Four Ways For Managing Your Thoughts

Hello there and welcome to today's talk.

I'm Andrew and today I would like to talk about thoughts and how to deal with them in meditation as this is what keeps coming back from my students.

When I ask them how was today's practice,

The most common message I get is that they can't stop thinking or they keep being distracted by thoughts and they don't understand why they can't stop thinking.

If you are in the same situation,

Then this talk is for you and I hope that you receive the answers that you are looking for.

First of all,

You and I are humans and we have been gifted with the ability to think.

Our minds,

Secret thoughts,

That's what they do.

This is how we are conceived,

It's part of our nature.

And if you think that you need to fight with your thoughts or that you need to force yourself into not thinking,

Then I stop you right now.

We are not trying to stop thoughts or control them.

The only thing we want to do here is to become friends with our thoughts and have a healthy relationship with them.

When you think,

You are immersed in your thoughts and you are not aware of what's happening outside of these thoughts.

You are not aware of how you are feeling,

You are not aware of the sounds around you and you don't pay attention to the people around you.

You are not aware of yourself.

So how can we manage those thoughts and be aware of thinking?

When you're thinking,

You are not productive.

It's a great thing that we can think,

But we need to use it wisely.

If you leave your thoughts taking the lead,

It will bring you nowhere than causing you stress,

Anxiety and worries.

It makes you nostalgic for the past and worried about the future.

You are not in the present moment when you think.

We intend to be lost in them and most of the time,

They are judgmental.

If you pay attention to the type of thought that you have,

You will see that your body is reacting to that thought.

And if you don't take the lead,

You become a prisoner of your mind.

And the problem is that most of us don't make the difference between our thoughts and reality.

We make them a reality.

We believe what we are thinking.

We believe we are what we are thinking.

And we believe anything that is going on in our minds.

And by becoming mindful of your thinking,

You will realize who you are behind your thoughts.

So what can you do with your thoughts?

When you start your meditation with me,

I always ask you to take a comfortable position so you can be aware of your body and any sensation of pain or discomfort.

Then I ask you to settle and bring your attention to your breathing.

And I don't do this because I want you to breathe,

But because focusing on your breathing brings you back to reality and what's happening now with your body.

So you focus on the air coming in and out of your body and not on your mind,

Your thoughts or your surroundings.

Most of the time,

You start thinking a little later when there are gaps in talking or actions and when your mind decides to play with you.

And this is where you will focus again on your breathing to avoid being trapped in your thoughts and bring yourself back to your meditation practice.

Another thing you could do is naming your thoughts.

You don't have to do it with all of them,

But if you do this,

You realize that the moment you name a thought,

It loses interest in your mind and then tends to go away.

For example,

When a thought pops in,

Just tell yourself,

This is a thought,

Not a reality.

And then you go back to your practice by focusing on your breathing.

You could also name the type of thought like,

This is a stressful thought,

This is a memory thought,

This is a weird thought,

This is a judging thought,

This is a repetitive thought and so on.

Don't try to push them away.

Label them as they arise.

Try to integrate an attitude of playfulness into your practice.

Your practice doesn't need to be rigid or strict.

They can be spontaneity and flexibility.

So your mind wanders,

You see the thought,

You touch it,

Say,

Here's a thought,

You can spend a moment with it,

That's okay.

And then you let your thoughts pass by like clouds in the sky.

For example,

If you find yourself thinking about what you need to do tomorrow,

Simply label that thought as planning and let it go.

This can help you become more aware of your thoughts and let them go more easily.

It's actually recognizing that thinking is happening right now.

And by recognizing that you are thinking right now,

You are in the present moment.

Then don't judge them.

If you start judging your thoughts,

Then it means that you are reacting to your thoughts.

And this is not what we are meant to do.

We acknowledge the thought,

Name it in non-judgmental way and let it go,

Bringing back our attention to the present moment using our breathing again.

This is the power of mindfulness.

You become friends with your thoughts and let them go.

You become a witness of your thoughts without engaging with them.

In witnessing,

You are just watching whatever passes,

Uninvolved and neutral with no engagement,

No response.

You can let your mind wander and just watch your mind wandering.

That's okay.

You can be aware of that,

The awareness of that awareness.

All you can do is just watch and notice without any judgment,

Evaluation or reaction.

This is the essence of all meditation techniques here.

Witnessing.

No matter what kind of thoughts,

Feelings,

Body sensation,

Be the witness.

You become a neutral observer.

And finally,

You can start journaling your thoughts after your practice,

Of course,

Not during your practice and bring mindful attention to the patterns.

Doing this,

You're not just living in your thoughts and playing them over and over,

But it's bringing them back to where they belong.

Thoughts are only thoughts.

This is something important that we should realize,

Thoughts are only thoughts.

They are not your reality.

Therefore you don't have to believe your thoughts.

Your thoughts are not you.

Of course,

They are real,

Like happening in your mind inspired by reality,

But they are not true.

If you think of a car,

You will have the image of a car in your mind,

But you won't have the sensation of touching the leather,

You won't hear the horn and you won't smell the fuel.

You only have the representation of the car in your mind.

All right.

So before ending this talk,

I would like to share with you this beautiful poem from Patricia Fleming called Each Moment is Precious.

Live in the moment,

Just take it all in.

Pay attention to everything right there and right then.

Don't let your mind wander to what's coming next.

Cherish this moment and give it your best.

Don't let tomorrow make you rush through today or too many great moments will just go to waste and the person you'll be in that moment you share,

Give them all of your focus.

Be totally there.

Laugh till it hurts,

Let the tears drop,

Fill up each moment with all that you've got.

Don't miss the details,

The lesson is there.

Don't get complacent,

Stay sharp and aware.

It can take but a moment to change your life's path and once it ticks by,

There is no going back.

In just 60 seconds,

You may make a new friend,

Find your true love or see a life start or end.

You become who you are in those moments you live and the growth is not in taking but in how much you give.

Life is just moments so precious and few.

Whether valued or squandered,

It's all up to you.

Such a beautiful poem,

Don't you think?

So to conclude this short talk about how to manage your thoughts while meditating,

You can focus on your breathing to anchor yourself in the present moment,

Label your thoughts,

Become a witness and journal your thoughts.

Alright,

I hope this talk was useful for you and that you have learnt something.

You can now head to the comments if you would like to share more tips on how to manage your thoughts.

In the meantime,

Let me wish you a beautiful day or beautiful evening and remember,

Be kind to one another,

Including yourself.

Namaste.