How to Upgrade Your Mind

How to Upgrade Your Mind

The greatest tool we have is our minds. Within the mind lies the enormity of the imagination, and the profundity of the intellect. An inherent genius is within us. But, oftentimes the inherent inspiration and beauty of the mind is covered in muck. The muck of negative thoughts and belief systems that deter us from our greatness. The content of the mind is synonymous to the quality of life one lives. 

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Upgrading the mind is simply clearing away the unnecessary thoughts and putting focus and love onto the fruitful ones. Thoughts are the triggers for feelings, and the way we feel about ourselves and the external world matters, because repetitive thoughts/emotions solidify into beliefs. Your belief systems create your reality, and an upgraded mind holds empowering beliefs full of possibility and wonder. 

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So how to sharpen the mind and use this great tool? Many people have tried meditation. The process of stillness and silence to be an observer and witness of the mind rather than purely reactive to its thoughts. Other people have done rigorous  breath work, where you use intentional deep inhalations and exhalations for clearing inner energies. Others, do yoga, using asana or postures to have a disciplined mind and a strong fit body. These practices are wonderful and necessary, they require commitment and devotion. But many times, substantial change can take years. 

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Plant medicine brings the mind into the place of wholeness, which can take many years with yoga and meditation. The plants hold a wisdom that the rational mind cannot comprehend, a deep and ancient knowing that connects us to something beyond ourselves. Mystical experiences such an non dualism and oneness are perceived, yet it is momentary.

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After a plant medicine ceremony, we may feel like a new human being because of the awakening of the mind. We may think that our minds and negative thought patterns have reset for good. The shift was so immediate and intense that we forget that it is a continual process to live a wholesome life. 

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Below are a few ways to upgrade your mind and keep the consciousness after a peak experience during a plant medicine retreat. If you are looking to try plant medicine, these practices can be amazing to do weeks before the ceremony as preparation for your spiritual journey. No matter where you are on your path, these tools remain relevant for all people. 

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Practicing Presence

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The only real true thing is this moment. The past is a thought and the future is a thought. Now is the only thing we truly have, and we let it slip by because we are not awake to the moment. 

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Have you ever driven a car and forgotten how you even got home? Have you ever had someone speak to you and not heard a word they said? You were just on the autopilot of the mind, thinking about work, or tomorrow, or planning, focusing on the endless internal monologue.

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And when we live solely in our thoughts we do not see the magic of the moment. Walking home from work, you do not see the color of the leaves on the trees or notice the children playing joyfully. When your best friend is speaking, you do not give them the presence they deserve when you are only focused on your thoughts. 

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Practicing presence is in a way cultivating life to its fullest. It is a practice, meaning that the more and more you do it, the stronger it becomes, like working out a muscle. Let presence become your default setting rather than autopilot. 

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The first step is to notice the thoughts and gently let them go. Turn your awareness to your senses in the moment. What are the sounds around you? What does the air smell like? What do you see? Energetically, what do you feel from those around you? How is your body? Relaxed or tense? 

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Tuning into the moment is using all the material around you to tune in. What does this moment smell and taste and feel like? Be in it. The moment is all you have. 

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Non Attachment

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What you give focus to expands. You may not be able to choose your thoughts, but there is choice in which thoughts you attach to. It is very important to not attach to all of the thoughts that float through consciousness. 

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Descartes said “I think, therefore I am.” The mystics would say the opposite, that what you are is beyond thought. The intellect is vital and precious and important, but there is a realm beyond thinking that we all long to access. This is the Garden of Eden, the paradise of peace and simplicity that lays beyond the thinking mind.

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Plant medicine and spiritual practices bring us to this space beyond thought. We realize we are not what we had identified with, and it was in fact limiting. We think of thoughts as our own, but they are not. They are fed to us by our environments, media we consume, and what we subconsciously see and take in. 

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The greatest part about our thoughts and feelings is that they come and go. Something that comes and goes can never be you. We cannot create a foundation from thoughts, for they are ever shifting. How many times have you been desperately sad about something and created a whole story about it? Then the next day you just don’t feel that way anymore. Thoughts and emotions are not concrete. Attaching to them creates suffering. 

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When we stay in the present moment and are unattached to whatever arises, this is liberation. We are not stuck to one thing, whether that be a limited belief or a constricted ideology. Non attachment allows life to be an open door. No resistance, no clinging. 

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Self Inquiry

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An unexamined life is not worth living, because to know yourself is the greatest gift you will ever receive. Self inquiry is the process of asking yourself questions and getting your own answers. 

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When you feel a negative emotion, explore it with curiosity rather than hardening around it. Introspection requires an investigation into the things we commonly overlook or indulge in blindly. It is the process of openly and honestly questioning our desires, fears,  perceived shortcomings, and strengths. 

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Self inquiry allows us to soften into ourselves, and to be gentle. We can forgive ourselves more easily when we understand ourselves. We harm ourselves less in a state of  self comprehension. We are able to clearly see our triggers and our patterns in inquiry. 

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After plant medicine retreats, keeping a journal is a great way to practice self inquiry. Every morning as you wake up, go straight to the desk and write out whatever is on your mind in long hand. Dissect your thoughts with awareness, and just by clearly seeing them, watch how they dissolve. 

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Slow & Relaxed 

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The art of relaxation is a lost art in our modern western world of doing. We are often so overstimulated, and most of it is a distraction. We think relaxing is watching a movie, but we are still in the state of doing, of receiving. Relaxation is the mind taking a rest in order to function at its greatest capacity later on. Slowing down whether it is walking home, or making dinner, or going to work, increases awareness. There is more attention given to each moment when it is not rushed through. 

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We do everything better, and are better people when we are not high strung and running on empty. Try this, when you are waiting at the dentist or in line in the grocery store, just relax your body and wait in a meditative state instead of filling time with cramming emails or swiping on Tinder or scrolling on Instagram. When you are walking down the street, feel the ground below you. If there is no need to rush, don’t. Look around, the whole world is happening. 

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The more slowly we take life, the more we can digest it. We are so often in one movement then onto the next. There is no space to process or reflect. Moving slowly and intentionally is honoring life and each action, mindfulness then blooms. 

Allow each day to be your sadhana, or spiritual practice, Allow each moment that life gives you to be an essential part of your path back home to the higher self. There is no ending place to a beautiful mind. There is always work to be done. 

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For those who have awakened, it is still a process to maintain a higher state of consciousness in daily living. For those that are beginning to enter the realm of spirit, be alert and aware of your thoughts, emotions, and patterns. 

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Tools such as keeping presence, non attachment, self inquiry, and taking life slowly can transform the mind greatly. The difficulty is that each practice must be done continuously and consciously. It must be done when you are tested by life, when you are angry or heart broken. It must be practiced especially when the external world is no longer simple, but complex and messy. 

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To upgrade your mind is to know that you have the capacity to handle whatever is thrown at you with grace. To upgrade your mind is to trust yourself. This inner trust is built with devotion to each moment, and to give it the greatest excellency you can.

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Want to reach your highest self?

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We would be honored to guide you in choosing the best retreat for your needs. Behold Retreats coordinates expertly guided retreats with highly experienced facilitators.

Reach out to us to set up a complimentary discovery call and we can point you in the right direction.

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