Uncluttering your Brain – It Does NOT Always Know Better

How many times do you find yourself feeling tired or sad or depressed, then trying to explain it away as not the way you “should” be?

Yesterday I called a friend, and had a pretty disjointed conversation with her because she was yawning every third sentence. To me, she was obviously quite tired and needed to get some rest.  However, she spent our conversation explaining to me how she should NOT be tired because nothing she had done during the day supported getting more rest.  As if a bit more rest was a weakness and not to be tolerated!

Lily and Dexter have no problems taking a siesta!

I was especially aware of what she was doing because I have made a decision to be more in tune with what my body is telling me, and to stop telling my body what it should be or should feel.   I have spent most of my life trying to  turn away from what my body says, and replace it with how I think my body should be responding.

By doing this I get caught in a tug of war between reality, and what my mind (through social conditioning etc) says I should be, think, feel.  It is a very insidious habit for me – I have spent most of my life moving past the pre-conditioning and becoming more who I really am.  This one trips me up quite a bit.

Not listening to our bodies becomes a danger not only with mainstream people, but with people who have sensitive tendencies.  Many time us sensitive types need more rest, but if we are not at peace with our specific needs, we can ignore the signs our bodies give us, to our detriment.

I have this process down to two steps:

1. I notice feel quite tired.  My brain says – I  should not be tired because blah, blah, blah…………
2. I gently turn away from what my mind is telling me, and really look at what my body is telling me, and act from that knowledge.

Yesterday I was up as usual at 6 am, and by 10:30 I wanted to go back to sleep.  Everything I needed to do seemed hard and forced.  It was possible to  take a nap, because I did not have anything  to do until 2 pm.   I started listening to the endless reasons my brain was feeding me as to why I shouldn’t be tired and could not possibly lay down (being considered “lazy” is a big trigger),  then gently turned away and tuned into my body.  It said it was tired!

I  slept for 3 hours without even moving.  Then I got up, refreshed and ready to do the tasks I needed to do -  with no hardship.  My body needed that sleep!

We have much clutter in our brains that does not serve us.  Being aware and mindful can help us figure out what is, or is not clutter.

Here’s to living mindfully!  Caroline

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