Greetings!
I have really had trouble reining my self in for each post that I’ve written in this series so far & “Our Mental Selves” is no exception. I may have to cycle through the “Our Selves” series multiple times in order to get to say everything I’d like. I was a little worried before starting that I wouldn’t have much to say with this one & the last one “Our Energetic Selves” but by the time I sat down, my mind was overflowing with thoughts & ideas. I guess my mental self has been called upon. For the purposes of this post today, our mental self includes our intelligence, intellect, thoughts, thought-forms, beliefs, ideas, words, mind, brain & thinking processes including abstract & concrete.
Our mental selves are a little like our physical selves in that they both receive more of our attention & acceptance compared to the other aspects of our selves, being of a more tangible nature than say, the energetic self. So, for example, even though you can’t exactly put a finger on your thoughts, they appear to originate from the physical construct of the brain which gives them an aura of concrete reality & realness. You could locate the mental self in the brain, for it’s apparent from our physical biology that much of our “mentality” is located in the brain but I don’t recommend this. It’s probably more accurate to perceive your mental self as a body permeating your physical body. Viewed in this way, you can see that your mental self, intelligence & mind are not limited to just your brain. Every part of your body is intelligent.
The mental self can cause or contribute to problems in our lives & bodies just as any of our other aspects can & since “energy follows thought,” the potential is great for our mental self to cause a great deal of problems for us through our thinking & our thoughts. Since we usually assume that our thoughts originate with us, we then proceed to buy into everything we think without discernment, believing all that we think. You’ve heard the saying “don’t believe everything you hear”? To this, I would add “or think” because your thoughts are not always just your own. Some thoughts that arise unbidden in your mind are from God but some are from unhealed, wounded parts of your self, some from others in spirit whether of a pure nature or a wounded nature. In the same way that you would weigh & measure the words of others, I would suggest that you weigh & measure your own thoughts. Are they true? clarifying? accurate? compassionate? peaceful? loving? reasonable? logical? Do they lead you to make improvements in your life, body & relationships? Or do they tear you or others down? criticize? attack? judge? condemn? Do they stir up hate? unforgiveness? revenge? anger? Do they dwell on temporary negative conditions? things out of your control? what others are doing? or have done? The quality of your thoughts can indicate the source of them. Needless to say, the loving thoughts of God feel very different from the wounded thoughts of others or of other parts of your self. Don’t believe that you hear any thoughts but your own? This is possibly true if you continuously occupy your mind with ongoing active thinking, although, I have heard Spirit talk to me right over the top of my own thinking so I know that active thinking is no actual impediment. The best example I can think of, demonstrating that we can hear Spirit as our own thoughts, was one time that I was out of my body (OOBE) but heading back. Usually, coming back into my body is instantaneous but this was one of those times that it wasn’t. I was moving through a space similar to a hallway & up ahead of me & off to the left, I could hear a woman talking as if she were in a room off this hallway. She continued talking as I moved past her & I continued to hear her voice as I moved away. Gradually, as I merged with my body, her voice changed from it’s own distinct sound to the sound of my own thinking & continued on, sounding & feeling exactly like my own thoughts. This experience, among others, confirmed for me that we have the ability to “hear” those in Spirit in our minds as our thoughts.
The difficulty with “hearing” Spirit in this way is learning to discern which thoughts are your own & which are not. To this end, I would suggest a few things.
- Forgiveness Work or Emotional Work mentioned in a previous post “Our Emotional Selves” is also very effective with clearing & healing the mental self. For myself, I found that as I did my “work,” I enjoyed greater & greater periods of time without any chatter in my mind. A quiet mind can be key for many, as it was for me, to enable the voice of Spirit to be discerned. Once you develop the ability to be quiet in your mind, the voice of Spirit is quite obvious.
- Meditation works for some people by training the mind to be quiet & cease the chatter. This training can then be used to listen to Spirit. This technique has the benefit that it is available to anyone, there are many self-help books on the subject & it doesn’t require having access to a therapist. It does require daily commitment though & it lacks the depth of healing & overall healing benefit offered by forgiveness work.
- Practicing the Presence: Choosing to practice the presence of God involves your willingness to be open to God, stated with intent & then sitting quietly, letting go of everything else. It looks like meditation but is not because you are not focusing your attention on anything in the physical, you are not trying to stop thinking, you are not required to hold any particular position, chant any word or phrases or accomplish any goal other than being with God. The Presence of God has the power to overcome all of your resistance, woundedness, fear & negative mental constructs, thoughts, beliefs, disordered & faulty thinking & rigid mind. One of my mentors has developed a wonderful version of this technique that I am going to try to share here. This can be done anytime but bedtime is especially good. Say out loud or in your mind, “I choose to fill myself with the Divine Presence of God.” This is the basic statement or intent to which more can be added such as “I choose to fill my bones, muscles, connective tissue”, etc. Alternately you could start with your feet & move up adding your legs, etc. You could go through the list of body systems such as pulmonary system, skeletal system or body organs & glands such as heart, etc. You can expand this idea by choosing to fill your relationships, your different aspects such as your subconscious, emotions, emotional self, field, soul, spirit, mind, will, etc. I always take a deep breath after each stated intent because I want to let go of all resistance to God & to receiving what I am asking. Once you feel that you are done, then just lie there enjoying the feeling of being filled with God. Sweet Dreams!
Love, Dawn
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