Wouldn’t it be great if our anxious minds had an on and off switch?
So that in those moments of mental hyper-activity, worry, insomnia and panic we could just flip the switch and turn off our minds?
I spent years suffering anxiety, years of feeling my brain was the enemy and I always hoped there was something that could allow me to force my mind into a complete stop, and then that way I would get some sleep or have peace of mind.
I was a complete mess and for years of living with anxiety I was convinced that there was no way of stopping the mind.
I was really disappointed, those years were really hard, but everything changed when I stumbled upon yoga and meditation.
Because within those disciplines I found there was in fact, a way to “shut down” the mind. I mean how cool is that?
Of course it is not an on/off switch, but it gets the job done.
By doing this you can stop overthinking, end worry and get the peace of mind you need for a good night’s sleep or just do anything you want without having anxiety interfering and ruining all your life.
Now, before we go on I have to clear up the confusion.
What confusion? The very confusion that had me suffering anxiety for years and the one that will prevent you from overcoming anxiety.
Because we are usually told this cannot be done. We are told there is no solution for an anxious mind and that’s the very reason we suffer, because we believe this is impossible and so we have to live just suffering anxiety.
But, don’t worry, this happened to me too and at first I was skeptical, I thought I had no way of influencing my mind but I just put this to the test and the results were great, so let’s dig in…
I confess that I happened to find the answer by mere coincidence, as I was definitely not looking for it. Remember I was “convinced” there was no answer.
But when I started using the yogic techniques in anxiety it really blew my mind and I’m sure it will blow yours too.
How could it be possible that we can in fact turn our minds off and nobody told us about this? I mean, how unfair is that?
Well, that’s why I have made it my mission to share these teachings with you, Anxiety Warrior. Anyways, I will tell you how you can do it.
How exactly does one turn off the mind?
By training yourself in the yogic discipline of detachment, and we will start doing that right now.
First I want you to become aware of this:
When our minds keep running out of control all out attention goes into the chaos. We become the chaotic thoughts that are being played in our minds. That is ours first mistake.
Our minds are just spouting out ideas and we are all in, paying close attention to the train of thoughts.
A general attachment to thinking is our first mistake.
And then we become too attached to specific thoughts too… instead of allowing the thoughts to fly by, we allow those thoughts to become a part of our reality.
Instead of recognizing that fear and worry as something transitory, with no real manifestation in the present moment, we become too attached and make that our reality.
We are not living the present moment, we live a fictitious scenario being painted by our anxiety.
And our third mistake is getting involved in the thinking process.
Think about it, anxiety starts the game by throwing worrisome thoughts at us, and we feed it by responding with other thoughts, other fears, more worry.
All this has to stop. If you want to shut your mind off you must break this cycle.
The first thing you need to do is to become non-reactive. This is the first step of detachment in anxiety.
In those moments when you can’t stop your thoughts, when your mind is hyper-active you must start watching the thoughts as if you were watching a movie, and the same goes for your feelings.
Anxiety is playing a movie in your mind, but you don’t have to react to it, you can decide to remain still, non-reactive, detached.
When you are doing this, anxiety will try to “tempt” you into thinking about something that is even more worrisome, that’s how it will try to draw your attention.
I fell into the trap countless times. I tried to just observe but I ended up worrying and there I was, unable to sleep one more night.
Here you have to exercise more detachment: Recognize that the “temptation” is part of the same ploy anxiety is trying to pull on you.
But again, as convincing as that thought may be, refuse to participate, just keep observing, stay non-reactive.
Refuse to get involved, just let all those ideas go.
See things as they are and anxiety will have to leave. All those catastrophic ideas, all that worry will have to leave if you remain detached.
In fact the reason why it is there in the first place is because we get involved. When you stop doing it anxiety will have to leave, it will simply not have a way of “gripping” you.
Do you see how powerful this is? When you dwell in this safe space of peace of mind anxiety cannot touch you.
It simply cannot get to you, you are in a state where you are immune to all the worry, all the overthinking, all the fear.
Recognize that there is no point in remaining attached to all the chaos. All the worry and overthinking accomplish nothing and you deserve to be free from this.
Decide to keep a safe distance between you and your fears, between you and your thoughts, between you and that hyper-activity.
Refuse to worry, refuse to think about that which makes you miserable.
And before we finish this video I will remind you that you are completely capable of doing this.
When I was growing up and experienced anxiety, society did a great job at making be believe I was powerless and for years I thought it was not possible to stop my hyper-active mind.
I felt betrayed by my own mind, but I don’t want this to happen to you.
It’s not that it’s impossible, it’s just that nobody taught us how to do it.
But I’m glad you are here, learning this.
So let’s wrap it up: To stop your anxious, overthinking mind dead in its tracks, you must be detached from your mind and your ideas.
Allow all thoughts to just cross your mind, but don’t react to them. Watch your thoughts as if they were a movie and they will end up leaving you.
As tempting as it may be to start worrying about something resolve to let the fear pass.
Keep doing this and you will get very good with practice. Focus on your breathing and recognize these truths.
You can calm your hyper-active mind by just breaking the attachment you have to your ideas, your attachment to thinking. Suddenly it will all be peace and calm in your mind.
With practice those periods of silence will be longer and you will eventually have control over anxiety.
Today you learned how to become detached from your thoughts and in another video I will teach you how to take this to the next level by learning how to Silence the Mind.
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Thanks for watching Anxiety Warrior, stay strong and see you next video.
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