Showing posts with label meditation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meditation. Show all posts

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Learning to Let Go of Unproductive Thoughts, Habits, and Feelings

In the last couple of weeks I have been navigating my two career paths, teaching and creating art. This has led me to contemplate my efforts; am I splitting my talents? Am I being fair to my students or to myself by following two separate paths?

I came to a realization or a reminder that in order to nurture my talents and passions I have to maintain a compassionate and disciplined mindset. This mindset requires me to rethink  some of the habitual negative thought patterns.

Advice I have followed when facing negative thoughts includes:

1. Don't dwell on things for too long. If I had no control over something that happened an affirmation I said was, "Put this behind you, think about what's next."

2. I also had to realize that the negative thinking did not lead to solutions, and I had to cut those thoughts immediately by saying,
"Stop. This isn't doing you any good."
Firmly, I would move along and replace my thinking with something productive, like a creative project, planning, or marking. I believe that we must learn to be stern with our thoughts and ensure we choose a positive direction for them to go in, otherwise, they can easily lead us into a downward spiral. But if we do go down the latter path the next step has worked miracles for me when my "thought chaos" ensues.

3. A meditation and deep breathing exercise for anxiety:
"Breathe in love, breathe out peace." It takes practice, but it is my go to whenever I am lead astray by thoughts, or when I am having trouble sleeping. It is a great action to take to refocus your mind.

4. Here are some more helpful tips on letting go created by Buddha Heart. Thanks for reading and I wish you all the best on your creative journey.