How can you stop the interruptions from your worried mind? Read on…
Catharina writes:
These days I do Buddhist exercises to quiet my mind. They involve quieting the mind by concentrating on bodily senses, so this is very consistent with Focusing. But sometimes my worried mind immediately takes over and I even forget I’m doing an exercise.
My question for you: Is this worried mind a part of me that tries to pull me away from my calming reflections? When I listen to this part, it seems like it doesn’t want me to rest, it wants me to get up and take care of things.
Dear Catharina:
Good for you for listening to this “worried mind” part of you!
It sounds like you’ve already discovered the initial answer to your question. It does want to pull you away from your calm reflections. But why?
It sounds like this part of you is worried that if you stay calm and quiet, you are not getting things done that must be done (in its view) in order to make your life… orderly? Safe? Something like that.
But this so far is just the first level of understanding. At this level, each part just wants what it wants, and we’re kind of stuck.
The good news is, this whole pattern can shift if we now go deeper.
“Deeper” means continuing to listen to it, and inviting a sense of what it is not wanting to happen if you stay in the calm space, if you don’t get those things done that it wants you to do.
A fresh sensing… it shows you want it is worried will happen if you don’t listen to it… and then you let it know you get that. Now there is a little more ease. This worried part is starting to feel that you are with it, you understand.
There is more. There is what it is wanting for you to feel or experience if you do what it wants you to do. Sensing this will take a bit longer… and will be so interesting when it comes.
Barbara McGavin and I call this process “Deep Empathy,” because we don’t stop at the first level, we stay curious and go deeper and deeper. At a certain point the whole inner dynamic shifts… and the main reason for that is the trust that is built because you are listening, without judging or trying to make things change. Magic!
