The Power of Stopping Thought: Finding Presence Through Stillness →

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The Power of Stopping Thought: Finding Presence Through Stillness

Being present in the moment isn’t always easy—especially when our minds are caught in the constant tug-of-war between yesterday’s regrets and tomorrow’s worries. We often find ourselves rehashing the past or rehearsing the future, rarely landing in the one place where life is actually happening: right now.

That’s where the simple but powerful act of intentionally pausing our thoughts comes in. By choosing to stop—or at least quiet—the stream of mental chatter, we make space for presence. This is the heart of mindfulness: not the absence of thought, but the redirection of attention toward the here and now.

When we stop chasing thoughts, we start noticing life.

Directing our attention to sensory experiences—the feel of your breath, the sound of rustling leaves, the warmth of sunlight on your skin—has a profound grounding effect. These physical sensations anchor us. They interrupt the mental loop and return us to a state of clarity, where we’re not lost in our heads but rooted in our bodies and surroundings.

This doesn’t require perfection or hours of meditation. It can start with just a moment: a breath, a pause, a choice to notice rather than overthink.

In those moments, we often discover something unexpected—not silence, but a deeper connection. A sense of calm. A renewed presence. And maybe, if only briefly, a kind of harmony that reminds us we don’t always need to figure everything out—we just need to be here.

Music Through Calm, Prevails - by Brent M. Jones →

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Music and Mind

Music drifts freely—
notes floating without direction,
yet finding their way.

The mind opens,
and sound becomes connection.

Each note offers comfort,
settling into the body like breath.
A single tone enters,
spreads softly—
expanding through thought,
quieting what once stirred.

The music continues,
shaping new moments,
each note layering gently on the last.

Thoughts fall away.
Melody takes their place.
In sound,
the mind finds stillness—
and peace returns.

Early Signs and Symptoms of Alzheimer's and Dementia

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• 10 Early Signs and Symptoms of Alzheimer's and Dementia

  • Memory loss that disrupts daily life. ...

  • Challenges in planning or solving problems. ...

• Difficulty completing familiar tasks. ...

• Confusion with time or place. ...

• Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships. ...

• New problems with words in speaking or writing.

Of the about 55 million people worldwide with dementia, 60% to 70% are estimated to have Alzheimer's disease. The early signs of the disease include forgetting recent events or conversations. Over time, it progresses to serious memory problems and loss of the ability to perform everyday tasks.

-Then What Happens? -

Holding Hands with a Tree Matters to Your Mental Health →

Holding Hands With a Tree Branch

By paying greater attention to your surroundings, you'll learn to appreciate all the sensory elements of the outdoors. This will help you decrease your anxiety levels, lessen stress and feelings of anger, and enhance your mental health.

"In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks." - John Muir.

"What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?" - E.M. Forster

Anendophasia, DNA, Dementia, and Mental Health Questions →

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Anendophasia is a term for having no inner voice, which impacts verbal memory and rhyme recognition. It has been commonly assumed that inner speech—the experience of thought occurring in a natural language—is both universal and ubiquitous. Recent evidence, however, suggests that similar to other phenomenal experiences like visual imagery, the experience of inner speech varies between people, ranging from constant to non-existent. This information was reported in the Cognitive Science Society article “Not Everyone Has an Inner Voice: Behavioral Consequences of Anendophasia.” The authors were Johanne Nedergaard and Gary Lupyan. The inner voice is in the frontal motor cortex and Broca's area.

Writing about this as a layman with no formal training but some experience with memory loss, I find the idea that a strong inner voice could help with potential memory loss exciting.

Researchers at the University of Utah have made agroundbreaking discovery about the brain’s default mode network (DMN). They found that this network, in collaboration with other brain regions, plays a crucial role in fostering creative thought. By employing cutting-edge brain imaging techniques, they were able to monitor real-time brain activity during creative tasks, unveiling the intricate workings of the brain and inspiring new avenues of researchn.

Wikipedia reports that “in neuroscience, the default mode network (DMN), also known as the default network, default state network, or anatomically the medial frontoparietal network (M-FPN), is a large-scale brain network primarily composed of the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, and angular gyrus. It is best known for being active when a person is not focused on the outside world, and the brain is at wakeful rest, such as during daydreaming and mind-wandering. It can also be active during detailed thoughts related to external task performance. Other times that the DMN is active include when the individual is thinking about others, thinking about themselves, remembering the past, and planning for the future.”

While this overview does not provide a definitive conclusion, it underscores the importance of understanding concepts like anendophasia* and the default mode network. These are not just intriguing aspects of neuroscience, but they also hold significant implications for our understanding of the human brain and cognition.

* The absence of inner speech or a lack of the experience of having an inner voice