Lǽring: War and Conflict in the mind

Hello my friends, before we get to todays message. Remember, you can listen to these, as well as our weekly podcast on our website at forn-sidr.akoutlaw.com. As well, you can find the written copies of these shows that you can pass on to those individuals who may be hearing impaired. Please be sure to follow us on all the social media nets, podcast channels, and particularly here on Wisdom.

In todays episode I’d like to talk about the conflict within our minds. Whether it’s a decision as to what we will wear today, or what career options we are choosing to follow. The basic principles are the same. The idea of making a decision based on the relative memory cells connected together via the synapses. As a decision comes up, your brain goes through the same exercise, with the only difference being the amount of related memories to the central point of the necessary decision. As an example:

We need to select a pair of pants, yes, I chose an easy one.

Our brain looks at the memories of all the choices we have, then trolls through the memories of wearing each pair. Finally, it makes and evaluates what else is being worn, and/or possibly where we will be wearing our jeans, because the brain remembers all the wrong places and immediately brings up those for review. Possibly evaluating the comfort, and/or the amount of movement necessary, or desired. This is the thought process necessary just to put on our pants.

Multiply this exponentially as we attempt to get through our morning routines, making hundreds of decisions, each of which requiring the above processing to complete. The reality is that our brains may become overloaded, especially if we have some other environmental factors in play. Consider is we add a little alcohol, or sleep deprivation to this scenario and its easy to see how people fail to make good decisions. When attempting to quell our minds to ask questions of “the Runestones”, or even attempting to concentrate on a more complex task, we can find the distracting thoughts attempting to make related associations with other memory cells, thereby potentially derailing our concentration.

There is a process in which to control your thought process. You must drive the control mechanism. This control can be obtained by, what many refer to as “meditation”, or general relaxation techniques. We have all heard the value of meditation, particularly from the east, who have mastered the basic principles of meditation, and have acquired the ability to reap the benefits of “clarity of thought”. This idea is monumental in our quest to be at our very best. Here are some simple scenarios to help you get started in “recapturing” the brain thought process.

  1. Sitting comfortably by a lake. Very gentle breeze brushing across your exposed skin. Listen for the cries of small birds as they flutter between the trees.
  2. Sitting atop a mountain peak. Your line of sight extends hundreds of miles in every direction. Cool mountain air envelopes you as you hear the cries of a distant eagle.

These types of scenarios can get us into a relaxed state to foster the clearing of the mind.

Many feel as if meditation is a waste of time, and leads to very little, however, let me say that the masters of the east will strongly disagree with that sentiment, as do I. Just sit down, relax. Let your shoulders down. Rest your head upon something comfortable. Close your eyes. Picture one of the scenes described above. Full breath in, and full breath out. Relax. Focus on the details of the imagery described above. The more details the better. Breath in, breath out. No rush. Relax all your muscles consciously. Feel as if you are “sinking” within your own body. Slow, steady breaths. Breathe in through your nose, and breath out through your mouth. Full breath in, and full breath out. To accomplish the objectives, you want to stay awake.

Even by taking fifteen (15) minutes a day can help you clear your mind and reset everything. By making this a habit, you’ll ultimately reset the brain’s ability to process the necessary thoughts. We can better focus on one thing at a time. Those things in our life that we can not change, we allow to continue to be. We turn away from them. Let them go. Those things that we have entrusted to others, we give them the opportunity to handle it. We don’t need to second guess them, or keep them on our minds processing queue. Let it go. Finally, we arrive at the things that we need or want to change. These are the things we can focus on. One at a time. Think about them, develop a solution. In many cases I find that writing down the solution allows me better recall of it when necessary. Once you feel as if you have a solution, move on to the next issue. One at a time. Don’t allow yourself to become overwhelmed.

Share:

Leave a Reply

Copyright 2023. Alaskan Úlfhé∂nar, and Whispers of the Norse. Property of the Alaska Outlaw Productions LLC, Anchorage, Alaska. All images and names are the property of Whispers of the Norse.