Reclaiming Your Mind

This has been an odd week. Each morning I’ve awakened with a heaviness, my conscious thoughts going almost immediately to the chaos in the world. Next my mind bounced to worrying about deadlines, money, an upcoming trip. A veil of fog blurred my usual optimism and eagerness for the day.

I’ve been paying a lot of attention to “breaking news” and doing a lot of thinking and writing about what’s going on in the world out there. That’s part of what’s mine to do in these times. However, this week it got to me, overwhelmed my mind, hurt my heart. I’ve heard from several friends that they too are getting sucked into the intensity of it all. That’s not surprising given that we exist in a sensationalized media culture in which infotainment and algorithms are designed to trigger emotions.

I am beyond grateful that a good bit of working with my inner world has shown me that we have agency over how we feel. With practice and intention, in most instances, we can choose our thoughts and moods. With that in mind, thinking it might be helpful to my readers, I thought I’d share some strategies that have been helping me over the past several days replace anxiety and fear with peace and happiness.

The first step up out of the funk took place Tuesday morning when I picked up a little booklet called Mornings with Myrtle, based on the wisdom of Myrtle Fillmore, one of the founders of the Unity spiritual movement. I opened to a page titled “A Prayer of Stillness”:

“I must in this moment make a concerted effort to be still. I sit in a comfortable chair and quickly assess my current concern. As I determine the depth of the challenge I am facing, I realize the importance of becoming still. I must be mentally still as well as physically quiet.” – Rev. Alberta Ware

And from Myrtle Fillmore, “Be still. Be still. Be still. God in the midst of you is substance. God in the midst of you is love. God in the midst of you is wisdom. Let not your thoughts be given to lack, but let wisdom fill them with the substance and faith of God.”

Ah yes, stillness in body and mind. As I’d allowed my mind to be taken over more and more by concerns, I’d fallen off the wagon of devoting at least a few minutes each morning going into the Silence, that inner space of being fully in the present moment with thinking paused. We each have a sacred secret place within that we can go to at any time. It is filled with peace and unlimited possibility. In that space we can become aware of our true Selves beyond the bodies we currently inhabit. Tuning into the Silence and realizing we are safe in the present moment is the greatest tool I’ve ever found to release fear and tame anxiety.