Daily Mystic Messages - Brain Training
Brain training is a hot topic. There is a huge market for meditation programs and apps because more and more people are realizing the need to control their focus and attention. There is even a whole supplement sub-market for enhancing brain function for more clarity and focus.
Maybe it's because more and more people are recognizing the power of their thoughts to manifest things in their life.
Or it could be because people are more and more stressed out an agitated.
And let's be honest, it's hard to feel settled when your phone is constantly pinging you with notification.
Beeping. Blinking. Buzzing. Flashing....
Our world has advanced in ways we're not well equipped to deal with, so additional training is in order I think. It couldn't hurt. That's for sure.
What most people don't realize about brain training is the same thing that people don't realize about manifesting. It's this...
You're always doing it- whether you realize it or not. Whether you want to be doing it or not. It's always happening.
We train ourselves to have a short attention span by constantly disrupting our focus to tend to the latest notification. An email. A text. A comment. A share.
Social media platforms are onto this trend with the popularity of short form content. TikTok. Reels. YouTube shorts. Stories. and the like.
These quick hits are addictive. You almost feel a sense of accomplishment in watching something from start to finish, even if it's only 30-seconds long.
And with every flick of your finger to scroll down the feed, you're training your brain to focus in very short increments and to form snap judgements.
No wonder the mind is so restless.
No wonder it feels foreign to just sit and do nothing. I don't mean meditating either because even that is doing something. I mean just sitting and looking at a tree. Not thinking about anything in particular. Just letting your mind rest.
If you go to a coffee shop these days and just sit there. Not reading. Not scrolling. Not talking. Just sitting and drinking your coffee, people look at you kind of weird. It's not normal to just sit.
Another thing our brain is being trained to do is to require an incredible amount of input and stimulation to stay engaged. The imagination is no longer necessary when everything is done for you in immersive media like video games or iMax movies. Neither is focus, because everything is so loud and carefully choreographed to sweep you away.
This comes at a cost. We've lost our ability to see. To just look at something (or someone) and see, without the chatter. Without labeling it. Without trying to get to the next thing.
The human imagination atrophies from neglect.
The good news is that your brain is very adaptable. It will learn and adjust more quickly than you think. But it requires care and attention.
It requires doing things differently from the status quo.
It requires not only giving ourselves space, but receiving that space as well. Rather than filling it with more noise and distractions.
It's not hard to do. It's a choice we get to make.
The payoff is a veritable superpower in this day and age.
It's the ability to be present. And that presence is the hidden door into a deeper, more rich, and ultimately more fulfilling experience of not only our lives, but ourselves.
So ask yourself today, what have I been training my brain for?
Is it snack sized consumption of trending content?
Or creative insight and authentic self expression?
Nick
The Mystic Next Door