The Practice of Quieting Your Mind

Hello Friends!

This blog is in response to a fellow ACIM student and subscriber of mine who said she was struggling with not being able to keep her mind quiet and wondered if I had anything helpful to share on the topic. This is a common frustration I hear from fellow students of A Course in Miracles whose goal it is to have genuine inner peace. I have had much experience with this especially to help myself out of the darkness of PTSD, and I'm excited to share with you what has come to me through my personal application of using the Course's teachings to help and I'm also going to share with you some other helpful revelations which dawned upon me and I have applied to my life so I can have a quieter mind! 

To begin, I do feel it is important to acknowledge that our work with the Course is a lifelong path and a result of this life’s path is a quiet mind. To be fair to ourselves and the mind healing process, we shouldn't put a heavy expectation on the results of doing the Course work but instead we should lovingly allow ourselves the process of unlearning the ego and replacing it with the Holy Spirit's Thought System.

As Course students, we are guided to begin the Course by reading the text so we have an understanding of what we're being taught before we head into the Course's lessons. It is the application of doing the Course lessons that we begin the mind training process in which the result is a quiet mind. So, as we progress through reading the Course’s text, we are not really in the application stage of using the Course’s teachings. Although we are encouraged throughout the text to open our minds and welcome the Holy Spirit’s guidance, it is only when we reach the Course’s lessons that we really get into applying the mind training component of the Course which results in a quiet mind. We can then accept that our work to creating a quiet mind is just beginning when we begin the Course’s lessons.

In this regard, you can accept that your work with the Course is your work to achieve a quiet mind and therefore a quiet mind is not necessarily something you will experience right away.

Why Your Mind Can Be Chatty

It is helpful to understand why your mind is chatty. It is only the wrong mind of the ego which is noisy as a busy mind is a diversionary tactic of the ego. The ego is always aiming to keep you from recognizing the Truth within your mind that you are fundamentally One with your Source. This is a Truth which is death to the ego and it cannot afford to have you recognize and ultimately accept this Truth. So, it distracts you with tangential thinking, analysis, conflict, and over-thinking. All of these contribute to your experience of a chatty, busy mind.

As annoying or uncomfortable a chatty mind can be, it's only real purpose is simple - to distract you. No more, no less. 

In the Course, we are taught that the ego is actually quite threatened by us because it knows that we are powerful. The ego knows that we can choose against it at any time. This is helpful to remember because it's actually empowering! Beneath that mental chatter is the remembrance of your true power - that you are the Decision Maker who will ultimately choose against the ego and who can begin by doing so right now! 

Whenever you feel annoyed or frustrated by a chatty mind, remind yourself of what is actually going on which will help you move beyond it!

Note that a serene mind is a mind which is without the belief in the ego. As your mind heals of its belief and investment in the ego, you can expect to have a quieter mind.

Where You Come In

Presently, you may feel like you are hypnotized by the stream of thoughts which come to your awareness, and you may unintentionally follow them down every rabbit hole. This is done habitually, yet it is a habit which can change! An understanding of how you are feeding into your mental chatter is your key to calming your mind.

Now, as Course students we can use the Course’s teachings to help us. When we take a look at the Course’s teachings about the tiny, mad idea (where we thought we could usurp God’s creative power and go create on our own; a.k.a. the separation) we are taught that the problem wasn’t that the tiny, mad idea came into our awareness, the problem was that we mistook it seriously. In taking it seriously, we gave it our mind's incredible power of belief! And this is exactly what you are doing when you take all the rambling ego thoughts which stream through your mind seriously - you are taking them seriously, giving them your attention and affording them your belief.  

I feel it’s important to note that even getting frustrated with your thoughts is still taking them seriously because your frustration is an effect of your judging them as being real to you. If they weren’t real to you, they could never bother you. This is why Jesus' first few lessons to us begins with the acknowledgement that what we see and the thoughts we think, do not actually mean anything. As you accept this, they start to lose their seeming hold on you.

A chatty mind is a product of an untrained mind and it is also a form of the ego’s resistance to your mind training and forgiveness work. We are taught through Gary Renard’s work that the ego is like the Terminator – it keeps coming back. I don’t share this to deter you but to highlight the need for vigilance. As we are lovingly reminded in the Course, the ego is vulnerable. It cannot last because of its sheer insanity.

This leads to me another teaching from Gary Renard which is that you can be insistent when it comes to not tolerating the ego. Remember, YOU are the Decision Maker who chooses what you want to believe in and whose voice you will listen to – the ego’s or the Holy Spirit’s.

I encourage you to be patient with yourself as you strengthen in Right-Mindedness (turning to the Holy Spirit). We have all been listening to the ego for eons and so it is going to take work to quiet its voice. This is a realization which can help when you feel frustrated.

What You Can Do

Along with doing the Course lessons, there are other things you can do to help yourself with quieting your mind…

Non-Judgement

Practicing non-judgement is vital to quieting your mind. Letting thoughts pass without your judgement may be strange at first but it does get easier to do. I liken letting thoughts pass by to being like clouds floating by in the sky. They are there for a bit of time, but they do inevitably pass. Eckhart Tolle encourages observing thoughts instead of judging them. To begin practicing this, it would be ideal to allot a few minutes throughout your day where you simply practice letting thoughts pass by without your judgement.

To help with practicing non-judgement, you can also remind yourself that you are worthy of God, not of the ego. And so, the ego’s rambling thoughts are not worth your judgement nor do they contribute at all to your life in any meaningful way. They are just background noise designed to keep your attention away from you recognizing you are a fundamental part of God.

“Judgement and love are opposites. From one come all the sorrows of the world. But from the other comes the peace of God Itself.” Lesson 352

Quiet Your Environment

Realistically, we are experiencing a world which constantly strives for our attention. I was admittedly annoyed when I was watching the recent Hockey playoffs and noticed that the Edmonton players had a Skip-the-Dishes ad written upon their helmets. Is there no grace in our society for just letting a hockey helmet be advertisement-free? The constant attention being asked of us by pop-up ads and prompts when we’re online can be challenging enough!

The current state of our society is a pretty accurate projection of the ego’s agenda to distract us. We are truly in a time where we must take control if we want to allow space in our daily life for simple peace. Thankfully, as students of A Course in Miracles, we are taught the importance of mental discipline as well as vigilance to see beyond the ego to the Truth.

As quieting our minds includes the practice of non-judgement, it is helpful to create an environment where there are simply less things to judge. Please note that I don’t mean to encourage sticking one’s head in the sand and ignoring the world around them. It is important to be normal and still go out in the world and connect with others and live life, but you don't need to inundate yourself with ego nonsense. What I will share in this section are ways you can simply help your environment be less noisy while also being more supportive in your practice of non-judgement.

You can think of having a quieter home environment as a preference. Something which supports more opportunities for connecting with your Source in peace. The fact is though, that noise will happen in its own way. As peaceful as I’ve aimed to make my home environment, I still live with two dogs who are by nature quite barky and territorial, so my quietest moments can still be interrupted by sudden and startling barking and I assure you that I have had my fair share of having to forgive my perception of those moments!

Creating a peaceful environment is simply an added support for you as you train your mind to think with the Holy Spirit and connect with your Source. 

You can begin by being picky about your media choices. Curate your social media to only follow positivity-based accounts. Watch shows which enlighten, educate, and genuinely entertain you (as opposed to just distracting you). Listen to music which delights you and soothes your nervous system. Since the PTSD, I’ve been really enjoying more ambient-style music which has no words and is lovely and melodic. I also choose to use the ambient channel available through Stingray so I don’t get interrupted by commercials.

When it comes to quieting your environment, I am not just referring to the auditory sense. I have personally found that visually things can be “noisy”. Specifically, I find too many patterns or bright colours as being visually “loud”. I also find that if a room has a lot of knick-knacks, too much clutter or an area with many labels (like a household kitchen with many food labels on products which are visible) it can mentally be “too much” to take in. Or, otherwise put, there is more opportunity for ego judgement. The same goes for objects which hold a lot of emotional memory – I find that they also can be mentally “too busy” to me.

Perhaps you’re like me and find these types of things contribute to a busy state of mind. As stated, it’s really my judgement of these things which is the issue and it is this I’m aware of. Whether we recognize it or not, when we see a familiar product label, it can trigger a subconscious memory. Same can go with seeing pictures of people as those pictures are not necessarily neutral and can initiate a wealth of memories, thoughts and ultimately emotions.

To mentally and visually quiet my environment, I have no labels on any food products which are visible outside of the cupboards and fridge. As an example, I scoop out my butter from the package and place it in a label-less marble butter holder. I pour my olive oil into an unmarked spouted glass jar. My salt and pepper are each held in tiny marble bowls. All of my spices are held in glass jars. None of these products have a visible insignia which contributes to having a "quiet" kitchen environment. Same goes with my bathrooms - all peace, no noise.

As mentioned above, I also have no pictures of people hanging in my home (other than a picture of my husband Eric and myself on the day he proposed). Every person carries an emotional memory based upon your ego perception of them and I therefore find photos of people as being both mentally and emotionally “noisy”.

As labels and pictures trigger memories and by effect, old neural pathways, I personally find that my mind is clearer when there are none around as there is simply nothing to perceive. Now, my decision to do this is part of my commitment to having a peaceful life. By having a more peaceful starting point as I begin my day, I am more inclined to maintain this feeling of peace by ensuring I forgive painful memories and fearful thoughts which do arise.

Note that even though you don’t have photos up of people close to you, you will still be aware of your forgiveness opportunities in your relationships with them as you still have your memories of them and you also may very well still interact with them. The painful memories don’t go away just because you don’t have a picture up of the person. So, simply pay attention to the memories which enter your awareness and if you find yourself negatively reacting to those memories, that’s your cue to forgive! Also, you will still be aware of the loving memories you have of them too which is helpful.

Notice When You’re Agitated

I have found that a sure sign of me judging too much is that I feel agitated. It’s my sign that I need to stop and quiet my mind. I respond to agitation by turning on ambient music and deep breathing for a few minutes. This is my way of practicing non-judgement and quieting my mind. After doing this, I find I am way more relaxed and also focused. I also feel aligned with my Right Mind.

In the Course, Jesus teaches us that the arousal of discomfort brings to our attention the need for correction. So, noticing when you are out of sorts in any manner is a good sign it is time to take a breather and go within. Tuning into your feelings is an excellent way to introduce opportunities to practice quieting your mind. And you don’t want to waste those opportunities as they really do help you strengthen in Right-Mindedness until forgiving and feeling peaceful is your go-to goal.

Focus on Quality

If you have done the Course’s lessons, you know that the later lessons in particular recommend quieting your mind from about 5-15 minutes depending on the lesson. What I will point out is that you are not asked to quiet your mind for a considerable amount of time in the Course’s lessons and this is because it’s not actually about the quantity of minutes you spend in quiet BUT in the quality of how those minutes are spent. What I mean by this is that in those minutes of quiet which you are guided to take in the Course’s lessons, are minutes where you are asked to reach past surface ego thoughts to the deeper thoughts in your mind which are shared with your loving Source – God. The thoughts of God are the quality thoughts. It’s also fun to point out that in the Course it is taught that You are a Thought of God.

There is a teaching in the Manual for Teachers section of the Course which states; “One can easily sit still an hour with closed eyes and accomplish nothing. One can as easily give God only an instant, and in that instant join with Him completely.” Manual for Teachers.16.4:5-6

When you take those moments to quiet your mind, try not to focus on duration, focus on the quality of those moments, however brief they may be. Remember that you want the peace of God, so practice tuning in to the peace of God. <3

The ego Traps

As mentioned earlier, the ego is focused on distracting you and there are ways it will attempt to do this other than through a chatty mind. The ego can sneak in the back door of your mind and begin to judge whether you are doing your mind training practice correctly. It can also suggest you are incapable of having a peaceful mind. And of course, the ego can lead to thoughts of unworthiness and even guilt around not being able to simply quiet one’s mind.

These are all ego traps to distract from the task at hand. To the ego, whatever thoughts which catch your attention will do as a distraction.

Be vigilant. Instead of identifying with the guilt or the unworthiness or the seeming lack of progress, recognize it for what it is – another ego attempt to keep you from remembering Who you really are.

When I struggle with focusing, I take a moment to put some breathing room between me and the thought itself. As I deep breathe, I imagine that my breath is filling a bubble between me and the thought. As I breathe, the imaginary bubble gets larger and more space is created. Then, when I intuitively feel there is enough distance, I cut the thought loose from the bubble and let it float away.

This is a method which works for me. Is there a method which helps you release your judgement of thoughts? If so, see if you can practice this method in place of judging yourself.

Final Thoughts

I always like to remind myself and others that the ego is really nothing. Although we may speak of the ego as being something outside of us (something which we do for ease of describing the ego’s workings) it is important to remember that it is not actually outside of you. As we're taught in the Course, there is nothing outside of us! It's all a projection from your mind. So, the ego is not a force outside of you and it is also not outside of your control. It is being fed by you and you simply (like all of us) have ways the ego catches your attention. Become aware of those ways and then practice putting space between you and those ways.

As an example, coming out of PTSD, I have noticed that the past few years I have been very defensive in my thinking. I would dream about beating up ghosts or potential kidnappers, and during the day, especially when out walking my dogs, I would mentally prepare myself should anyone get on my case about anything while I was out for my walk. I had to look at my thinking and recognize that this was just a bad habit sculpted out of my PTSD experience and it is no longer relevant in my life. So, I’ve had to actively aim to change that thinking habit. I no longer dream about ghosts and kidnappers which is a pleasant development, but I have to do my work at the conscious level when I am out walking my dogs to not go down the path of making up scenarios where I have to defend myself for one reason or another.

I have to let that habit go.

And it’s working. I simply catch myself and remind myself that I know where that road of thought goes. And I’m done walking that road. I choose peace. So, now I deepen my breath and stop investing in the thought immediately. It no longer gets my energy nor my mind's power of belief. It gets nothing from me. In place of the defensive thoughts, my focus now naturally veers towards noticing my dog’s wagging tail, enjoying a pleasant breeze which blows by, and due to it being rose season, I literally stop and smell the roses. And I have other thoughts too of course, but I recognize I’m more present and can sustain that presence for longer.

This is a decision I’ve had to make so I can move out of the past.

Be gentle with yourself and recognize that quieting your mind can be a life’s work for some of us. I acknowledge that some people may be master meditators but some of us are not and that’s perfectly okay. We all have our strengths and challenges. So, give yourself some grace and follow the path appointed to you. Beating yourself up is not the way to a quiet mind. But, forgiving yourself for beating yourself up, is.

Are you ready to make your decision for inner peace?

Lots of Love!!

Fiona XO