Healing the mind from stress can improve our attention, concentration, and mood. When we practice mindfulness, we become aware of and intimately familiar with the habits of the mind. Through cultivating this awareness, we discover the freedom to choose where we will focus our attention, and in that freedom of choice, healing is possible.
For instance, if we become aware that our mind is engaging in negative and critical commentary, we can try stepping back and noticing the thoughts without getting caught up in them. We can choose to practice letting go of those thoughts, imagining them floating by like clouds on a windy day. We can choose to rest our attention on more wholesome thoughts that bring about a more wholesome mental and emotional state.
When we rest our attention on wholesome thoughts, this can decrease stress, which decreases inflammation. Resting the attention on wholesome thoughts cultivates positive mental states, which cultivates positive emotional states, which can improve mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing and increase emotional resilience.
Just for today, try to be aware of the habits of the mind, and if you notice that the mind is focused on unhelpful thoughts, see if you can become an observer of your own thoughts and notice how they come and go without getting caught up in the story of the thoughts. Then let them go and direct the attention to rest on more wholesome thoughts that support healing the mind.
We pay attention to thoughts and find that they are ephemeral, that they come and go, uninvited, like clouds. –Jack Kornfield