I wanted to share with everyone an easy technique to use when you have a restless/racing mind and want to calm it down. This is a very simple technique Bhante G teaches here at Bhavana when speaking about the five hindrances that block concentration, restlessness and worry being one of them.

So it’s extremely simple, you breathe in and out, once the full cycle is complete you count 1 , in and out, 2, in and out, 3, in and out 4 etc all the way up to 10.

Once you reach 10 you count back down to 1, remembering to FULLY breathe in and out before counting, don’t jump the gun and count in the middle or during the out breath like I did at first.

The second time you continue counting but only go up to 9, then back to 1, up to 8, back to 1, up to 7, back to 1, and so on until it’s up to 2 back to 1 and you are done.

If you actually make it through that WHOLE series and still have a restless mind..start all over again. If your mind drifts half way(and it will) and you forget where you started, start over again.

This is a wonderful way to tire out the mind so it becomes more quiet. I use this on a fairly regular basis and attest to it working. You can also do this while walking meditation, where the in and out breath are replaced by the foot coming up and the foot coming down.