[CHAT] Being in the moment.
Has this ever happened to you?
Through mindfulness, we are learning to be with our experience. Studies actually show that when we are engaged with our experience, the parts of the brain that are associated with essentially thinking about you and feeling self-conscious become less active.
In other words, you can stop worrying about the problem and start getting on with solving it!
In this weeks Getting Real session, we'll learn a heap more about Mindfulness, how it works and what you can use it for to make a huge difference in your own life.
So Join us on Monday 12th 8pm AEST and learn how Mindfullness can help you!
That's an awesome answer @Troy @stonepixie!
If you all want to keep chatting, make a thread in our Wellbeing category and do so! I'll join in tomorrow. Until then, goodnight!
Thank you all for coming, i really enjoyed the session 🙂
I think it's really interesting that we have a pile of different answers here!
It seems like for a lot of us self talk doesn't matter, unless it's negative self talk?
Does that mean that the solution to negative self talk isn't posttive self talk but just being in the moment and not being in the negative thoughts?
While @sunflowers5 finishes their summary,
What do we all think?!?
Also high fives for an Infobus or GR on self talk?
8. How can we use self-talk to help us focus on our actual task rather than these nerves?
Hmm, there are lots of types of self talk! I like the middle of the road realistic self-talk that we chatted about in a GR session a few weeks ago when we talked about optimimism.
It's okay to kick ass, and it's okay to try something new or tricky and not be awesome. So i suppose that's the kind of self talk that appeals to me.
Also this meme helps a great deal.
That's totally okay to write stuff you did on the list and cross it off, it's actually really good. One problem with a big list, is you look at all the stuff you have to do and don't remember how much awesome stuff you already did!
@evanescence that is an awesome answer, you clearly have some heaps awesome mindfulness skills!
Hmmm, there's also a lot of list making! (me included!)
Should we also be good at making time and space where we focus on the moment a bit more?
Like is it okay to make lists all the time?
7.What are organisation or ‘time management’ strategies that work for you?
Hahahaha @Troy ! That gif lol.
Okay time to answer this question.
I know we were talking about phones and how they might be a bit distracting, but i use it as a way to help me manage the stuff i need to think about. If i have an idea or a thought about work or something that I need to deal with when I'm in the middle of something else. I chuck it in my Calendar for a time when I have time to focus on it, or add it to a to do list.
For me that's awesome because then I know if it's important I've given it a time and place to think about it, instead of worrying about it when i should be focusing on something else, like how tasty the ice cream I'm eating right now is :).
@Ben-RO totally jelous of the ice cream. Reminds me, I won a free sunday in the Mcdonalds monopoly game last night. Defs going to cash it in after this getting real session (:
It sounds like im not the only person that mindfulness has contributed to really positively impacting our lives. Sometimes I struggle to explain it to people, they find the concepts unsual and dont have a personal understanding to relate to.
If anyone has ideas or good ways of communicating this kind of stuff in an accesible way id love to know- so that more people can benefit from this awesome philosophy and useful techniques!
Iv got the technical and neuroscience aspects down pat (so if u have any specific questions ask away) but its converting it to a language for people who are unfamiliar with it that i struggle
Moving on 🙂
Self-talk is a huge contributor in having a healthy well-being. It can lead to a lot of unnecessary negativity or a lot of positive reassurance. When facing ‘scary’ situations that let the nerves become a central part of the task, self-talk can really keep the task at a relaxed mood.
8. How can we use self-talk to help us focus on our actual task rather than these nerves?
8. How can we use self-talk to help us focus on our actual task rather than these nerves?
Not sure if I can answer this one on acount that most of my anxiety stems from my sub-conscience and such. It has made therapy real interesting and kept my psychs on their toes. Well it is either that or the fact that I never listened in the first place. But when it does happen, usually when I am about to do something extreme, like the slingshot obsticle in a high ropes course, I just ignore it anyway. Besides, if you stop for a second to listen to that voice in places like that, the voice wins.
But I did use self-talk to win a stein holding competition last year!
Summary:
Great talk tonight guys!!
Mindfulness is an amazing concept, and if applied properly it can have a great impact on your life.
Some awesome points made tonight were:
-Mindfulness can help in both COPING and THRIVING – so it’s a concept that can really benefit everyone!
-Being in the moment is as much about what i am not doing as it is about what i am doing.
-Being in the moment, captures that feeling when time is inconsequential... you're not even aware of it passing... you're totally focussed on what's at hand,what you're doing at that time, you're really engaged in it.
- It;s a place of awareness of just what is in front of you - where all your senses are attuned to... with no stress about the 'past' or the 'future’.
-Breaking out of your comfort zone and living in the moment can bring one of the most satisfying feelings ever! Just by dancing, talking, meeting new people, educating, attending interviews, being a part of a sports team .. its all there.
- Making stress manageable is to 're-centre myself' to the present moment. If I am stressed its usually because I am overwhelmed by the huge amount of things I need to do. Guiding yourself back from thinking about what you have to do, to what you are doing now.
-Also all those tasks, can only be done one small step at a time.
-Taking each responsibility as it comes instead of worrying about your workload all at once is a great way to reduce stress as well as living in the moment.
-Stress reducers involve a lot such as venting out all the stress through talking, crying, or showering, meditation, self-talk, getting carried away with something that soothes your nerves - even simply watching a youtube video.
-Worry usually refers to imagined possibilities that we project into the future. It is the ‘what if’s’ that if get carried away can blow up into ‘catastrophic thinking’ that is out of proportion…. and of course can cause a lot of stress.
-Some things that help keep stress to a manageable level are doing some physical exercise like walking, stretches, yoga poses, cycling, have a swim , going out to potter in the garden, or clean up a bit downstairs. Or tune out by watching a spot of tele, a movie,or read a book, or something totally brainless and in the moment ...and Make sure overall that I eat pretty much healthy, getenough sleep.
-Could we use strategies we discussed in relation to stress and worry, to help quiet our mind and promote better sleep?Alot of the time when we struggle to sleep it relates to an active or anxious mind.. So using soothing techniques to reduce stress and worry such as playing some tunes. writing and diverting your mind can really help relax the mind.. And I think once thats done better sleep can be an outcome for sure!
-A schedule is essential in having organisational or ‘time management’ skills. Having a schedule and task list that my brain can 'trust' I find myself rehearsing all those things I need to do over and over, which absolutely destroys my mindful practise and my general sense of wellbeing.
-Prioritising responsibilities and putting yourself first. Its important to get your work done and also give yourself some time to rest and treat your self before taking up tasks or plans that you know you shouldn't be doing ahah!
-IF IT AIN'T DONE TODAY IT CAN WAIT TILL TOMORROW!
-Self-talk is really important in getting through our day-to-day lives. It increases self-belief, reassurance and also lets us feel in control.
-All these things let us focus on the positive aspects of what we want to do and diverts our mind away from the negativity. Which then leads us to live in the moment and enjoy whatever we are doing ... Self talk can be a huge initiator in having a confident, positive and healthy mind.
-Using constructive self-talk is a form of self-love, and caring for ourselves is the biggest best thing we can do for a healthy mind and bod!
Hope you guys have all benifitted from todays talk and hope to have a mindful mind from tomorrow 😄
I think self-talk is really important in getting through our day-to-day lives. It increases self-belief, reassurance and also lets us feel in control.
All these things let us focus on the positive aspects of what we want to do and diverts our mind away from the negativity. Which then leads us to live in the moment and enjoy whatever we are doing ...
Self talk can be a huge initiator in having a confident, positive and healthy mind. 🙂
Hey @evanescence !!!
3. What are some things that help you keep stress to a manageable level? Is there such a thing as an "okay" amount of stress, if so, how much stress is okay?
Ahhhh! Well, stress is interesting. It's definitely a natural reaction to tricky situations and we evolved for stress. It's our body and our brains way of saying "right, time to get down to business!".
So there's definitely an okay amount of stress. I think it's partly how we react to stress that causes some problems too.
So I think an "okay" amount of stress is the ammount that let's you still enjoy what's happening. If there's so much going on that it's hard to be in the moment. Then it's time to tell everyone to slow down a bit!
Interested to see what other people think, I think there's more to it than that.
It depends on where I am as to what I can do. Sometimes I will just scribble what is on my mind in a book that I pretty much carry on me. Which also comes in handy when I forget my books for class. 😛
Visiting the beach is another thing I like to do when life gets too stressful.
But I rather do enjoy immersing myself in my craft projects / colour-in books and such.
Basically I have so many different coping mechanisms to name, but that is the general gist of it all.
6. Have you ever had trouble falling asleep? Have you ever had a "racing mind?" How would you use mindfulness to help in a situation like that?
