Thought Isn't The Problem - The Belief In It Is (Talk And Meditation)

In this recording of one of Jamie's meditation classes, she explains that weird, dark, uncomfortable, unlikable thoughts showing up in your head isn't the problem. That part is ok. It isn't who you are, personal, meaningful and the like. The only problem per se would be believing it and acting on it. Did you know you have the option to let it pass by and have a new thought take its place? If not, listen up and see what new things you hear.

Transcript

Okay,

So basically it's this subjective optional nature of our thinking and sometimes we don't see it as subjective and optional.

It's in our heads,

We're fishing water with our thinking,

Fish say what's water,

We say what's thinking or we're aware that we're thinking but we're like no this is reality Jamie this is my life.

Looks like that,

Looks like that.

And it would be wildly invalidating to say some of that wasn't accurate because clearly that's how we experience life but there's so much power in seeing that we're the sky who experiences the thinking,

Who experiences the weather,

The clouds that can seem disorienting like well what's the sky if I'm not thinking well we're the essence,

We're the observer,

We're the love,

We're the peace,

We're the well-being,

We're the soul that looks through the eyes that has the experience of the thoughts.

Now here's the part,

The subjective part of thinking that blew my mind.

The thinking that comes into your head in and of itself isn't a problem.

We're so afraid of our thoughts which give us feelings and emotions and internal experiences.

And we have these thoughts,

We're taught we shouldn't have the thoughts,

The thoughts should be better,

The thoughts mean something about us.

So then what happens is in and of itself it's just a piece of weather by nature wanting to move,

Come in and come out.

We get scared by it.

It's like we write a letter to ourselves,

Put a stamp on it,

Mail it,

It comes back to us and we go,

It's what happens.

And it's innocent and we all do it but the thoughts in and of themselves like these letters that we write that are whatever they are,

Are inherently neutral.

It's like we don't have to buy into it but we think that we are the thoughts or that they are us or they're our identity so when they come through they freak us out.

I shouldn't be that angry,

I shouldn't be attracted to that person,

I should not like that person.

Whatever the thought's telling us in the moment.

What if this is what brought me so much freedom?

What if it's okay that the thought's there?

It's only in your head anyway,

No one knows it.

So alright,

This is a weird ass cloud that I've been having for 20,

30,

40,

50,

60 years.

The problem isn't that it popped into my head because God knows where it came from.

Could have come from my own brain,

My own trauma,

It could have come from collective,

My family stuff,

Comes from wherever it comes from.

So the fact that it's here isn't a problem because it's energy,

It's spiritual creative play-doh,

It's an option.

I can either collapse in on it and create an experience or observe it like a cloud in the sky and go look at that interesting thing.

When we're afraid of it,

We become ashamed of it,

We make meaning of it and then it just spirals and our experience gets created from there.

But what we don't have to do is okay the thought comes whatever that was weird,

That's old,

That's habitual,

That's dark,

That's bizarre.

We don't have to act on it.

That's where we have the freedom.

Who cares how many weird,

Dark,

Quirky thoughts pop into our head.

As long as we go that's optional,

That's subjective,

That isn't who I am.

Not a problem that it's here,

Just might not want to act on it if that isn't the reality that I want to create.

So I actually,

This is just standard stuff I learned in my coaching practice and there was a woman who went into a prison to teach this simple aspect of our thinking that it's optional.

We don't realize that,

No one tells us that.

We don't know it's my personality.

Well it's habitual but it isn't.

We learn this thing in life called personality and identity and it's how we all have these like unique different things but we grip so tightly to it,

It can cause us suffering and issues.

So she went into a prison and explained to the prisoners not a problem that these dark thoughts pop into your head,

The problem is that you acted on them.

And this one prisoner said,

Oh my god,

You know obviously I can't do anything about it differently now but I see this so clearly that I realize if I had known long ago that it was just my thinking and it wasn't truth that I didn't have to act upon my thoughts to hurt people or harm people,

That I could have just let that thought pass by.

And then it's not a problem that it was there.

Okay,

I feel this,

I have this weird experience like a cloud in the sky that thought to hurt someone is going to feel really strong,

Give me a 3D special effects department experience and then leave.

So I had this this morning,

I was looking for houses to rent instead of an apartment and they were a lot more like a lot more spacious and this is something that my boyfriend and I have been wanting to do to have a yard for a dog and all this stuff.

And I came across this one that I loved but it was way more than our budget and I had this thought that I was able to see.

I had this thought that said,

Oh that's so sad,

I'm never going to be able to have something like that.

And I saw it but see you know for 36 years because I didn't realize that was a thought,

I thought that was truth.

And what most of us do is these things come in and we go,

Oh wow you're truth,

You're ultimate truth,

You're not subjective.

We believe it or we think it's a problem that it's there or and instead I went,

I saw it and went,

Oh that's fascinating,

Not a problem that that's there.

I grew up with a very lack mentality experience of life.

But I didn't,

For the first time ever I went,

Oh okay but I don't have to move forward on that,

I don't have to believe that.

And so it passed and it went and I'm like,

All right we're just going to keep open for bringing in more income so that that's a type of place that I can have.

I don't need to fall for that and go,

Oh that's just reality and you know that because we stay in these loops and it looks real and it's like we don't get the gift of being able to pop out of that old reality because we think our thinking is ultimate truth as opposed to creative spiritual Plato that looks and feels very real.

So let's meditate,

Let's,

And I'm sure you guys have had experiences of this too,

But the more that we're in this conversation,

The more that as you're going through your day you'll get a little bit of space between you and your thinking and you'll go,

That's bizarre and you'll go,

It's okay,

That's bizarre.

Every human being has the sad victim,

Bizarre,

Dark,

Whatever rainbow variety of thought.

I don't have to do anything about it.

It can be here and feel really uncomfortable and I can have my sad little party for however long it lasts,

But it'll pass.

And then new thought will come in and then I can decide do I want to buy into that or do I want to let that one go and when I have stuff that I like here that I want to have as an experience,

That's the stuff I can create from,

Which is really cool.

I'm just going to meet you guys and let's,

Let's,

Let's meditate.

So go ahead and you can put your music on,

Take a couple of deep breaths,

Sit up,

Lay down and let's get comfortable.

Good,

So just start to deepen the breath.

There's such tiny little innocent misunderstandings we carry and just because something is so old or familiar to you or strong or habitual does not mean that it's true.

It's just old,

Strong and habitual.

Doesn't mean it can't shift.

It doesn't mean new thoughts that are completely opposite of the habit can't come in.

That's the gift we get when we realize it's,

It's a lot more fluid than we thought it was and a lot less about our identity than we think it is and more just about lots of options popping in.

We glue to them or we let them pass by,

Create from there a lot more powerful than we realized.

Gorgeous.

Deepen the breath.

Let it go.

I am a normal human and I'm going to have a wide variety of thoughts that pop in.

The anxious thoughts,

The obtrusive thoughts,

The I can't have that thoughts are not a problem.

It's just me acting on them that might be.

Deep breath,

Feeling the connection between your physical body and the ground or the chair.

Just grounding yourself into your space.

As you breathe consciously allowing yourself to slow down and just take this time to settle.

Nothing you ever need to force yourself to do.

As when we get out of the way of the system,

The system's already settling for us.

We're always moving back to center.

We just innocently jump in there with a whole boatload of misunderstandings.

So we settle down,

We feel our body on the ground,

We deepen the breath.

We get out of the way,

Loosen our grip on trying to control and steer the ship.

Just let the plane that is us right itself as we let go of gripping so hard to the wheels.

As you begin to slow down and settle in,

I want you just to see if you can begin to enter the explore mode.

We're taught a lot of right and wrong.

But let's see if we can move beyond right and wrong right now and enter curious explore.

We're gonna see what I find in this meditation.

And as you do,

See if you can sense into maybe this sky part of yourself,

This constant normal ordinary observer,

The backdrop within which your experience of thought comes and goes.

And as you rest in this quiet space,

The thoughts still appear in this space.

Not a problem,

Nothing you need to fight,

Force,

Control as they come and go on their own.

If there's something we need to do,

Our wisdom will tell us as the thoughts settle.

We relax into the system at play.

And we begin to notice the subjective nature of what is popping into our mind.

We might not see it as that because it's so habitual.

Just because it is doesn't mean that it is truth,

It's just habitual.

All subjective different ways of seeing neutral light.

I want you to see if you can find this gentle resting place within yourself where you allow everything to rise.

It's not a problem that it shows up,

Just energy moving through clouds,

Storms,

Moving through the sky.

It's not a problem that it shows up,

It's just habit,

It's just collective,

It's just your brain,

Just what family kind of programmed into you.

Not your fault.

But that you also have the power to not do anything about it.

That you can rest at the train station while the train continues on without you on it.

It's safe that it's here,

It's okay.

It's safe that it's here,

It's okay.

And you can just go,

Oh,

That's a weird belief,

That one doesn't feel good,

I don't really want to create that one anymore.

It's not taking me anywhere good.

I'm gonna let that one go.

And play with this and see what you find for yourself.

I'm gonna let that one go.

I'm gonna let that one go.

I'm gonna let that one go.

I'm gonna let that one go.

I'm gonna let that one go.

I'm gonna let that one go.

Whatever is rising in your consciousness,

You are the sky.

It is the weather,

Safe to be welcomed,

Not a problem that it's there.

As when you are aware,

You can choose to go with or soften away from.

Not have to control,

Suppress,

Make more positive.

Just allow,

Giggle at,

Not take so seriously.

Just don't have to go forward from the old.

We let it be felt and we let it leave and then we create new.

Just exploring here,

Seeing what you see,

Creating this relationship with whatever arises.

Nice and easy container.

It's okay that it pops in.

I don't have to do anything about it.

I don't have to believe it.

I don't have to do anything about it.

I don't have to do anything about it.

I don't have to do anything about it.

I don't have to do anything about it.

I don't have to do anything about it.

Slowly starting to bring your exploration back to that physical connection between your body and the ground,

Or the chair or the bed.

Noticing all of those tiny points of contact between your body and what's under it.

Deepening the breath.

Noticing the space that your body occupies in space.

Placing your awareness right behind your eyes.

Planted inside of your body.

On the furniture.

On the ground.

In the room.

Right here.

Deepening the breath.

And just gently intending.

I release any energies I may be carrying around that aren't mine.

When I come back to all of my own energies,

My thoughts,

My feelings,

My body,

My experience,

I release that which is not mine to carry.

From the ground in my own body.

Deep breath.

And release.

Slowly starting to stretch and wiggle and move back towards the day,

The afternoon.

Whenever you feel ready,

You can open up your eyes to the room.

Thank you guys so much for joining me.

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day and we'll see you soon.

Reviews

Thank you so much! I really loved the reminder that I have the power and freedom to choose whether I believe a thought or I let it pass through. So often I feel like a victim of my thoughts and emotions but now thanks to you, I remember that I have power and freedom to make a choice.

She has a very normal and easy going voice. I felt she was a friend sitting with me, holding my hand and telling me that I'm OK x She is really gifted x thank you so much. I'm going to stop fighting with myself over thoughts that are not even real x

What came up for me during this meditation is a thought/belief that I have been carrying with me for over 20 years. I realized, that, while I still believe it(soul deep), I've joined it to come walk and work beside me, instead of sitting in the corner digging it's heels in, sulking, cause it doesn't want to be here. Thank you