sinking the mind

[Guest]

one of the silly battles we seem to get ourselves into is waging war on the mind with the mind.....
the body is a powerful source of wisdom. one thing that has helped me to become quiet is a simple practice called "sinking the mind".
the point is to move the awareness from the brain area into the hara. it takes some practice, like anything, but there is an actual feeling that goes along with it that's pretty hard to miss once you get the hang of it. i notice that the feeling is not something that i can produce effectively while "thinking". i also notice that my skin itself seems to become a greater source of information when i am sinking my awareness. i notice there is another way to make choices, to act....a way that eliminates what we might normally call a logical thought process. it is an anchor in the present and allows us to make use of information coming from the body as a whole rather than from just the brain.....
dreamers will notice the familiar energy in the belly.
i think i have a link to a place that describes this technique.... i'll post it here in case anyone is interested in exploring it for themselves as a practice
http://flux64.wordpress.com/2006/10/12/three-minds-into-one/

[bluedreamer]

Thanks mothsdream, this sounds great!

[bluedreamer]

Hey moths, just now tried the link, its broken. : (

[Guest]

!
maybe this one will work....

http://flux64.wordpress.com/2006/10/12/ ... -into-one/

[bluedreamer]

Success!

[dreamgirl]

Nice article you linked here Mothsdream. while I was reading it, something that I learned a while back and have been thinking a lot about lately is that in your intestines, your "gut" the neurotransmitter seretonin is produced in large quantities, this, as I am sure most of you know is the feel good chemical in the brain that is linked with depression, as in not having enough leads to a depressed state. I heard that if you support your intestinal or gut function with a probiotic like acidophilus, you could potentially have a better mood and stronger mind. I post this here in reference to the three minds or brains being linked in your article, and because I kept thinking about it while I read I just assumed that someone might benefit from this knowledge. (Just a gut feeling I had)

[Guest]

i'd have to agree with your thought dreamgirl....

it's difficult at first to try to operate from the body - and for sure, it seems that it's impossible to do when you need to "think" - analyze, plan, etc...

there is a strong sense of unsureness because of lack of familiarity with the system. it's not going to feel or be the same mode of "thinking"...but with a little practice, one can sense a definite more "whole-istic" system. the holdup is to not let the brain trick you into believing that it's the only way of functioning in the world. the reality is that the mind is a tool in a whole toolbox full of amazing things. as human beings, we have the right to select whatever tool we want to put to use in any given situation. the mind likes to control everything because it has given us the ego self, a sense of identity. on a very simple level, there is a part of all of us that feels our very existence is threatened if we release the control of the mind because of its association with our identity.

we all know the mind loves to worry and create anxiety for us to keep us running in its maze... as a result, using the mind only tends to bring us more problems...more intricate details and more things to worry about.... as you mention, sinking the awareness does seem to produce a general feeling of well-being and of present-ness.

at least, that's what seems to happen for myself. hope it's helpful to any of you!

[Guest]