27 ways to go out of your mind

Pause for a moment, close your eyes, and become aware of what’s happening in your mind. You’ll notice that you are engaged in a perpetual internal dialogue, interpreting and evaluating what has happened, is happening, or might happen to you. The mind has an astonishing capacity to hop from one idea to the next, and most people have an average of 60,000 thoughts each day. About 59,000 of these thoughts, however, are the same ones we had yesterday. We think and do things repeatedly, and then we wonder why it’s so difficult to create something new in our lives.

What is the alternative? Become intimate with the silent spaces between your thoughts. Beneath the mind’s noisy surface lies the domain of consciousness that gives rise to the judgments in your mind and the molecules in your body. We experience this field of pure awareness when we meditate, see a rainbow, hear an awe-inspiring piece of music, feel ecstatic love, taste a delicious food, or breathe in a beautiful scent. Whenever we have an experience beyond words –whenever we go out of our minds – we touch the unlimited dimension of our being and open ourselves to new and creative possibilities.

27 Ways to Go Out of Your Mind

1. Invite someone new out to lunch.

2. Take a break from TV and radio news for at least a week, detaching from the mass consciousness of fear.

3. Find inspiration. Visit www.darynkagan.com for stories about the good things that are happening in the world.

4. Make a list of everything you would try if you weren’t afraid – and then do one thing on that list.

5. Try Nadi Shodhana or channel clearing breathing. Learn how here.

6. Take an improvisational acting class.

7. Practice chakra tuning.

8. Explore your sense of touch. Dig your toes into the earth. Luxuriate in a hot shower. Caress your loved ones.

9. Close your eyes and say to yourself, I wonder what my next thought will be – and notice what happens.

10. Keep a gratitude journal, writing down everything you’re grateful for at the end or beginning of each day.

11. Wear your watch on the other wrist – or don’t wear one at all.

12. Eat a meal in complete silence – notice what happens when you’re not distracted by conversations, TV, reading, or other diversions.

13. Listen to a guided meditation on opening to change.

14. Lie on your back and watch the clouds.

15. Put on your favorite music and dance.

16. Write a letter to yourself in your non-dominant hand.

17. Follow a bird.

18. Call a friend you haven’t spoken to in years.

19. Tickle somebody.

20. Take a walk a really notice what’s around you. Pretend you’re an artist and notice the colors and textures you’d include in your painting.

21. Eat something you’ve never tried before or try combining foods in new ways.

22. Watch old Marx Brothers movies.

23. Plant new flowers in your garden.

24. Read a magazine on a topic you’ve never explored.

25. Spend time with children, who are naturally playful and open. Let yourself be silly and play.

26. Wear new colors.

27. Change your opinion about something or someone.

Source: http://www.chopra.com/agni/apr09/tips