he consistent theme here at MMP is simply to keep training your mind, each day. Just for a few minutes no need to over do it. Firstly you’ll need a structure for your mind, a saying, commonly called a mantra, a mind routine or a mental exercise; something that resonates with the essential you and your core self. And it’s this that will calm you down. But yes, you will need to practise by yourself without distraction. Results over time are guaranteed, be patient though.

If you have absolutely nothing that resonates here that’s fine, don’t stress. You are still in a great position to get excellent benefit from a consistent small practise each day. A cogent way to start is with your breathing: simple breath counting, very easy, very neutral for the mind and very effective. Read the post on the 4 week meditation program at MMP because breath counting is the introductory technique taught in week 1.

Remember you don’t have to go anywhere or actively do anything to get benefit here.  It’s about naturally relaxing your body and mind will follow, detoxing yourself, reducing all the drugs including caffeine, and slowing down (not for the whole day of course) just for a couple of minutes, that is all.

The body in its natural state when not drug affected nor threatened tends to relax. This needs to be consciously and slowly cultivated so as you intuitively ‘know’ when you’re feeling more relaxed and calmer.

The emphasis here is on being as natural as possible and paying attention to what you consume (eat) and what you drink. They’re both critical. Being thoughtful therefore is required. No auto-pilot.

Read the post about NON-DOING! It’s not super easy but with practise it’s super possible and super beneficial.

uriosity, interest, a spirit of enquiry or inquisitiveness about your own life, can be like a thread, an intangible something, or a feeling that can be lying idle within us all. It lies there until we make some genuine enquiry, take the opportunity to look carefully, then and only then, something frequently happens to awaken the mind. As it can with all minds. This can put us on a different path, a path of growth, of change and discovery. But if you don’t get around to this then it simply stays idle.

And to have this thread of curiosity or interest woven into your everyday experience so deeply that you embrace even the very mundane serves to develop something special within you and promotes a refreshingly different relationship with your mind. But it does require time, patience and practice. It’s no panacea but simply validates introspection and an enduring interest in your known internal life. This inexorably leads to an investigation which then may lead to valuing and appreciating the richness of life more. If life is a precious gift (McMahon, 2006), the quest here is simply to unwrap this gift both slowly and properly. And if life is really an incredible journey, the further quest may not be just to complete the journey but also to plan it properly by reading the map that is always waiting for each of us to be read.

Maps are made because places exist; they’re like programs, sometimes it’s important to follow a map or program to get to a place, or space, especially if you haven’t been there before. But you won’t see any map unless you a) become a little curious about your life (the gift) and b) decide you want this journey to actually be the best it can be (by training your mind).

At MMP we have designed a map over 4 weeks that when followed will be the beginnning of significant change, improved contentment and understanding, less reactivity and more control. WE suggest you stay curious and continue unwrapping, great rewards can await.

uying new shoes can be immensely exciting, potentially rewarding and quite financially painful, all in one. But there’s also another discomfort or pain that commonly occurs once you start to wear them. Although they can be the best looking, made of  modern materials, maybe European design, perfect heel and hard wearing sole it’s only when they are worn for some time that other issues can arise.

These issues are familiar to us all and can include rubbing by the shoe on different parts of the foot, the skin not being use to a pressure point, could be the back of the heel, any of the toes, the arch of the the foot or similiar. It may be especially so for women that they’re difficult to walk quickly in, or to balance on uneven surfaces in and/or cause you to tire quickly. The usual driver for this is that ‘the material can be quite rigid at the beginning with little flexibility’, or the design of the shoe is ‘not quite right’.

What started off as the best looking shoes can quickly end up as the most ‘painful’ to wear so you stop wearing them. They can sit in the wardrobe with other shoes, still looking good but not worn. You may glance every now and then at them reminding yourself at how good they look, just like when you bought them. You may even try them on and wear them though inevitably the pain slowly returns so you stop. It may be for an hour, a day, perhaps two days then no more. You rationally decide to end the pain.

At MMP this shoe metaphor is very similiar to the exercises we promote for mind training. The whole concept of being in charge of your mind, having a mind that serves you well, that you can rely on is extremely attractive and appealing. So we naturally expect to have minds that do what they’re told, obey instructions and serve us well creating the right direction for us all to pursue in life. Yet this is so often not the case.

What starts off as most appealing for ’you’ and your mind always presents other issues. Just stopping and slowing down for the first time and you’ll see just how busy the mind can be. In Buddhist philosphy this is close to the ‘dhamma’ or ‘universal force of nature’ or ‘the way things really are’ therefore it’s important to recognise this as quite natural. Just like our shoe metaphor when you first stop you’ll notice the mind’s operations. That can be quite unsettling, disturbing and painful.

The question remains whether to stop wearing them or break them in differently, to persevere. It does take time, patience and practise. Take a look at your shoes next time you remember, were there any that were a little or very painful when you first wore them? What can start off as a most ‘painful’ pair of shoes to wear can over time end up being the most ‘comfortable’. The rigidity slowly becomes more ‘flexible’ but only if you wear them, only if you persist.

At MMP the exercises will over time become very comfortable to complete and beneficial for both body and mind. Experiment with your new shoes! They may end up being the most comfortable. Benefits are cumulative, keep practising even if difficult, reduce the time worn but keep wearing the shoes a little each day! Keep practising!

n the MMP program there is one absolute that stands out again and again and again. CHANGE! Yes there’s macro change and micro change, major change and minor change, big change and small change.

The post on ‘MMP and being a small business’ suggests that we are all really ‘in business with ourselves’ and that if we aim low we’ll invaribly succeed but if we aim high we may just GROW. Again while there are some things we can change and seem to control there is much more that we cannot change, let alone control. So don’t always try! Allow change to happen, gradually. Plant the right seeds, nurture them and wait. Watch as change happens!

And over time you’ll see inevitably it’s about the small change. The ‘untrained’ mind of course thinks otherwise, wanting and reacting to big change, major events, and earth shattering headlines. These minds want the best films to see, the most interesting people to meet, the best parties to attend, most interesting jobs to work at, the most successful investments, best assets, coolest clothes to wear etc. etc………..they’re into mega, best and grandest all in a big way!

Yet in the ten mind management principles, principle 1  states the mind is but one aspect of you and not the totally of who you are.

At MMP we say once again it’s simply about the type of mind we cultivate or train. Remember there seems to be two sorts of mind: The first one can be highly charged, critical and continually going at an extremely fast pace, always stressed and wanting things to be different from the way they are; the second sort of mind is more intuitive, calmer and circumspect, able to reflect.

At Mind Management Psychology we aim to cultivate the second sort. Once you can get a handle on the mind’s operations you tend to work out the difference between these two minds and on what you can really change and develop, and what you can’t, then you’ll begin to GROW! You’ll begin this process each day, by focusing on the ‘small change’ and slowing down again, yes, each day. That’s the daily practise, easy to do, minimal time and cumulative benefits. Change will happen, improved contentment and control await.

Ironically ‘Growth’ here is not about taking more stuff on board but simply being clear on observing things more, witnessing them. It’s being clear that change is always occurring, whether you like it or not, every second in respect to your body’s physiology and days, weeks or months and years in respect to other things, such as your own personal development and the physical environment eg. nature, human construction, organisations,  etc.

Therefore it’s important to focus on what we have some control over. If you always take things personally, every interaction, every thought, every disagreement, every situation, every idea then you carry a heavy load. Not only does your ‘untrained’ mind have to evaluate what you are experiencing but it also has to decide how to retain it it if pleasurable, reject it if not. This in psychological terms is ‘suffering’. It’s a gigantic psychological overload! Today, that’s what burdens many minds; minds being ‘untrained’.

The good news is you don’t always have to add to it! Yes you can lighten the load! Give yourself a break. You can with a litte practise “Deliberately slow down for part of each day” begin the training. Change will happen, improved contentment and control await. Try it and see. You decide!
Then you may find you don’t take everything so seriously or personally!