The “This looks Good” meditation is one that I have *just realized* I do A LOT of when I want to override my brain spiraling into unhelpful thoughts.

It’s an easy concept implementation is how it works.

When I find my brain starting to chatter... and then change that chatter to panic, gloom, OR tries to switch on " fight or flight" over things I can’t help: I momentarily Gas Light myself. In truth, I redirect my mind.

I force my mind to shut up and notice what’s going right IMMEDIATELY! POST HASTE!

Unless it’s life or death or I’m going to jail. We are good. This is good. It’s all good. Find the evidence for what’s going right and make your brain keep finding good things.

You can do this for 3-5 minutes a day or only when you’ve noticed that your mind is being really
“dark and doomy gloomy”.

This can be as simple as “My car started this morning” or “ I remembered to take all my medication this morning”

Keep it going for at least 3 minutes. 

The brain is a quagmire of unhelpful and helpful information. It’s great…really... But even it doesn’t really care about your joy. Ever had a bad dream that made you wake up crying? Thanks brain…and why did you think a metaphorical gut punch is what I wanted to start my day with? Your brain doesn’t care. You have to decide to make it care. Force it to care, and give it the material to perpetuate that care. If you’re going to create a mindset that feels joyous and healthy, you have to be consistent and relentless.

The Tibetans Buddhists use the artistic metaphor of the mind in the image of a dirty elephant that is leashed to a monk. The monk is trying to pull the elephant up the path of enlightenment but the elephant has a will of its own and it’s not aligned with the monks (which represents higher awareness). When left to its own devices, the mind will send you into an echo chamber of unhelpful and even damaging thinking. The good news is that it can be tamed. In the art that shows this metaphor, the monk does not give in to the elephants whims and continues to drag it back to the path. Eventually, the elephant becomes cleaner, and more obedient, and in the end, the monk is riding the skilled and trained elephant into nirvana.

An a**hole, who might understand this, would call an individual weak willed if they can’t gain control over their thoughts. When, in fact, the individual that is being criticized is now worse off for hearing that. A effective solution is to encourage a strong will but also amplifying instances when the mind was working in favor of a more ideal mindset. Our mind works by making connections over and over again. When we mindfully foster the mindsets that we view as healthy and joyous, the mind rewires to amplify those thoughts in its “echo chamber”.

So, remember, you are not your mind. Your mind serves you and it can be trained to be kinder, more discerning, and more helpful than you might even think is possible. Mindfully redirecting your thoughts is THE KEY to a more joyous and healthy mindset.