t have to walk round with a fixed grin!
  6. Ensure you have some time each day by yourself. For some people, that may not seem so easy but if we are constantly in the company of others, it drains the energy and keeps the mind over-stimulated.
  7. Do something that you feel good about each day. This helps build self-esteem and calms the mind.

Inside not outside

Remember that quality of life depends not so much on external factors but on how we feel inside. In discovering how to be happier, the aim is not to become artificially still by cutting ourselves off from everything. The emphasis is gradually to bring more and more stillness into what we do. If we can achieve that, we will begin to touch the deeper parts of our being. Life rises from still waters rather than noisy, shallow rapids. We have more to offer life. In return, life offers so much. Happiness is restored.

From The Great Little Book of Happiness

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