Head chatter is something that only
recently people have been recognizing consciously. These days,
if I ask people if they have bothering or harmful head chatter,
they know exactly what I'm talking about, and then they also
spend an hour telling me how this is a source of stress, bad
emotions, dis empowerment, and sometimes even depression. What I
found more amazing is how people describe it. They talk about
their brain as if it was an enemy, that was out to get them.
This is where I pull out my 'Brain Operating Manual Version 1.0'
and simply teach them how to adjust and control their head
chatter. What astonishes me the most is how people initially
react to having a quiet mind. For all the people that meditate,
you all know what I mean. This is the best feeling in the world.
If added to that is also the confidence and knowledge that the
head chatter to follow will be controlled, structured and
positive, well, now you really have something. Essentially NLP
training teaches us this by combining a few exercises. The KEY
is exercise. Yes, exercise! I'll repeat it, EXERCISE. Society
spends billions a year for physical fitness and so far has
ignored mental training and fitness.
Eliminating Head Chatter is an exercise.
Something to practice, every day. And believe me, its worth
it. Quieting your mind is a skill that will reduce stress,
create mental balance, better communication, far better sensory
acuity, and much more. So, what can you do? Right now! Here is
an exercise for you to practice:
Now, read this first, then do it. It's
simple. Sit quietly and take a deep breath. Then, listen
carefully for a background sound. Pick something that is in the
background, such as traffic going by outside, if you are in a
house, or the air conditioner. Make it something that is
hear-able, and at the same time you have to focus to listen to
it. Then LISTEN! Listen very carefully to that sound. Focus
all your senses on it. Then smile (I'll explain later about the
smiling) Go ahead, do it....
What happened? Was there head chatter as
you were focusing on hearing the sound? My guess is no. If there
was, shift your focus to the outside of your head. I love going
to coffee shops and listening to other people's conversations, 4
tables away. Again, this is practice. Blind people have amazing
hearing and excellent auditory sensory acuity out of necessity,
you can do it to eliminate your head chatter. The more you
practice it, the better you become, and the less head chatter
you will have. It's a pretty simple equation. If your brain
creates a pattern of you using those specific auditory sensory
skills, it will reinforce those pathways. This is what automates
behaviors, going from something you have to practice to
something you just do. This is why I recommend you practice this
one in public. Practice at work, at home, everywhere! This is
because its easy! By sharpening your listening skills, you will
reduce head chatter. Wax on, wax off Danielsan.
Controlling head chatter is also easy. I
keep reminding people that the voices inside their head belong
to them. It's your brain! It doesn't plot against you, doesn't
go out of its way to make you miserable, it only does what its
told, by you. The trick is telling it what you want it to do.
Again this comes down to training. Training and humor are the
solution here. Many people's internal talk is negative, with
tones and voices that make the person feel bad. I simply ask
them to adjust the voice and make it a funny voice like
'Sylvester the cat' or 'speedy Gonzales'. Most people laugh when
I tell them this. Then they do it, and they start laughing as
they do it. I ask them not to change the dialog, just the voice
that's telling it. And it doesn't have the same effect anymore,
they often start laughing when its Sylvester the cat telling
them they are this or that. Then they can't go back to feeling
bad when they think about it. Imagine what would happen if they
changed the content of the dialog too? Remember that what goes
on in your head is built by you. So make better voices, have
better tonality. All you have to do is will it, its your brain,
and it does what its told by you. You have a sound studio for
internal auditory, and a movie studio for internal visual. You
are the producer and director of anything that goes on
internally in your mind.
Practice this exercise:
Take a deep breath. Focus on an external
sound to quiet your mind. Then, imagine just the voice of an
authority figure that has affected you badly in the past. Hear
the voice, and notice how it makes you feel bad, for the last
time. Simply change the voice to a funny cartoon character, and
picture the person as a mix of themselves and that cartoon
character. Yes, this will probably make you laugh, and when it
does, problem solved. And if the voice comes back....change it
again. The lesson here is in teaching you that you have control
of your head chatter.
Practice these skills. Play with your
head chatter, change it, add music, you can do anything you want
with it. I highly recommend quieting down as a practice,
remember to smile as you do it to lower that brain temperature.
Smiling is like a built in brain coolant. The more you do it,
the more natural and automated it will become. Good skills!
