Simmer Down

explorefaith.org

In today’s world it is rare anyone gets a moment to quiet their minds. Work struggles, family struggles, “oh-my-gosh-it’s-the-holiday” struggles seem to vie for space in our heads. Merely entertaining these thoughts can be enough to wear you out.

Yet we want to think about our problems. We think we need to.

As Scott Aaron Gaul, of the QuietMindCafe.com says, “Stress is automatic but relaxation is learned.”

This is because at the root of our stress is fear. You don’t need to tell yourself to worry about imminent doom. That is automatic. The primal part of the brain that is responsible for worrying, doesn’t know the difference between imminent doom and frustration or exasperation. So it responds the same way in either case. It takes higher brain functions to reason and respond.

Myrko Thum tells us in his blog, awakeblogger.com ;
The mind is busy

According to Eastern spirituality, the mind is always attempting to seek pleasure and avoid pain. The mind is never at rest because this attraction and avoidance causes an unending string of thoughts. For some people, most of the thoughts are not satisfying and this lack of satisfaction causes fear and stress. The mind will never find rest through achieving more, it will only find rest through slowing and becoming quiet. 

When we pause for a moment, and take a mental break from the situation, we better able to “reframe” situations as solutions and actions rather than dangers and threats.

c. 2010