I'm sure you've heard meditation is an excellent tool for clearing the mind and bringing you back into the present moment. I'm also sure you've heard the term "mindfulness" thrown in there. In this article, we're going to explore why focusing on the present can be misleading and how this meditation can help you achieve a clear mind.
Why focusing on the present is a lie
This term can be very misleading, because after all, the present is all we have! The "past" is a conception in the mind, and the "future" never comes - it's only ever the present. Mindfulness is all about maintaining focus and awareness on the present moment, and while this is wonderful in principle, how easily can you do this with a mind that is producing 10,000's of thoughts, most of which are in the past?
Studies have shown that more than 80% of our thoughts are about the past, and that 50% of our waking hours are spent wandering in our minds. If we're wondering in our minds for half the day, with the majority of the time spent thinking about the past, his make the act of maintaining presence an uphill battle.
Discarding meditation to clear the mind?
This is where discarding meditation comes in. Most meditation practices are about training the mind towards the present mind. Discarding meditation differs in that it is a method for actually clearing the thoughts away, and as a consequence our mind naturally maintains a state of constant presence.
The method is very simple and it can be practiced by anyone, regardless of your experience or type of mind. There are 3 steps to this meditation process.
1) Self reflection
Looking at what you have in your own mind. Your body is a 5 senses camera, and it just automatically stores everything into your brain and your cells, and these in turn produce the 10,000's of thoughts bringing us out of the present moment and creating stress, anxiety and countless mental conditions.
Our method of self reflection is to look back on the entire life that I've lived that has been stored in the mind. Naturally, just by self reflecting and learning how to let go, you will come to have wisdom about any problems you have and how they can be resolved.
2) Letting go
Once you bring the thoughts, feelings or emotions (what we call "pictures" as they are copies just like a camera produces) up, we teach you how to let them go with our incredibly simple method! In the same way that you can throw paper into a huge fire and it instantly disappears, the pictures in our mind also disappear as easily as that.
First we bring up the pictures in our mind through self reflection, and then we naturally let them go. This part of the method can be likened to some visualisation technique, although it is not fully this as we also have a "mantra" to keep us focused on it, engaging the warmth of the whole body, sincerely and whole heartedly.
3) Repetition
We have 10,000's of thoughts, feelings and emotions, so through constant and repeated effort, you can clear your mind over time for a long term, sustainable change!
The method is so effective, that within just 3 months, of 473 participants who were interviewed, 92.1% of them said they had more mental clarity and focus.
Some "obstacles" to clearing your mind
1) Your own mind!
This is going to be your biggest obstacle. As you clear away your thoughts, you will be digging up all of your thoughts and whatever is in there has to come up to be cleared away. All the excuses, the limiting beliefs, the doubts, the negativities - all of it - will come up by virtue of the process. It is coming up to be cleared away, and without clearing it away you will never be able to wholly stay in the present.
2) Time
Time is only an obstacle if you let it be. This is your wellbeing at stake. There's always time to take care of yourself and your mind.
3) Appropriate guidance
There's lots of information out there, and most of it doesn't deal with the root cause of the problem. There's also many services and applications out there that don't offer personalized guidance to keep you accountable and on track, and this is our biggest point of difference. It's something you need to help you navigate your way out of your mind!
All of our meditation sessions are guided live by a real person. There's no pre-recording or replays. With each session we help you shift your perspective towards meditation, then guide you life (whether that's in person or at the meditation centre) and it ends with some feedback and questions. We help to direct you exactly towards your goals and make sure you are on track and are there to answer any and all of your questions.
Conclusion
While the concept of "focusing on the present" may be misleading, this meditation is a powerful tool for clearing your mind if you follow it wholeheartedly. By practicing this meditation regularly, you will learn to recognize when your mind is wandering and you'll be able to discard it then and there to keep yourself in a constant state of presence, giving you more focus, clarity and an overall clear mind. So why not book a free introductary seminar and find out how it can benefit you?