I spent 40 minutes inside an MRI scanner last night – forty frickin’ minutes, people!!!
🫣
I knew it was going to be quite long, but I wasn’t expecting that. (Even though I’ve had exactly the same scan before, lol.)
And you know what? It was ok! The idea of being in that enclosed space, unable to move, while it produced sounds like the inside of some futuristic, very noisy video game, was actually worse than the experience itself.
So it was only before the scan that the mind was coming up with all sorts of weird and wonderful, somewhat-related scenarios,
📦🗣️ “Hey, let’s imagine what it would be like to be buried alive? Like in that film. What would we do?”
…but during it? No, the whole experience was just interesting. I was curious.
Sometimes the inside of the scanner seemed really close, and other times, not so much.
I even zoned out a couple of times, relaxing my focus and losing the whole scanner in a sort of not-quite-there blur.
I minutely examined a piece of tape, stuck to the inside, right in front of my eyes.
I imagined the sorts of shapes I’d be throwing if this insane, pulsing beat was playing in a club of my choice, instead of a rattling tube of metal that was producing pictures of my innards.
(I don’t get to choose these thoughts, they just arise.)
There were a ton of breathing instructions to keep me occupied, although I messed them up a bit at first, because the mind was so desperate to ‘do things right’, it took them way too seriously:
“Breathe in” (I take a big breath in)
“Breathe out” (I try and empty my lungs completely)
“Breathe in and hold your breath” (I take the biggest deep breath ever and hold it until it feels like my eyes are about to pop out of my head)
I did this a few times and was panting after each one, thinking, No way I’m going to be able to keep this up, before common sense kicked in to remind me that they just need me to not be breathing during the noisy scan bit.
And I remembered that I know how to breathe. And that I can hold my breath for ages, just by breathing completely normally and quietly, and then stopping, when asked. 🤦🏻♂️
So after that mini-realisation, I did that instead, and it got a lot easier.
Breathing drama over.
Biggest problem? I got a really itchy nose at one point.
Observing the intensity of the itch grow steadily stronger and stronger was quite the lesson. I didn’t want to sneeze or anything, there was just this insane desire to ask them to stop, so I could have a good rub at it.
But I didn’t. I thought, Just an itch, man. Ain’t gonna kill you. And observed it until eventually it went away. Was touch-and-go for a while though (or is that not-touch-and-stay-put)?!
Why do I tell you all this? Well, due to this body having baffled the entire medical profession with unexplained, random, but quite serious-presenting symptoms, I’ve had a load of tests in the last couple of years (it almost feels like all the tests!) and it’s all really been helped by this understanding of how we experience the world and who we really are.
I’ve been poked, prodded, stabbed, cannulated and intubated in more places than I care to mention and honestly? It’s all been fine. Every last bit.
Last night, there was a wall of machinery a couple of inches above my nose – it was solid and I had to stay beneath it… and at the same time I was hyper-aware that my experience of all that, was being created from the inside-out.
Nothing fancy or weird or deeply spiritual or anything, just knowing that my experience of it, was Thought, that’s all. And that the mind was going to take that experience and talk about it a lot – provide a commentary. That’s completely made up. And doesn’t mean anything.
And that’s so helpful to know!
Whatever you’re up against—poor health, relationships, work, kids, illness, loss, pain, anything—this same process is going on. The 3 Principles in action.
The energy of life (Mind) is being brought into awareness (Consciousness) and manifesting on your watch as whatever it is you’re experiencing (Thought).
And the mind’s going to have a lot to say about it.
Simples.
🤷🏻♂️
Giles
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Giles P Croft
What happens when you start thinking about stuff.