Thinking

Is the point of meditation is to empty the mind of thoughts, or to accept the flow of thoughts without getting caught up in them?

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to Your Daily Meds and today we're going to take a look at thinking and your mind.

What your mind loves to do more than anything else is think and it's very good at it.

Being human you have one of the most complex structures in the universe.

The human brain is capable of extraordinary things and most of it appears to be based on our ability to think.

I suppose that's why we get addicted to thinking and of course that's exactly what has brought you here to meditate.

So let's try that now.

Make yourself comfortable.

Take your usual position whether you're sitting or standing.

In either case keep your back nice and straight and especially your shoulders and your neck.

Let them relax.

Let them hang a little bit.

You want to tuck your chin in.

Point the crown of your head not completely towards the ceiling a tiny bit forward.

Feel your feet on the ground or your bum on the chair.

Take a breath and let it out and enjoy coming back to that familiar space where all you have to worry about is you and your mind.

Could be it'll feel really relaxing,

Really calm or it could be that you feel a little bit unsettled.

Maybe you feel anxious or uncomfortable or you're wondering if you're doing it right or if it gets any better.

These are thoughts.

During this 10 minutes that you've put aside to meditate your thoughts don't matter.

That's to say what you're thinking doesn't matter.

What does matter is just that you know that they're there.

The whole point of this 10 minutes is to pay attention and nothing else.

That doesn't mean nothing else will happen.

It means you don't have to worry about it.

So watch your breath.

Let it come and let it go naturally.

When you notice that you're thinking just bring your attention back to the breath.

Try not to get caught up in a conversation with yourself about whether you should be thinking or whether you're meditating properly.

Remember no worry.

Just bring your attention back to the breath.

That's all you have to do.

Keep breathing.

Keep paying attention.

And be aware of your thinking.

Remember last time we kept a tiny bit of our mind back as a policeman to make sure that you stayed on track.

And staying on track means watching your breath without getting distracted or without getting too distracted anyway.

So that when you are,

When a thought grabs your attention and your mind wants to run away with it,

That policeman will say no back to the breath come on.

Don't get angry.

It's like training a child.

You teach with love but with firmness.

You don't have to be mean.

You have to be really alert,

Persistent,

Watching your breath,

Knowing that your brain is working.

It's trying to do what it does best.

It desperately wants to think.

Wants to come up with explanations or interpretations or judgments of what you're doing.

And that's okay but don't get caught in it.

Let it go right away.

It doesn't matter.

Don't worry about that stuff.

Just pay attention to your breath.

And really,

Really explore the breath now deep in your body.

Feel your lungs expanding and contracting,

Your shoulders lifting and falling.

Imagine all that fresh oxygen going into your blood.

Rejuvenating,

Keeping you alive,

Enabling you to breathe.

Oh yeah,

Watch your breath.

Feel your whole body.

Imagine it's tingling from the crown of your head to the tips of your toes.

Your whole body is alive with air pouring in as you breathe,

Refreshing,

Renewing.

And be aware in this body of your breath but also of your thoughts.

Your mind really hungry,

Really wanting to get back into that whole thinking mode and to analyze it and explain it and boast or complain or explain.

That's what it wants to do.

It wants to explain everything.

Even when you're sitting here quietly by yourself trying to be calm,

It still desperately wants to explain.

You don't need an explanation.

You're experiencing it right now for yourself.

Well that's how the mind is and that's what you're working with.

And I want you to try and remember that,

That you're working with it and not against it.

Okay?

Remember the whole reason you're doing this is to be nice to yourself,

To treat yourself with respect.

This machine,

This body and mind which is you,

Is capable of great things but to achieve great things it sometimes needs to be left alone.

It's very capable but there are times when we have to stop.

We have to learn when to let it be and when to push,

When to do and when to let go.

And somewhere in between there that's the creative space in which mindfulness happens.

And we'll see next time how mindfulness is creative.

Now take a nice long breath and slowly bring yourself back out of your body into the world around you.

And take your time and think about all that's happened in the last ten minutes.

All that change going on in your mind,

It's like a river flowing with currents and eddies.

It's quite something.

Didn't do that because you were meditating.

It always does that.

The only difference is you're paying attention.

That's all for today.

We'll see you next time.

Reviews

That was AWESOME!
Thank you 😊

Just perfect. Thank you.

Thanks for the beautifull simpel and clear explanation. Everytime I get lost in my thoughts and come back to the breath I smile, because I'm aware again. That's how I practice kindness to myself. Greetings!

Great guidance!
"Complain or explain" - liked it. 🤔

Really well explained until I fell asleep...must be working to make me that relaxed.

Great reminder. I'm doing this thing called meditation to be nice to myself. <3

Brilliant stuff skillfully delivered. Keeper. Namaste.

This is wonderful for beginners or even people like me who make things complicated and need to keep it simple again. Very helpful, calming, insightful. Thank you.

Very helpful!!!!

This is good, very calming voice!!!

Excellent!! Thank you! Love!

Get this NOW! It's SO compelling, not too long, 10 mins!

Wow !! Exactly what I needed at this moment ! Thanks so much for the share !!

Insightful and mindful awareness

Best mediation I've listened to in awhile!

I liked it. Simple. Effective.

This was only the 2nd time I was able to successfully meditate. Thank You!! You made it so easy to calm my mind, which I was starting to doubt I was capable. You gave me some clarity in this that I was having a hard time understanding. All this time I thought I had to stop thinking & I could never do it, but you just taught me very valuable, that thoughts are normal, but instead of running with them down different rabbit holes, to instead allow the thoughts, but just watch them & let them go... Thank you so much for the clarity, I no longer feel defeated, rather that I am capable of healing myself& maybe some day rid myself of my anxiety.. ❤️

Excellent. Thank you.

Great fot beginners. Thank you