As we’re working to heal from our mental health issues, we learn more about how to control our thought patterns so that we’re not causing ourselves mental and emotional pain, sabotaging our recovery and keeping ourselves sick. One powerful way to control our thoughts is by using the practice of detaching from and observing our thoughts. When we develop mindfulness, through meditation and other practices, we discover that we can detach from our thoughts enough to be able to observe them, learn from them, and keep them from overpowering us.
Self-Identifying With Our Thoughts
We tend to become so wrapped up in our thinking minds that we self-identify with our thoughts and define ourselves by them. We revolve our ego, or sense of self, around them. We craft our personalities, self-image and self-perception around these thoughts. This can be extremely problematic, especially for those of us with mental health challenges, because our thoughts tend to be dominated by negative thought patterns, woundedness and deep fear. We’re then self-identifying more with our difficult feelings, such as our sadness and shame, more than we are with our joy and hopefulness. We become so immersed in our pain that we become defined by it.
We Are More than Our Minds
The more we meditate, the more we’re able to detach from our busy, overactive minds and all the irrational thoughts, limiting beliefs, inner demons and lies they’re bombarding us with. We can use visualization exercises while we meditate, such as visualizing ourselves being separate from our thoughts, with our thoughts floating away on a cloud that is totally separate from our bodies. The more we practice meditating, the better able we are to detach from the noise and clutter which is ultimately all a distraction from our inner truth. We begin to see that we’re actually not our thinking minds, we’re so much more than that. We’re not our wounded ego, or our fear, or our pain. We’re not the things we associate with ourselves or the personalities we’ve created for ourselves. We can detach from our thinking minds, observe our thoughts and let ourselves move through them rather than becoming so attached to them that we allow them to control our emotions and dictate how we feel about ourselves.
Detaching from Illusion
Mental and emotional detachment helps us to see beyond the illusions our minds have created and into the truth of who we are – our connection to our higher power, our deeper purpose in recovery, our life’s calling. We are complex beings made up not just of frantic thoughts but of dreams and aspirations, gifts, talents and offerings to share. The more we can peacefully detach from our thoughts, especially the ones causing us the most pain, the more we can generate an energy of wellness and self-love to help carry us through our healing journey.
The caring, compassionate staff of The Guest House is here to support you as you start your journey to recovery and healing.
Call 855-483-7800 today for more information.
theguesthouseocala.com
3230 Northeast 55th Avenue Silver Springs, FL 34488