1) No Complaints
Generally speaking, we are not good at noticing our thoughts and words. Will Bowen’s “A Complaint Free World” suggests taking up the challenge of going 21 days without complaining. He recommends wearing a wristband and changing it to the other wrist every time we complain. On average people did this about 20 times a day at first. But once they started noticing then it became quite easy to be aware and they could go quite easily for a few days without complaining. In the same spirit from the ancient world, the Tibetan meditator Ben Gungyal’s main practice was to watch his mind. If a negative thought arose, he would put a black stone in front of him, and if a virtuous mind arose, a white one. When he was ending the day with a pile of only white stones, he had purified his mind.
What marker could we adopt to log our thoughts and words, online and offline?
2) Breathe
Breath is the only physiologic, bodily process that is under voluntary and involuntary control meaning we can intentionally control our breathing and also, if we let go, our body takes over for us. That’s why our breath is one of the most powerful tools we can use to strengthen the mind-body connection. But we can also strengthen our mind-body connection through letting our breath operate without interfering with it, placing our mind gently on the breath, and just noticing the sensations at the tip of our nose of cool and warmth. The more familiar we become with this, and the more thoroughly our attention blends with the breath, the more we will experience the deep pleasure of concentration.
Try it for 5 minutes at transition points of the day. As you sit at your desk to start your workday, after you’ve sent your last email, the moment before you start cooking, after you brush your teeth last thing at night. This moment of peace and connection with our own body and its rhythms, also encourages mental space and resilience.
3) Stay alert
Begin to pay more attention to how you feel in different parts of your body when you feel happy, sad, stressed, uplifted, or kind and compassionate. How do they differ? Where do you feel these changes and sensations? Doing this will support the mind-body connection, by helping you learn more about the physical impact of your feelings, good and bad.
Jot down what you notice, the order the sensations appear, and what the triggers are. Then review. The results can be very illuminating.