Good morning. Mark here from Go Travel Mindfully. Yes, awake at 4 a.m.
I don’t know why. I went to bed at 10 p.m. I did wake at 2 p.m.
And there’s a sense that I’ve been awake ever since.
And I really don’t know why. I did try and get my, I ran about 7 hours sleep a night.
And I’m not particularly worried about anything.
So, I have to practice what I preach, which is a lot of mindfulness.
So, I was awake at 2 a.m.
Did the usual. I got up, had a glass of water, went to the toilet, went back to bed.
Didn’t go to sleep, obviously, immediately.
What I do then do is get myself comfortable and I do 20 slow, deep breaths.
It’s very calming and apparently it’s very good for your body as well.
And one of those slow, deep breaths looks like a breath in.
And when you get to that point and you think you’ve breathed all the way in, you do a little bit more.
So, it’s…
And then let it out.
And then when you let it out, you just pause for a moment or two.
And then you take another breath in.
And let it out.
Slowly.
And of course, I’m trying to do it quietly because my wife is asleep next to me.
But apparently it’s very good for your body.
Very healing as well.
And of course, it requires a lot of concentration.
So, it’s very much a mindful activity.
If you’d like to give it a go whenever you’re not sleeping or just throughout the day when you’re checking in with yourself and like a moment or two just to pause, to feel grounded, to come back into your body.
It’s not a bad way of doing that.
You stop.
Start off with 10 breaths initially.
10 slow, deep breaths.
It can be difficult to do at first and to stay on track because that wandering mind will always kick in with something that you should be thinking about.
But my 20 breaths, maybe they did work because I’m sure I haven’t been awake between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.
I must have dozed off a bit.
It’s just that sense that I haven’t been back to sleep.
I feel okay.
It was 4 a.m.
And I was thinking, well, just get up.
And I guess I’m checking in with my mindset because I know years ago I would have worried about that.
I would have had that racing mind that would have said, you’ve only had 4 hours sleep, maybe a little bit more, and you want to do a lot today.
Today being Saturday.
I think it’s the 12th of April 2025.
You want to do a lot today.
You’ve got today off.
I am trying to renovate a caravan at the moment that’s been ongoing for 4 years.
I was going to do some work on the caravan.
But my drama-lama kicked in.
Interesting.
That’s that voice that I get in my head that is all about worry.
Oh my goodness, you’ve only had 4 hours sleep.
You’re going to be so tired tomorrow.
You’re probably going to be really niggly as well.
And maybe Julie will want to do some things.
And you’re going to be tired.
And you’re not going to be able to do what you want to do.
And why are you awake?
You seem to be doing this regularly at the moment, waking up and being awake for an hour or so.
And, oh, it’s not good for you.
So I call that one my drama-lama.
So I’m very aware of that side of my mind.
And my whole practice with mindfulness is no longer battling with it.
We’re trying to control it or trying to fix it.
Which is, of course, what our problem-solving brain does.
Our left brain thinking is very much about, okay, what’s the answer to this?
You’ve woken up.
There’s a sense that you’re not totally comfortable or calm.
So there must be something wrong.
Come on, let’s try and fix this.
Let’s problem solve.
What’s going to happen in the morning?
You’re going to be very tired.
Think about all those things that this is going to impact tomorrow.
So your mind automatically goes into the future and it’s thinking about, I’ve got to get to sleep.
Come on, let’s go to sleep.
This is crazy.
This is…
You shouldn’t be doing this.
You should be able to sleep.
You’re the mindfulness guru.
Come on.
Let’s get to sleep.
So that left brain thinking, reductionist thinking, trying to solve things, trying to fix it, trying to work it out.
Come on, you shouldn’t be awake.
How can you get back to sleep?
Think of all the things that’s going to impact tomorrow.
So it’s like, wait, stop, stop.
And so I try and call upon my karma, Lama.
That’s more right side brain thinking.
That’s…
Hang on a second.
Let’s just take a step back.
Look at the bigger picture.
It’s not a big deal.
You’re awake.
You’ve had some sleep.
You’re feeling okay.
You’re not really anxious because you are pretty good at managing these things.
But of course, drama Lama’s over there going off like a pork chop, as they say, trying to, you know, why is this happening?
Come on.
Let’s get back to sleep.
Worry, worry.
But it’s on the fringe.
And my karma Lama steps in and is able to go, let’s, you know, it’s okay.
It’s not the end of the world.
Here we are, lying in bed.
Everything’s okay.
You’re safe.
Roof over your head.
You know, we can sort this out.
Let’s just stop.
Do a bit of deep breathing.
Connect with your body.
Feel your body lying in bed.
And then I say, well, just get up.
Let’s just get up.
So that’s exactly what I did.
I just got up and here I am.
And it’s dark and it’s quiet and it’s peaceful.
And I’m okay.
I’m safe.
I’m safe.
You see, so much anxiety stems around not feeling safe.
There’s a sense that if you wake early in the morning, something during the day may happen.
You know, it’s going to affect something.
You won’t be performing as well as what you do.
Why are you awake?
Why are you awake?
Is there something wrong with you physically, mentally?
That problem-solving brain actually is doing that because it’s trying to keep us safe.
Whenever we’re feeling a little uncomfortable, it’s trying to keep us safe.
How can we fix this?
How can we sort it?
It stems from a stage in our evolution when the world was a lot less unsafe.
Wild animals, warring tribes, saber-toothed tigers, as I always like to say, roaming around, just waiting to eat us.
And that problem-solving brain hears a roar in the distance and it’s going, we’re not safe.
Come on, what do we do?
Let’s strategize.
Where do we find safety?
How can we get out of here?
What is something that we can do to ensure our safety?
Beautiful, beautiful thing that the brain does.
Evolutionists will probably say that’s the main reason for us thinking.
It’s not to be able to write beautiful sonnets and marvel at a glorious sunrise or sunset.
It’s primarily there to keep us safe.
Fast forward eons to where we are today.
And the problem-solving brain really can’t tell the difference between a saber-toothed tiger and you’ve woken at 4am.
And so it will go into that strategizing and that problem-solving and that how do we fix this and what’s the impact that there’s going to be.
And that ultimately is the definition of anxiety.
Anxiety is a mind that’s constantly in the future trying to control, trying to fix, trying to strategize, trying to problem-solve.
Lots of what-ifs, why, all of that sort of thing.
And so it’s nice to go, thank you beautiful, left brain, problem-solving brain, reductionist brain.
But you know what?
At the moment there isn’t an immediate answer to why I’m awake at 4am in the morning.
I might tap into that right brain and say thank you, it’s okay, let’s just step back.
Everything’s all right, let’s evaluate the situation.
We’re going to be okay, we will get through this.
And so that’s a mindfulness approach, that ability to develop that other side of ourselves
that can simply observe and be aware rather than be consumed by that left brain thinking, that reductionist thinking.
And when we live, as many of us do, in the Western world, it’s very much a left brain thing.
You know, how do we make things better?
How do we solve problems?
And it often doesn’t necessarily focus on the bigger picture.
I always think of, you know, I don’t want to get into being blamed for being an environmentalist or something like that,
but left brain thinking is you come across a forest and let’s chop it down and use that wood for something
without realising the impact of what maybe chopping on those trees may do,
the impact on the wildlife, on the environment, on the ability for the soil to retain water.
And of course, there’s been a lot of that done over the years,
whereas a right brain way of thinking is that ability to step back and go,
hang on a second, let’s look at the big picture first.
If we strip all those trees down, what could be some of the impacts?
What’s a good compromise?
So, left brain, right brain.
Jumping in, being consumed by the story.
At the moment, the sleep story.
I’m holding a book called The Sleep Story by Mark.
It’s full of thoughts, feelings, worries and concerns and beliefs, deep-seated beliefs,
that there’s something wrong with you, Mark.
This is only happening to you.
You’re the only person in the world right now at 4 a.m. who is awake.
I used to be consumed by that thinking years ago, convinced I had depression.
But now I realise it’s a normal human reaction to a life event.
I’ve woke early.
And you do go into that problem-solving brain of why?
Why am I awake?
What’s the impact of this going to be?
And there’s nothing wrong with that, of course.
We use that left brain thinking in the Western world a lot during the day.
All of our jobs, if you’re working, are really all about the fact that you have some skill in something and you can problem-solve.
If you’re a forklift driver, you know how to get that thing from there to there.
If you’re a professional that’s got a lot of knowledge in IT or problem-solving or, you know, we’re using that left brain all the time,
but probably far too much in our Western world, we don’t allow ourselves necessarily to have that ability to be able to step back and go,
what’s the bigger picture here?
You know, let’s take in right here, right now.
Let’s do some of those slow, deep breaths.
Let’s wriggle our toes to bring us back into our body.
I’m wriggling my toes right now.
You immediately get that sense that you’ve come back into your body.
A bit of slow, deep breathing.
When you’re back in your body, you realise there’s a world around you.
I’m looking around the room at the moment.
Got some lights on.
Obviously dark outside.
I think there’s meant to be a full moon tomorrow night.
I’m just looking at my computer desk over there.
I’m looking at myself in the camera.
Drama Lama is going, oh my God, look at you.
You’re getting old.
Look at those wrinkles.
Come on, put some of those filters on the camera.
What will people think?
They won’t like your videos.
Oh my goodness.
Stop, will you?
Stop.
Drama Lama, go take a rest.
But I’m aware that you’re there.
And I know to a certain extent you’re probably just trying to make me safe.
But it’s okay.
I am, you know, constantly explore the vulnerable side to myself.
And I think that’s got a lot to do with having this channel where the plans, talk about future-based thinking, the plans for Julia and I are to become long-term travellers.
Because we have given up so much.
We basically don’t own anything.
No house, no nothing.
And we were forced into that situation through bankruptcy with the GFC.
But out of that, wow.
You know, I often think that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is suffering, actually.
Because that’s where we grow.
So, we come across something in life and we either let it consume us or constantly live in a world of anxiety and don’t take risks.
Or we say, what is this?
What’s the lesson to be learned here?
And there are lessons.
I feel as if I’m covering so many topics.
I won’t be able to do any more videos.
There’s my drama llama again.
But perhaps you’ve found this helpful.
It really is talking about events will happen in our lives.
We will hit a spot, maybe on a regular basis, of being worried, being concerned.
And of course, I’m trying to reach out for those people that really want to do something like travel full-time.
Minimalist, slow travel.
How do you do that?
How do you change your life from one of supposed comfort and security in Western society?
Make that big change.
Well, you do it through things like awareness, through mindfulness, being more present, trusting that process.
When you are more present, the answers will come to you.
It’s as simple as 4am in the morning, you know, being aware, being mindful, lying in bed, saying, well, just get up.
It’s not such a big deal.
So there you go.
If you’d like to know more about my perspective on things, go to my website, gotravelmindfully.com.
GoTravelMindfully.com.
I do have an 80-page e-book that you can download that talks about this approach, mindfulness.
It’s based on acceptance commitment training, accepting things that happen in our lives,
even as simple as being awake at 4am in the morning and not battling it, accepting that that’s happening to me right now.
That’s OK. And the commitment part is being committed to trying something different.
If your strategy is to worry too much or to be too anxious and then to label yourself that,
eventually you get to a stage of saying, is this working, though?
And often the answer will be no.
So I’m going to be committed to trying something different.
And for me, that very much has been mindfulness, that ability to step into that right brain,
to look at the bigger picture, to get back to the present moment.
It’s so powerful, the present moment.
So we step out of that left brain or that anxiety brain or that depression brain or that stressful brain.
And we hop into that, looking at the bigger picture and going right here, right now.
You know what?
Everything is OK.
So, yeah, go travel mindfully.
I’ve got an e-book called Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Life.
I like that one.
I picked that up somewhere years ago.
Get out of your head and into your life.
Yeah.
All right.
Until next time.
Thank you.
Watch the YouTube video:
Leave a Reply