The Astonishing Way to Instantly Silence the Incessant Chatter in Your Mind
By: Janet Ashforth
Tags: Mindfulness, Meditation, Psychology, Psychedelics, Drugs

Hint: I’m not going to tell you to meditate.

“Free your mind, and the rest will follow.” — En Vogue

Do you recall the infamous “Red Pill Scene” in The Matrix? It’s the one where Neo gets to choose between taking the red pill or blue pill. If he swallows the blue pill, he can return to his slime-filled prison. There he’ll continue his life as a human battery while his mind is distracted by the false existence that is the Matrix.

Or, he can go for the red pill, wake up from his ignorance, and experience harsh reality.

Learning to quiet your mind is like taking the red pill. Only in this scenario, the reality of your present moment is far better than the past/future thought-prison your mind creates.

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Why Silence The Chatter

If you’re like most people, your mind is a never-ending narrative nuisance that plagues you every waking moment of your existence. Chances are, you’ve tried to defeat it and can’t. So your mind is running the show.

Why does it matter if your mind spews a constant barrage of commentary? For one, most of its contrary. For another, it distracts you from the here and now. And it forces you to focus on the past, which is no longer, or the future, which doesn’t exist. So you miss out on your life, which only exists in the present.

Also, your mind is continually judging, labeling, comparing, and blaming — both yourself and others. If you’re dissatisfied, unhappy, depressed, or anxious, that may be why.

So here’s how you’ll benefit from quieting your mind, and a quick and dirty trick for those of you who can’t.

Is This You?

1. You’ll reduce depression, anxiety

The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle, introduces the concept that you aren’t your mind. Tolle writes, “Identification with your mind creates an opaque screen of concepts, labels, words, judgments, and definitions that block all true relationships. It comes between you and yourself, between you and your fellow man and woman, between you and nature, and between you and “God.”

Tolle also suggests that all of your problems derive from either thinking about the past or future. Which every one of us does, all the time.

If you can quiet your mind and focus on the present, you’ll notice your problems seem to dissolve, and your anxiety and depression will fade.

2. You’ll be more focused, creative, and your ability to complete tasks will increase significantly.

Research shows when you maintain a state of mindful meditation, you’ll have an increased ability to focus on tasks. And you’ll be far more effective at completing said tasks. Your creativity will be significantly enhanced, as will your ability problem solve.

3. You’ll eliminate negative thoughts and their health consequences.

Each thought you have creates an emotional reaction in your body. Unsurprisingly, positive thoughts trigger positive emotional responses, and negative thoughts spawn adverse psychological reactions.

When you ruminate about a past adverse event or worry about the future, your mind thinks those scenarios are happening right now. And your brain triggers your sympathetic nervous system. Otherwise known as “fight or flight.” You might be in a chronic state of fight or flight triggered by your thoughts. Usually, you’re not in immediate danger.

During fight or flight, a torrent of hormones cascade into your bloodstream. Epinephrine (adrenaline) pumps into your system, causing your pulse, heart rate, and blood pressure to increase. Cortisol surges into your bloodstream, and your digestion shuts down.

According to Harvard Medical School, fight or flight increases your chance of heart attack and stroke and can damage blood vessels and arteries. Increased cortisol in your bloodstream urges you to eat more to replenish the energy you lost, causing you to gain weight.