I once read on one of those Yogi tea labels, “A relaxed mind is a creative mind!” A simple truth, I think, that is often forgotten!
How relaxed is your mind?
It’s something that can be hard to gauge.
But I get a sense I’m perpetually trying to solve the same ole problems, in the same ole ways! In some way flogging my mind to exhaustion, like a dead horse.
I see myself do that even in the act of meditation, I sense a quality of trying too hard! Pushing and striving. Holding in tension.
Sometimes, I wanna scream… Give it a rest!
I’m writing about this because I’d like to explore… well, a different way.
Do we have to be so driven? Perhaps our problem-solving, tense thinking and doing is in fact getting in the way! How about letting our minds run free for half an hour or even a day! Free to do it what it wants, not to be still or quiet but to roam wild and play without having to produce anything.
What about giving ourselves some daydreaming time? Perhaps it’s the mental equivalent of doodling! When did you last doodle? Probably not since high school, sitting in a boring History class. Mine was History (fill in your favourite doodle class), mindlessly memorising births, deaths, and marriages of Kings and Queens. What was that all about!? Sorry, I digress… my mind is already doodling!
Daydreaming as relaxation. Doodles can be the beginnings of works of art!
Freewheel a bit
So, let the pedal off the gas. Let yourself freewheel… Imagine you’ve just pedalled to the brow of the hill. You see the vista unfolding before you, the rolling lush hills, blue sky and fluffy white clouds drifting slowly, casting changing shadows on the landscape. All is there for you to behold. You can relax for a moment… Breath… Enjoy the view. Feel the wind in your face. Listen to the gentle, satisfying clicking as you cease to pedal but the wheels keep turning, letting gravity move you effortlessly and gracefully into the scene.
Give time for your mind to make sense of itself… freewheeling… making connections, unseen by you. Allowing inspiration to incubate… to create new impulse for your life.
Even better if you can give yourself a sensual distraction for your body at the same time, to help your mind ease into the relaxation. Dip your toes into the water and watch the ripples on the surface. Let yourself be entranced by reality as your mind relaxes.
Come on… it’s the weekend! How can you let yourself daydream over the next couple of days?
Remember… A relaxed mind is a creative mind!
Photo by Gabriel Peter from Pexels
