Monday Musings: A Thought for the Week

Happy Monday! I had a fantastic weekend in LA, and can’t wait to share some of the things and places I discovered. But to start the week off, I wanted to share a couple passages from a book I came across while in a little shop in Venice (that I of course immediately downloaded to learn more!).

The name of the book is CLEAN: The Revolutionary Program to Restore the Body’s Natural Ability to Heal Itself, and lest you think I’ve gone totally hippie, hear me out for a second. The book is mainly about common ailments that we all experience and how particular foods, toxins, or habits can contribute to them. It then provides a 1 to 3 week long plan for a detox diet that is one of the more sensible ones I’ve seen (no meals of lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper in sight). Anyway, there was also a short section on meditation which contained an idea that I thought was pretty powerful. On sitting down to meditate, it said:

“You may notice that the moment you sit down, you start remembering things and feel the urge to act on them. This is part of the process. When those thoughts come and try to steal your attention away from your body, simply say silently to yourself, ‘Thank you for sharing’ and direct your attention back to your body.”

Interesting. Shortly after this passage, there was another that touched on “The Art of Self-Mastery,” which was really just a fancy way to say “Stop complaining!” The author talks about meeting with a man named Hugo Cory, who “describes his work as developing integrity and character through the learning and practicing of Self-Mastery.”

“[In Self Mastery,] the simplest advice, which sounds almost superficial during casual conversation is a powerful tool for transformation. “Stop complaining,” he says, and then remains silent looking right into your eyes. As if downloading a program over a high-speed Internet connection, I saw with a jolt how any complaint is really the expression of a negative emotion or state. It gives the complainer a sense of immediate relief, even pleasure. This is perhaps the reason why it is such a common practice worldwide.”

Of course it’s difficult to not to ever be bothered by something. But what if every time your mind kept wandering to a negative place, where you’re down on yourself or your life or whatever situation you’re in at that exact moment, you simply combined these two ideas and said to your complaint, “Thank you for sharing,” then immediately moved that energy and focus somewhere else? I tried this yesterday after a somewhat stressful plane ride home, and oddly enough, found it really helped calm me down.

I hope this isn’t too new age-y for you all, but I thought this message was such a positive way to start the week!

{Image Credit 1 2 3 4}