"Focus - Daydream - Mindfully Observe - Focus:
That's the simplest brain-based formula for achieving goals efficiently. Part of your brain is a cluttered mess of partial thoughts, feelings, anxieties, and fantasies. That’s a good thing! It should be messy because it’s stirring all sorts of potential problems and solutions to help you achieve specific goals. This is your Default Mode Network (DMN), or what positive psychologist Martin Seligman likes to call your Imagination Network. However, there’s a much smaller part of your brain – your conscious mind - that NEEDS be highly organized but is often cluttered with conflicting thoughts and feelings that sabotage your ability to make wise decisions and plans. This is your Central Executive Network (CEN), or what I like to call your Thinking Network. But here’s a surprise: Did you know that it is impossible to stay focused and attentive for more than a few minutes at a time? Those precious neurochemicals get exhausted and your CEN briefly turns off, allowing your subconscious imagination (DMN) to take over. Although we are usually unaware of this “unfocusing,” as neuroscientist Srini Pillay likes to call it your mind begins to wander off into a daydream-like state. Back and forth these two brain networks go, alternating between focused attention and imagination. But if you want to achieve any goal efficiently, your CEN must be highly organized. Sadly, many of us – including me and many artists – spend too much time wandering through the DMN, that wild cacophony of predictive and creative ideas. Normally, when your CEN is organized, your DMN is quiet. But most psychological problems are now associated with too much mind-wandering and daydreaming. But if you stay constantly focused, you'll soon experience work burnout - a mild form of brain damage! So you need to relax your mind and consciously daydream a few minutes every hour. That's where your intuition can glimpse the creative problem-solving properties of your subconscious brain, which is also part of the DMN. This is where “Relaxed Mindful Awareness” comes in handy because it's the only known strategy that allows you to observe how your mind and imagination either work together or against each other. Try it right now. As you've been reading this, your mind should be highly focused. If not, you won't remember much of what you just read!... Let me show you how. 1. First, close your eyes and do three Mindful Yawns and do a FULL 60-seconds of super-slow micro-movements (so tiny, it barely looks like you are moving) with your head or torso. You should notice a rather large change in your mental state and mood. 2. Now just sit back and WATCH all the different thoughts and feelings that are subconsciously floating around, remaining deeply relaxed. This simple exercise trains your mind not to react to your feelings and it trains your brain to not get lost in your imagination of feel overwhelmed by your emotions. As you sit there in this mindfully relaxed state of awareness, you’ll discover that most of your anxiety and worry are not "real"...they're just part of that cluttered imagination center in which you spend half of your waking state in! 3. Now do one more thing: Staying mindfully relaxed and aware, ask your intuition (part of your Salience Network) for a new, surprising, creative solution to a problem you are currently wrestling with. The "whisper" you hear might give you an important clue for intuitively solving your problem, which is one of the most important functions of that daydreaming DMN. It’s a great formula for happiness and success, so remember this: FOCUS - DAYDREAM - MINDFULLY OBSERVE – FOCUS. Repeat this several times an hour (don’t forget to yawn and stretch) and you will balance some of the most important networks in your brain that allow you to achieve tremendous dreams!
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