Sylvie

Germany

Julie Magill

Bankstown NSW, Australia

Judith Worrell

Yasmin Manon

Claire Bagness

Berwick-upon-Tweed, United Kingdom

Sandi

Linda Ching

Sara Cameron-Ragazzo

Asheville, NC, USA

Michelle M

Bend, OR, USA

Michael H

Poway, CA, USA

Elise

Allie

Charleston, South Carolina, USA

cate

Western Australia, Australia

steph

Colorado, USA

MaryAnn Pittsburgh, US

Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Omon .

Deb Mayo

Caerleon, Newport, UK

Judy Heil

Australia

Joeji

Texas

Kimistry Howard

Take your thoughts less seriously and participate in the positive change happening in the world.

There Is My Mind And Here I Am

Welcome to the Never Mind Your Mind microcourse. This is day one, there is my mind, and here I am. First off, what is a mind? Here we're going to view the mind as simply an ongoing process of information. So, what we're talking about here is thoughts. In psychology, the term for thoughts is known as cognitions. So the mind being a process of information, meaning the thoughts that pass through our heads. However, from this perspective, because our awareness can observe these thoughts that pass through our heads, observe, notice, watch the thoughts that pass through our heads, then our awareness is not our thoughts. So there's thoughts, which is the mind, and there's awareness of thoughts, which is not the mind. And this is one way of distinguishing between the mind and awareness. Simply put, there's thoughts and the awareness of thoughts. Some other teachings, approaches, philosophies view the mind as something that includes our awareness, but here, from this perspective, we're sticking to this distinction between thoughts and the awareness of thoughts. When we look from our thoughts, we're taking them seriously. We're caught up in them. We're looking at the world from our thoughts. If we have the thought, I'm not good enough, we look at the world from that. That thought colors our reality. When we look at our thoughts, we see them for what they are, just thoughts, not taking them so seriously, a stream of words, we're not minding them. So it can be helpful to have this distinction between looking at our thoughts compared to looking from our thoughts. Let's get into this with an experiential exercise. You might like to close your eyes, taking a breath in through your nose and then on the out breath, allowing your body to relax. And just one more time, in breath through the nose. You might like to hold it for a bit and then out breath, relax. Now, with your eyes closed, getting a sense of what you can see behind your closed eyes, the scope of what you can see behind your closed eyes, patterns, shapes, colors. Here you are noticing this. I am the awareness that notices what I can see from behind my closed eyes. And what you'll notice is thoughts start to appear and just get a sense as your thoughts start to appear of how they can present themselves in three different ways, like images, like streams of words, or like an audio recording inside our heads. So just getting a sense right now as you notice what you can see behind your closed eyes. Are my thoughts more like images, streams of words, or like an audio recording inside my head? If you find yourself getting overly distracted, you might like to use this little metaphor, which I like to call the noticing switch. So as you continue to rest here with your eyes closed, turn on your noticing switch, click and allow your mind to do what it will. And with that noticing switch on, you are the observer. You are the witness. You are looking at your thoughts instead of looking from them. When you get hooked and carried away, that's when you're looking from your thoughts, distracted. And as soon as you notice that, come back, noticing switch on, click. Noticing what you can see behind your closed eyes and allowing your mind to do what it will in these last few moments. So we're going to have a little affirmations practice here, allowing the following words to just flow through you, recognizing that the very nature of being the witness, the watcher, the noticer of our thoughts, whilst we're doing that, in the very moment that this happens, we're looking at our thoughts. And when we look at our thoughts, we cannot be them. I am the awareness, the watcher, the observer, the witness. What I am the witness to, I cannot be. What I am the witness to, I cannot be. What I am the witness to, I cannot be. What I am the witness to, I cannot be. What I am the witness to, I cannot be. What I am the witness to, I cannot be. What I am the witness to, I cannot be. And preparing to go about your day. And as you go about your day, you might like to take this notion with you of what you are the witness to, you cannot be. And you might also like to use that metaphor of the noticing switch. When we turn the noticing switch on, we fully engage in what's around us. But it isn't on for long, because our minds turn the noticing switch off. It's like one of those automatic switches, it switches off very regularly. Why does it do this? It does this because our minds would much rather the switch be off, so we can spend energy on the thoughts that they give us. That's how our minds have been designed, that's how our brains have evolved. And it doesn't even matter whether these thoughts are helpful or unhelpful. Our minds want us to be absorbed in the thoughts they give us. So, the noticing switch, you might like to remember that. Or you can ask that question, what am I noticing? What I am the witness to, I cannot be. How did day 1 of 5 go in this 5 day micro course? Let me know in the comments section what your experience was, what resonated with you. Could this tool be helpful today? I usually respond within 24 hours. See you next time.

The Science of Thinking Patterns

The never mind your mind micro course. This is day two, the science of thinking patterns. We are constantly popping in and out of our minds moment by moment and day by day. Being the witness to our thoughts, noticing them, allowing them to come and go, and being caught up in them, looking at the world from them. Being the witness to our thoughts, then being caught up in them. Being the witness to our thoughts, then being caught up in them, and so on. When we look from our thoughts, we take them seriously. We get caught up in them and look at the world from them. When we look at our thoughts, we see them for what they are, just thoughts, not taking them seriously, looking at our thoughts, a stream of words. The more we can notice and allow our unhelpful thoughts to come and go, the more they lose their power, they don't have as much impact upon us. Due to thousands of years of evolution, our brains have been trained to be active and on guard from anything perceived as a potential threat or problem. The mind judges, evaluates, analyzes, compares, contrasts, anything and everything. All day long. One of the ways our ancestors remained safe was to be part of the tribe. There was safety in numbers, so this meant that being part of the hierarchy was essential. Where am I supposed to fit in? Am I good enough? Am I doing enough not to die? Our ancestors had to take these thoughts seriously and act upon them. However, today, what we view as negative thinking can actually make sense if we look at it from this evolutionary perspective. In the Western world today, we live in very different times, however, we still experience similar patterns of thought to our ancestors. A 2020 brain imaging study from Queen's University estimated that we have around 6,200 distinct thoughts per day, that is, the ones we're consciously aware of. You may have also heard that we have 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day, a popular figure in self-help and online circles. These larger numbers often rely on looser definitions of what counts as a thought, including fleeting sensations, unnoticed impulses or mental fragments. So while we may not be aware of up to 60,000 thoughts a day, the brain is certainly active behind the scenes. And research confirms a strong negativity bias. The brain's default mode network, active when we're on autopilot, tends to generate repetitive, unhelpful content. In The Happiness Trap, ACT author Russ Harris suggests that up to 80% of our thoughts may be negative or pessimistic. While this isn't drawn from a formal study, it reflects a deeper truth. Left unexamined, the mind tends to replay unhelpful thinking patterns. Welcome to the human condition. Being lost in the automatic thoughts that pass through our heads, even though most of them are unhelpful. What are you noticing right now? Is your mind grappling with this? It can be a good thing to notice if so. Does this relate to your direct experience? Do these figures seem far-fetched? When we get caught up in our automatic thoughts, we tend to give them so much energy that they become our reality. Or we can push away on them, fight them, challenge them, try to change them. Here's the thing, if we give those thoughts energy, investing our energy into them, we are giving them more power. If we challenge, change, try to fight them, try not to have them, we are giving them more power. So by minding our thoughts, by minding our mind, it merely strengthens these thoughts. The alternative to either clinging onto and taking these thoughts seriously or pushing away on them and rejecting them, is to actually allow them to come and go and recognize these thoughts are part and parcel of a normal human experience. Even though my mind tells me otherwise. So we're going to have a little affirmations practice here. Allowing your eyes to close and gently allow the following words to flow through you. The mind judges, evaluates, compares and contrasts everything all around me. But minding my mind merely strengthens these thoughts, so I choose to allow them to be. The mind judges, evaluates, compares and contrasts everything all around me. But minding my mind merely strengthens these thoughts, so I choose to allow them to be. The mind judges, evaluates, compares and contrasts everything all around me. But minding my mind merely strengthens these thoughts, so I choose to allow them to be. The mind judges, evaluates, compares and contrasts everything all around me. But minding my mind merely strengthens these thoughts, so I choose to allow them to be. But minding my mind merely strengthens these thoughts, so I choose to allow them to be. Minding my mind merely strengthens these thoughts, so I choose to allow them to be. But minding my mind merely strengthens these thoughts, so I choose to allow them to be. Minding my mind merely strengthens these thoughts, so I choose to allow them to be. But minding my mind merely strengthens these thoughts, so I choose to allow them to be. Minding my mind merely strengthens these thoughts, so I choose to allow them to be. As you go about your day, you may like to reflect upon this statement. I am not my thoughts unless I choose them. Notice what your mind does, how it may grapple with this. I am not my thoughts unless I choose them. Of course, sometimes it's like our thoughts choose us. And here's where the practice comes in. The more we can recognize this, the more we can notice, make space and allow thoughts to come and go, the more choice we have over the unhelpful or the helpful thoughts that pass through our heads. If this resonates with you, you might like to bring this insight with you into your day. Let me know what your experience was today in the comments section. It's so good to be able to consolidate what you resonate with and then type it out. This really helps with deepening our learning and bringing it into our experience. See you there.

Stone Age Mind - Modern Mind

The Never Mind Your Mind microcourse. This is day three. Stone Age Mind, Modern Mind. Thinking patterns is a great name for our automatic thoughts that just pop up. That's what they are. Patterns of thought. Russ Harris is a psychologist and world-renowned teacher in Acceptance Commitment Therapy. He has given examples of the typical Stone Age mindset years ago, and then compared it to what our thoughts are like for modern times, for our modern mind. Let's explore some of these examples, starting with a Stone Age Mind example, and comparing it with a Modern Age Mind example. Stone Age Mind example number one. Watch out. There might be a bear in that cave. You could get eaten. Watch out. That shadow on the horizon. That could be an enemy from another clan. You could get speared. What does this mean for our modern minds today? It means worrying, catastrophizing, predicting the worst, avoiding anything that creates fear. This is our mind trying to protect us. Stone Age Mind example number two. Watch out. There was a saber-toothed tiger on that hill last week. It might come back. What does this mean in the modern world today? It means our minds project the painful past into a scary future. It happened before, so it will happen again. This is our mind trying to protect us. Stone Age Mind example number three. You survive an encounter with a bear or a wolf, so it's useful to replay it, to go over the events in your mind and remember what you did to survive, so that you are better prepared for next time. What does this mean in the modern world today? It means we go over and over painful memories, dwelling on them, reliving them, even when there's nothing useful to learn, or the lesson has been well and truly learned. This is our mind trying to protect us. And finally, Stone Age Mind example number four. As a Stone Age person, you have to fit in with the group. If you are alone, you soon die. The wolves will eat you for breakfast, and if you survive past breakfast, the bears will get you for lunch. So your mind compares you to others in the group. Am I fitting in? Contributing enough? Following the rules? Am I doing anything that might get me thrown out? What does this mean in the modern world today? It means we compare ourselves to others. Judgements about self. Fear of negative evaluation from others. Fear of judgement and rejection from others. This is our mind trying to protect us. So, these thoughts in this modern world today, these examples that I've given, the many unhelpful automatic thoughts that we have throughout our day, only helpful sometimes. What does this mean? It's simple. It means our minds haven't caught up with the modern world. We still have Stone Age thinking patterns in this modern world that we live in now. However, you taking an interest here, you listening to this, you having a little practice, taking to some tips and tools to help you unhook from your unhelpful thoughts means that you are changing your brain, sculpting a modern mind for this modern world. By noticing, allowing, and then choosing thoughts that are helpful instead of getting caught up in the thoughts that are unhelpful means that we grow through this and we sculpt a modern mind for this modern world. That's a pretty powerful thing to acknowledge, right? For those of us that are willing to learn some of these simple insights and use some of these simple tips and tools, we are on the edge of this conscious evolution. And one way that we can evolve our consciousness is to notice the unhelpful thinking patterns just as unhelpful thinking patterns and choose thoughts that are helpful. In doing this, we are changing our brains because whatever we do, our brains are growing and adapting to accommodate for what we do. So by you taking part in this, you are changing your brain and therefore sculpting a modern mind for this modern world. I'm hoping that you can see how by acknowledging what it was like back then, the thinking patterns that we had, how these still play out today in the modern world. I'm hoping that by acknowledging this, it might be another little insight that helps you not take your thoughts so seriously. For this micro affirmations practice, we will be reaffirming to ourselves that giving energy to or battling our thoughts is what keeps their momentum going. So we're going to have a little affirmations practice here. Allowing your eyes to close and gently allow the following words to flow through you. I choose not to feed old patterns of thought. I choose to allow them to be. I choose not to feed old patterns of thought. I choose to allow them to be. I choose to allow them to be. As you go about your day, consider this from this perspective, recognizing the nature of our thinking patterns that we could view as negative. So-called negative thoughts are actually perfectly normal. Given the functions of how we have evolved. These thoughts are normal, even when they tell you that they're not. How has day three resonated with you today? Let me know in the comments what your experience is, as well as any questions that you may have. Remember, this is a micro course. So if this starts to capture some of your interest a little more, this is the time to be able to ask questions and get into this even more. I usually respond within 24 hours. See you there.

Questions For Perspective

The never mind your mind micro course. This is day four. Questions for perspective. What we're going to do is to explore some classic questions. You can cherry pick one or two that you feel may help you. The more perspective we take, the less power our unhelpful thoughts have over us. So just for a moment, you might like to close your eyes and allow the words to wash over you as you listen. And becoming aware of what you can see behind your closed eyes. Notice what your mind tells you in words or what it shows you in pictures. As you do this, it may hop over what you're going to do tomorrow or what happened earlier today. Or maybe it's commenting on doing this exercise right now. Notice how you can sit here right now in the same place and your thoughts have been coming and going. If you're willing, take a few seconds to recall a thought that your mind gives you that you really don't like. Recognize that this is an old thought. This is an old program. You've heard it before. Notice how it may make you feel. As you do this, gently reflect upon the following questions. Is this thought helpful? Is this thought moving me towards or away from what is important to me? What is this thought trying to protect me from? Do I really need to buy this thought? To invest energy in it? Do I need to do this? If my friend was having this thought, what would I say to them? How much energy am I giving this thought? Am I willing to hold this thought lightly to allow it to come and go whilst I do something that is meaningful? My mind is advertising this thought to me, just like an advert on television. Do I really need to spend energy on this? Do I need to buy this? This thought was programmed into me a long while ago, just like many of my other thoughts. How old is this thought? For this micro-affirmations practice, we are going to reaffirm this notion of our thoughts being programmed into us from the external world. What do I mean by that? Well, we weren't born thinking thoughts. Babies are not born thinking I'm not good enough. These are streams of words that get programmed into us. The more that I see my thoughts are a program, the more that I set myself free. The more that I see my thoughts are a program, the more that I set myself free. The more that I see my thoughts are a program, the more that I set myself free. The more that I see my thoughts are a program, the more that I set myself free. So, for the rest of today, just acknowledging this notion of thoughts being part of a program. Sometimes helpful, sometimes not. See how you go, allow yourself to notice. You might even catch yourself at times noticing your mind doing its job and in the very moment you notice, you are not identified. You are looking at your thoughts instead of from your thoughts. Let me know what your experience is having taken part in this. Some of these affirmations you're going to resonate with and others not so much. Ask any questions that you may have. Feel free to comment. I'm always here and usually reply within 24 hours. See you in the next session.

The Negative Thought Narrative

The never mind your mind microcourse. This is our final day, day five. The negative thought narrative. Our thoughts have been programmed into us. Images and words that we see and hear in the world get programmed into our internal world one way or another. These come from other people, the media, the external world in general. And this is also how a negative thought narrative is programmed into us. So let's look at this negative thought narrative. On the surface, it seems that the categories of positive and negative are a helpful reference point for us to be able to distinguish our thoughts. Then we can choose which thoughts we give energy to. This is a negative thought. This is a positive thought. Which one should I give my energy to? However, using this positive negative dichotomy can cause us a problem. This depends upon how strongly we cling on to these labels. The negative thought narrative is when we deem our thoughts as negative. They're bad, something we shouldn't be experiencing, something we need to get rid of. This is a negative thought. This is a bad thought. I'm a negative person. I'm a bad person. I'm just giving you an example of how we can get caught up in this negative thought narrative as though the thoughts that we're having are negative and therefore it reflects on us as a person, our personality. Remember, our thoughts have been programmed into us. They just happen. And with the power of awareness, we have this choice of noticing, allowing, and refocusing. So how about this? We keep the benefits of positive thinking. That makes sense. And let's hold to the not-so-positive thoughts more lightly, to not mind them as much. What can help us with this is shifting from the positive negative categories to the helpful unhelpful categories. Staying with two categories, but shifting the perspective slightly to complement what we've been exploring. Helpful versus unhelpful. Is this thought helping me? Is this thought helping me be the type of person that I want to be? If it's helpful, then spend energy on it. If it's not helpful, then don't waste your energy on it. You don't deserve it. And even if your mind says that you do deserve it, well, that's just an example of what was a so-called negative thought, now transformed into an unhelpful one instead. And in the very notion of shifting this perspective, we move away from this unfair and toxic negative thought narrative. Helpful versus unhelpful. It's kinder, fairer, and it also gives us a reference point for what's important in our lives in that moment. Is this thought helping me? Is this thought helping me be the type of person that I want to be? For this next micro-affirmations practice, what we're going to do is to acknowledge that just like any other skill, the more we practice not giving energy to our unhelpful thoughts, the better we get at it. Now, with your eyes closed, getting a sense of what you can see behind your closed eyes, the scope of what you can see behind your closed eyes. Patterns, shapes, colors. Here you are noticing this. I am the awareness that notices what I can see from behind my closed eyes. And what you'll notice is thoughts start to appear and just get a sense as your thoughts start to appear of how they can present themselves in three different ways, like images, like streams of words, or like an audio recording inside our heads. And this is you being the witness to your thoughts, being curious to the images, streams of words, and the sound recording, like a tape recording playing in your head. So we're going to have a little affirmations practice here. Gently allow the following words to flow through you. The less energy I give to my unhelpful thoughts, the more that I set myself free. The less energy I give to my unhelpful thoughts, the more that I set myself free. The less energy I give to my unhelpful thoughts, the more that I set myself free. The less energy I give to my unhelpful thoughts, the more that I set myself free. As you go about your day, if the helpful, unhelpful categories resonate with you, then bring this into your day. Use this as a way of discerning between whether this thought is helpful or not. Ask yourself, is this thought helping me be the type of person that I want to be? So now that we're at the end of this little micro course, what's your experience? This is a micro course that, as I said at the start, compliments the main course, Never Mind Your Mind. This may well be enough for you to have the experience of not taking your thoughts so seriously unless they are helpful. But there's lots more insights, tips and tools in the main course, Never Mind Your Mind. So if you have enjoyed this little micro course, you might well want to carry on and do the main course, Never Mind Your Mind. One thing I will say is, Never Mind Your Mind is not a meditation course. It's a course that is full of insights. It took me about six months to write and create and produce. It's full of interesting insights in a very simple way. Some of these you've learnt in this micro course, but there are many more in the main course. Also, this Never Mind Your Mind micro course, along with the full Foundations Never Mind Your Mind, is complemented with other courses, part of the Never Mind Your Mind series, such as the Never Mind Your Mind Letters of Appreciation. There's lots to choose from. Come to my profile and see the courses tab. And if this has taken your interest, I'm sure there's much more that you can benefit from. Thank you so much for being here, and thank you for being part of the change.

English

A firm foundation to start the journey of deepening our sense of spirituality, using simple insights, tools and affirmations for unhooking from unhelpful thoughts.

For those people who have completed the full Never Mind Your Mind course, this will act not only as a refresher to what you've already covered within this course, but as a complement to it. Why? Because there are a few extra tips and tools in this Never Mind Your Mind micro-course that are a different. Either way, if you're interested in this notion of not minding the mind as much, then this is a win-win situation for you.

Deepen your sense of spirituality by listening to simple insights, tools and affirmations about unhooking from unhelpful thoughts.

The 'Never Mind Your Mind' Micro-Course

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When we wake, it starts. Like a radio inside our heads. Shifting from one channel to the next. Sometimes it gets stuck on one channel. The channel that you really don't want. And because you really don't want that channel, you become more and more caught up in it. When we buy into the automatic thoughts that pass through our heads, they can bring us into feelings of fear, inadequacy, frustration and more. But the secret is, this is not just you. It's about everybody. The Never Mind Your Mind micro-course is about being part of the change that's going on in the world right now. And one way that we can be part of this change is taking our thoughts less seriously. Thank you so much for listening, and in doing so, being part of the change that's going on in the world right now.