Welcome to the first meditation myth.
To meditate is to get rid of thoughts.
Actually,
To meditate is to be present with our thoughts,
Sensations and feelings.
We make the conscious choice of watching them flowing in,
Flowing out,
Without judgment,
Interference or control.
Acknowledge that they are thoughts and just thoughts created by our minds in this present moment.
Let's face it,
Constant changes in our life will always trigger thoughts,
Whether negative or positive.
In a recent study,
It shows that on average we have about 6,
200 thoughts per day,
Including intrusive thoughts,
The ones that are repetitive and unwanted.
For example,
You may be holding a baby in your hands and suddenly you are thinking of dropping it.
In my case,
I often think of hitting the car in front of me or losing control of my will whenever I drive.
So when we practice meditation,
In this case mindfulness meditation,
We learn to recognize those thoughts and make a conscious choice of whether or not letting those thoughts affect us.
They have no power over us unless we choose to stay under their control.
In the previous examples,
That would mean you might never want to hold a baby anymore or I would never dare to drive again.
Think about the situation where you get criticized at work by your boss.
The thought that you are not good enough,
That you will be replaced one day triggers a fear in you.
There's a long string of scary anxious thoughts.
If you lose your job,
What will happen?
Who is going to pay for the house?
The bills?
The kids' education?
What are you going to do to make money for your living?
What if your partner decides to leave you?
What if you can never find another job?
Loads and loads of questions keep coming up in your mind.
Your survival instinct is working so hard drawing you a future where you might die if you lose your job.
But they're all projections in your mind.
They're not real.
However,
What they can do is so powerful they can make you panic,
Feel afraid,
Make you run away,
Retreat to your safe shelter or worse,
Project that fear onto others in the form of anger or attachment.
Doesn't sound really good,
Does it?
By being present with your thoughts,
You will be able to realize that they are not real.
In this moment,
You still have your job,
Your house,
Your kids and your partner.
It will calm you down enough to acknowledge your thoughts and hopefully your fear.
And as you are now in a calmer state of mind,
You will be able to make a better decision about what to do with those thoughts and fear.
Learning to observe our thoughts and recognize how they drive our emotions and behaviors takes a lot of practice.
At the beginning,
When you notice a happy thought,
Perhaps make a mental note.
Happy,
Happy,
Happy.
When you notice a worried thought,
Make the note worry,
Worry,
Worry in your mind.
Making such mental notes will help you assess your own thinking patterns and recognize the impact they are having on your present.
And that is it for meditation myth number one.
To meditate is to get rid of our thoughts.
And the straightforward answer is no.
When we meditate,
We are not trying to get rid of our thoughts.
The purpose of mindfulness meditation is to make watching our thoughts a new habit,
Thus changing our action from reacting to responding over time,
Becoming more proactive in making our decisions.
In other words,
As we are watching our thoughts,
We become the master of our mind.
My name is Thi and I am a qualified mindfulness teacher.
If you feel my work is helpful,
Please share it with everyone you know so that they can reap the benefit as well.
And for now,
See you in the next talk about meditation myth buster number two,
We must meditate in silence.
Thank you for listening to my podcast today.
