Have you ever had one of those conversations with a friend or partner or someone where you are talking about some issue going on in your life and they are just sitting there, listening intently, maybe nodding here and there and asking you a few great questions?
Suddenly in the middle of this you have this great realization or epiphany where you figured something out and have so much clarity and you just feel like they did so much for you and are so grateful when they hardly even said a word.
Maybe you’ve been on the other end of this. Maybe you’re the one doing the listening and asking the key questions here and there and they are the ones with the incredible experience at the end.
The person listening did something called “holding space”. They held space for the person who was in front of them speaking in a way that allowed that person’s mind to just go where it wanted and needed to go without judging them or trying to convince them to go somewhere else. They held space from a place of peace and curiosity and just watched this person’s mind reveal it’s secrets to themselves. They became The Watcher of that person’s mind and in that role they created a safe space for wisdom to blossom.
It’s a powerful experience to be a part of from either end.
You can do this for yourself as well.
Learning to become The Watcher of your own mind is a tool that will help you access your own inner wisdom and create a space for that wisdom to blossom and grow.
As humans, we have the unique ability to think about our own thinking.
As adults, our brains are developed enough to understand what we are thinking.
We can reflect on our thoughts and decide what to think and what to feel in any given moment, no matter what is happening in our lives or what anyone else in our lives says or does.
We can use The Watcher to observe our minds when we are experiencing positive and negative emotions.
We can access The Watcher when we feel an urge come over us to overeat or eat something we didn’t plan on eating.
We can sit and allow urges, thoughts, and feelings to pass through us without judgment and without attachment.
We can practice just allowing these urges to pass without acting on them.
The more we practice this, the better we will get at allowing urges to overeat to pass without acting on them.
We can just be with the feelings we are having and have compassion for ourselves while having those feelings.
We don’t have to try to change anything.
We can just notice them without judgement, have compassion, and be curious.
All we have to do is watch our brain from a place of peace.
We can be the peaceful Watcher just watching a show.
No matter how messy the show gets, we can just align with The Watcher as we experience it all.
This will help us become skilled at being the highest version of ourselves and embracing discomfort on purpose.
Practice doing this for a few minutes every day, especially whenever an urge arises. It will only get easier with time.
While it’s a great skill learning to be The Watcher of your own mind, it can be even more powerful having someone outside of ourselves do this for us as well.
They can hold space for us in a nonjudgmental way and help us become conscious of the thoughts we are too close to and may not be aware of ourselves.
Reach out to me if you are interested in learning more and want to try a free mini session with a certified life and mindset coach who can hold this space for you. Schedule at the link below.
