Tiny Wisdom: Think Less, Feel More

“Get out of your head and get into your heart. Think less, feel more.” ~Osho

Have you ever felt attached to your thoughts—like you knew you were thinking yourself in circles, but a part of you wanted to keep getting dizzy?

Now that I’m healthy and energized, three months after my surgery, I’m developing a consistent yoga practice again, and I’m feeling better mentally and physically as a result of doing that.

But sometimes, when I get to the end of the day, particularly when I know I have a lot to do, I feel resistant to making that time for myself.

It’s not even necessarily when I’m planning to work through the evening. Sometimes I’ll think, “I have a lot on my mind—I don’t feel like it tonight.”

But that’s actually a compelling reason to go. Yoga always helps me calm my mind.

So the other day, I stopped and asked myself: Am I resistant to clearing my head, and why?

I realized that I wanted to keep thinking because I felt like I was creating solutions, like I was somehow making mental progress. If I took a break to clear my head, I thought, I might miss out on discovering something useful.

In other words, I felt like sitting around analyzing, assessing, and plotting was somehow more productive than getting out and enriching my mind and body.

What a misguided notion. While there’s something to be said for thinking things through, sometimes it’s far more useful to let everything go, create some space, and then see what ideas and feelings emerge in that new place of clarity and stillness.

Taking a break in any fashion can feel like losing control—at least it can for me. But releasing control often feels far better than we imagine it will.

Creating space feels good. Connecting with our bodies feels good. Stopping the cogs in our heads—yes, that feels good, too.

And when we feel good, we increase our odds of doing good, through our work and hobbies.

I know quite a few people with absolutely beautiful minds. One thing they all have in common is that they make time to nurture them.

If we want to create and inspire, we need to create room to access inspiration.

It doesn’t come from sheer mental will. It’s from enabling a flow between our heads and our hearts so that we don’t just know our answers, we feel them, with every ounce of our being.

Photo by torbakhopper

About Lori Deschene

Lori Deschene is the founder of Tiny Buddha. She started the site after struggling with depression, bulimia, and toxic shame so she could recycle her former pain into something useful and inspire others do the same. She recently created the Breaking Barriers to Self-Care eCourse to help people honor their needs—so they can feel their best, be their best, and live their best possible life. If you’re ready to start thriving instead of merely surviving, you can learn more and get instant access here.

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