AM I MY THOUGHTS? Beyond Thought: Discovering the True You

You hear a voice inside your head every single day. It comments, it criticizes, it plans, it replays old conversations and memories. But have you ever paused to reflect on that voice? Is it possible that you are not that voice, but perhaps the one who hears it? 

Most people spend their entire lives trapped inside their own minds, mistaking their thoughts for reality. We live inside a constant stream of inner dialogue, believing that if we think enough, analyze enough, or control enough, we will find peace. But the truth is that often times, the more that we engage with the noise, the further we drift from reality.

From the moment we wake up to the moment we fall asleep, our mind is running an endless script. It narrates our day, analyzes situations, judges people, and questions our every move. It replays conversations from years ago, imagines scenarios that will never happen, and makes us feel emotions tied to things that sometimes don't even exist outside of our own head. How silly is that?

The mind never stops talking! It pulls us into past regrets and future worries, convincing us that if we just think a little more, we can figure it all out. But let's face it, has that ever really worked?

The amount of mental chatter inside our heads is significantly high.

Consider This….

-Recent estimates suggest that we have an average of around 6,000 thoughts per day. This constant stream of internal monologue, self-reflection, and mind-wandering is so high that research suggests it occupies approximately half of our waking lives. 

-Some estimates claim that as many as 80% of our daily thoughts are negative and 95% are repetitive.

-For those who have a strong inner voice, the pace is incredibly fast. One study shows that we talk to ourselves at a rate of 4,000 words per minute. 

When we break it down, a great deal of this mental chatter is composed of: thoughts shifting to past events, future scenarios, and self-related experiences. This is governed by the brain's default mode recycling the same neural networks, and while this can be useful at times, it can also be a source of great worry and rumination, leading us on a downwards spiral of hyper-criticism and self-judgement.

For many, the voice inside the head was not ever ours to begin with, instead, this voice is a compilation of the thoughts, opinions and judgements of our parents/caretakers, ancestors, race, school, country, culture and the media.

The moment we step back from all of this and observe, something shifts. There is a space beyond the chatter. And in that space, something profound is waiting. It's pure consciousness! Energy waiting to be discovered and played with. It's eternal presence and peace in one single moment in time…and if that single moment is extended, that stillness starts to reach out like a thread of energy (a lifeline) so that that conscious presence begins to enter into our everyday life, and into the very existence of our being.

Consciousness is always patiently waiting for us to stop for long enough to remember that there is something more to life, waiting for you to realize that you are so much more than your identity, the thoughts inside your head, the personality of your ego, or the image of your body. That you are more than just this life, this name, this career, this family role, etc…

I invite you to take a moment today, to take some soft, deep breaths and simply breathe into your body for 10-15 seconds. Close your eyes, quiet your mind, and simply listen to the beat of your heart and the awareness of life behind your being.

If you would like help decluttering the voice in your head and opening up to the essence of your soul, let's chat.

In the meantime, I leave you with some conscious questions for inner dialogue and reflection…

-Who is the one hearing these thoughts?  

-Who is the one watching them?  

-Whose voice do I hear mixed in with these thoughts?  

-Who am I at my core essence?

Wishing you a life filled with peace and stillness so you may hear the voice of your heart.

Namaste, Dayana