Observing your thoughts The goal of this exercise is to recognize thoughts as mental events so that you can observe yourself and the act of thinking.
Just observe these thoughts that might come up during meditation.
It is important to have an accepting attitude towards your own thoughts.
It is not necessary that you judge them.
It is not necessary to be angry or upset about your own thoughts.
These kinds of thoughts cause similar thoughts to pop up,
So just come back to your meditational object.
For example the breath as an anchor for your meditation.
Imagine you are a person that wants to tame a wild animal.
You will not act aggressively and push the animal.
You will just observe your animal first to get to know it.
Do not push or punish it.
It will come back to you.
Act calmly and also gently towards silence of your thoughts.
Often you can read that the so-called monkey mind is a common phenomena.
Thought activities are like monkeys going from one tree to another.
Try not to hold them back or to go with them.
Just observe them and let them go.
Be an observer of your own thoughts to master them.
Just change from the mode of overly active thinking and worries to a mode of silent listening to these thoughts.
You will recognize little differences and subtle new qualities of your thoughts.
Maybe you can even feel a little relief and happiness that you were able to observe your thoughts before they dictate your direction of attention.
Let this happiness and judgement also go.
Just be.
Maybe it is just a little moment of silence between thoughts that you recognize.
Enjoy it.
You were able to get there.
So you were also able to expand it with continuous practice.
It is important that you understand that you are not your thoughts.
You do not have to identify with your thoughts.
They just display options and possibilities,
Judgments and memories.
Silencing your thoughts means simply being without having to think.
Stop your tool of planning your mind by not dealing with future events or memories.
Come back to the here and now.
Let expectations,
Hopes and worries go.
They are all thoughts.
You do not need them right now.
Recognize the gap between your thoughts.
The silence between them.
Try to expand this silence.
Can you be silent with your thoughts for the moment of a breath that you take in and out again?
With the help of meditation you are moving from the surface to the deeper levels of your existence.
So you are gaining the ability to detect thoughts popping up without being affected by them.
