Slow Down to Receive?More

Early up and late in bed. Sometimes work seems like an endless string of tasks and projects. When we close on this side of the Earth, they open on the other. Things change constantly. If you are not in front, you risk being left behind.?

Nobody wants that, so we do our best to fit in and deliver as promised. We sense it could be different, but feel unable to change the structure and culture, keeping us trapped on the treadmill. We are locked in and goal directed, with no space left for experiment and exploration.?

At least that is the story we tell. In fact, a new start is just a thought away. Take a breath. Become present and aware. Shift your mental gear from fast thinking to slow thinking to no thinking at all. Enjoy the stillness. Ignore the familiar thoughts, and focus on new thoughts arriving. Voila!

Moving from thinking to having thoughts can do magic: generate breakthrough ideas, improve conditions, and transform life paths. Let me try to explain.

Thoughts are mental representations of the world. Thinking is the mind processing thoughts to understand and manipulate the world. Thoughts are neutral events until our thinking labels them. Thoughts are not essentially right or wrong, good or bad. Thinking makes them so.

Thoughts are random, unless you think they are not. They arise naturally, which you can do nothing about. A thought may take form as an idea, an image, a sound, or any other mental content. Thoughts don’t require effort, but they may stress you. Thought produces more thoughts.

Thinking is a mental activity that you can engage in or not. It takes an effort to process information, as you form concepts, engage in problem solving, reason and make decisions. Thinking can be both positive and negative towards new thoughts, and either defend or attack them.

When in the fast system 1 thinking mode (Kahneman), we are operating routinely in a predictable context. We look for confirmation of our predictions, ignore alternative choices, or label them irrelevant. The only thoughts we accept are the familiar ones. We reproduce and repeat.

Unforeseen events or active choices can bring us into system 2 thinking mode, where we slow down to take in information and analyze fresh data. We have new thoughts that we can use to move and improve our thinking. We are in a state of learning and creating.

However, there is a problem. For most people, the transition from thoughts appearing to thinking about them is so automatic and seamless that it takes some effort and persistence to break the pattern. The deliberate shift from fast to slow thinking mode is not easy. Staying in the observer mode is even harder for the untrained mind.

Here's how I do it, a routine acquired from many hours of practice:

1. Be present. For instance, by sensing the energy in your body or focusing on your breathing for a few minutes.
2. Become aware of your inner world. Defocus, make your mind spacious, and observe what is going on.
3. Notice the thoughts coming and going, like trains to a station. Some just pass by, others take hold and engage you. Suddenly one sticks.
4. Chances are the thought triggers thinking. Your inner commentary starts to evaluate, judge, like and dislike, find pros and cons, reject or accept the new thought.
5. When you become aware of the situation, say "period!” (like ending a sentence) to stop thinking and return to observation mode.?

The more you do this exercise, the better you become at slowing down and freeing yourself from thinking. When you can stay in the observer mode without reacting to the thoughts, you can begin to experiment with moving awareness from old to new thoughts.

To access the unknown and receive new information, you must clear your mind from any inner resistance to emerging ideas, and fear of losing yourself or your influence. You are ready to challenge basic beliefs and update basic assumptions.?

Being in the receptive state is like a wild idea safari. Watch, but do not touch. Like an anthropologist, you practice the noble art of observing without interfering. Your main interest is what emerges. According to the renowned physicist David Bohm, potential ideas are enfolded as implicate order, ready to pop-up in the mind. Nowhere?—?now here.?

The secret of reception is to expand awareness from the known to the unknown. Ideally, you combine the finders’ mindset of an artist with the effortless observation of a meditator. Non-ordinary states of consciousness can be induced in many ways?—?from ritual dancing to laughter yoga, from meditation to using psychedelics. For inspiration, read the book “Stealing Fire” by Jamie Wheal and Steven Kotler.

Slowing down gives you the opportunity to consider alternatives. You cannot choose which thoughts to have, but you can create conditions for new thoughts to arrive, resonate and integrate with thoughts already flowing or resting in your mind.

Thoughts manifest as the ideas we have, the choices we make, and the actions we take. Thinking moves us from attention and intention to experience and behavior. We choose which thoughts to stay with, depending on the level of consciousness, the scope of mind, and the intention.?

With a little practice, you can cultivate your thinking to slow down and tune in to the frequencies of new ideas emerging from the formless and endless potential. For the benefit of yourself, your people and the world. Enjoy!

Experimentation beyond is part of the transperiental matrix.