Over the last month or so I’ve been learning a new technique to teach me how to work more effectively with my dog. In learning the technique I have discovered the tangible benefits of a quiet mind that I thought I’d share.
I talk a lot about peace, or a quiet mind here on my blog. That’s because I truly believe that it’s what most humans are looking for. That, and happiness.
I often ask people I work with what they want from our sessions. Their answers can be anything from less anxiety to an ability to tackle some obstacle they perceive to be in their life.
But rather than leave that response on the table I find out what having that thing would give them.
Take anxiety as an example.
If you ask someone why they don’t want to be anxious they might respond with ‘because then I could do the things I want to do in life’. If you ask what that would give them and keep asking, the end response is almost always peace (a quiet mind) or happiness.
Peace & happiness is our ‘default setting’
Both peace and happiness are our north star; they are what we are, what is fundamental, before conditioning, beliefs, experiences and thoughts arise.
How can I say that with such certainty?
Because of how they feel.
If we were fundamentally angry, frustrated, anxious, depressed and annoyed why would they feel so uncomfortable? Why when we experience those things do we feel so ‘out of sorts’? Why do we resist the feeling of them?
In short, because they are not our natural state and there is something within us that knows this. And it is the feeling that lets us know whether we are nearer or further to our natural state of peace and happiness.
So what’s this got to do with dogs?
Feelings are transmitted
Well the technique I am learning about shows very clearly how peaceful feelings can be transmitted from human to animal.
In my experience of working with humans it works with them too.
How many times have you been in the presence of someone who is calm, and felt calm yourself? It’s like they have some magnetism in them that draws your mind into their peaceful one.
Equally, how many times have you been in the presence of someone who is angry or worked up and felt reactive too?
When we have a quiet mind it enables those around us to lower their thinking levels.
A quiet mind provides clarity & learning
So what is the benefit of a quiet mind?
Most of us have no idea because we rarely experience one! That was certainly my experience before I came across The Three Principles, the psychological understanding that I share here in my work.
Let’s take the example of my dog.
She reacts by barking when someone knocks on the door. She can go from sleeping to barking in seconds. But all that is happening is that she, for whatever reason, has acquired the belief that knocking means danger. So when knocking happens, her thinking increases and she reacts.
In this state she is unable to hear me. If you have a dog you’ll be familiar with this situation!
When I say she can’t hear me, I can call her, shout at her or try any other technique to stop her barking but that won’t happen until her thinking levels reduce enough for her to hear me.
Does this sound familiar?
When you are busy engaging in anxious thinking can you hear what someone is trying to tell you?
No, because you are so focussed on the thinking that the rest of the world may as well not exist.
But from a calm, quiet mind, I’m guessing you can hear people; you can engage with the world and you have more rational thoughts. What seemed like a disaster in a high thinking state, no longer looks so dreadful (a great example is 3am thinking!).
When we have a quiet mind we are in a receptive state to not only learn more effectively, but to have fresh ideas.
It seems to me that the greatest gift we can give the world right now is to quieten our own minds, to quieten the minds of those around us.
Then rather than making decisions from fear and anxiety, people can make considered, reliable decisions that come from the space of possibility.
If you’d like more peace of mind in your life join my free 5 day course exploring where peace comes from. You can find out more and sign up here.
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