[Q&A] How To Calm Thoughts In Meditation

18:49

18:49

[Q&A] How To Calm Thoughts In Meditation

by Michael Mackintosh

Rated

4.9

Type

talks

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Everyone

Plays

307

In this episode, we talk about how to calm the 'child of the mind' and improve your focus during meditation with ease and grace. There is no perfection in meditation, only persistent practice. Thank you for your divine presence.

Meet your Teacher

Michael Mackintosh

Sedona, AZ, USA

Meet your Teacher

Michael Mackintosh

Sedona, AZ, USA

Transcript

So we're going to take some beautiful questions. And right at the beginning I just want to mention that with spiritual practice, Spiritual life, It's essential to have patience with ourselves. Just remember that every second you spend ascending in your spiritual stage, Thinking about these things, Practicing them, You are moving forward. And sometimes on the journey through life, If you've ever gone on a hike up the mountains, You might notice that sometimes it goes up and sometimes it goes down again. And then sometimes it goes up again, It's very steep and sometimes it goes really far down. Sometimes you get tired, Sometimes you see beautiful views. There's all sorts of things that come up along the way. It's not a straightforward process. It wiggles around. Sometimes there's challenges, Sometimes you have to take a break. There's all sorts of things. So just remember that keep moving forward and you will reach your destination. So we had a question today. I'm just going to open this up here from Satish. How to control negative thoughts? What a great question. How to control negative thoughts? So we do have a lot of thoughts. Average person has somewhere between 60, 000 or maybe a little bit less. 60, 000, 40, 000 thoughts a day, Which is the equivalent of a self-help book worth of thoughts. How to control negative thoughts? Yeah, It's a wonderful topic. And one of the words I'm going to change here in your question is control. It's almost like the mind can be like a sweet little mischievous child. If we try and control, It can, It may or may not be wanting to be controlled, But it can be transformed. So we're going to redirect our thoughts in a beautiful way, Kind of like a child who's getting into mischief. You're like, Hey, But come over here and look at this beautiful rose, Smell it. Isn't that beautiful? So we can transform, We can redirect. It's said that from deep within the subconscious, We can't necessarily control the first thought that arises. It's coming from the deep unconscious. It can't necessarily be controlled, But it can be redirected. It can be transformed. You can go in a new direction. And I think when you have that spaciousness around your mind, That awareness, That, Okay, This came up, All right, Let's go this way. So I think we need to have like a gentleness and a patience and a softness, Because our mind will respond well to that. If we try and grip and control and suppress and stress, It's not really going to work necessarily. It's not going to help us move, Flow into a new direction. So lovingness with ourselves, Patience with ourselves and our mind, And just that gentleness to redirect, Transform. Let's go over here. Let's explore this. Sometimes there's a message. Depends, You know, Depends what's going on for you. Sometimes there's a message within that negativity arising. You can ask, What's, Is there a message for me here? Is there something I need to understand or learn? Is there something I can take from this and move, Move through into a higher place? So these are my recommendations. Satish, So much love to you. And also write down everything that you're thinking about so that it's off your mind. The mind is supposed to create solutions and come up with beautiful experiences. That's the purpose of the mind is to visualize things, To solve problems, To create solutions, To manifest things. It's a very, Very, Very wonderful thing, The mind. But if it's not used correctly, Then it just goes round and round and round. And one of the reasons it goes round and round is that we haven't paid attention to the things that need to be paid attention to. So when you write them down, In our trainings, We talk about a heart cleanse and a brain drain. Where you write down everything that's on your heart, Everything that's in your mind on a piece of paper. So it cleans it all out because otherwise it's spinning around in the back of our heads, Being unresolved. Clean it all out. And then you can look at your list and you can decide which things can you actually do. You know, What things are you thinking about that can be acted upon? What things do you want to cancel, Consciously stop focusing on them? And what things are completely pointless, There's no point thinking about at all. You can cross off all these things, Like you can physically cross them off on a piece of paper. And it's a very healing process, Very therapeutic process to clean this stuff out of your mind. So that you're acknowledging the thoughts, You're accepting the fact that they're there, You're open to the idea there might be some benefits of the thoughts. You're saying, Which ones of these thoughts do I actually need to do something about? Then you can start taking action on the things that you can take action on, Which will then stop you thinking about them. Because once you take action, You don't need to think about it. And all the other stuff you can consciously let it go. This is a huge relief, Huge relief for your mind. And you will find that the thoughts calm down. We had another question earlier, Which I'll mention again, Which I think is a very wonderful question. How much longer do we wait to make this world more loving? Yeah, I mean, This is a heartfelt question. And we were sharing earlier that it has to start with us, Doesn't it? We can't change somebody else. But if we become more loving today, If we can become more loving with ourselves, And become more loving with the people around us, Self-transformation is world transformation. So your personal change in yourself, In your thoughts, In your heart, In your lifestyle is literally making the world. Such a beautiful question. This one's from Beatrice. Yeah, So beautiful. Home is where the heart is. So starting in our own self, In our connection to the ocean of love, The supreme being. And you can see yourself as a vessel of love, Taking in that unlimited love from God, Pouring into your own heart and mind, And pouring forth into the world. So it's a practice that you can be this vessel of love, Bringing this love into this world. And I imagine you're asking this question and you're feeling this. This is arising within you because this is part of your dharma, To be an instrument of love, To bring this love into this world. And so as you practice the spiritual recharge, Connecting the source of love, You will continue to be of great service in this world, In the return of love. This next question is from Rosario. How can I calm my mind when I do the meditations? It looks like I can't control my thoughts. So again, With thoughts, Releasing trying to control them and redirecting your mind focus to settle in with the meditation. And at the beginning, You may have to redirect your mind like a little child again and again and again. Hey, Look over here. Come over here. Let's be here. And gradually that child, That mind settles into your lap and rests. And so this is how guided meditations can be of support to allow your mind to rest in the words and the music and the experience and to be completely patient, Releasing, Getting irritated or frustrated, Just totally patient with this little child that is your mind. Keep coming back, Deepening in the meditation and the words and the feeling and the music. And more and more, You will feel yourself calm, Your mind calm and soften and relax into the meditation. It's a beautiful question. Yeah, We have to be nice to our mind. So what I personally do, I find that's very helpful because the mind really does want to help and it thinks it's focusing on things. Oh, What about this? What about this? Make sure you don't. Most of the thoughts in the mind are trying to get us to remember something that the mind is worried we will forget. So it goes round and round and round because it's concerned we'll lose it. It's going, Please remember this. Please remember this. Please remember this. So if you write it down on a piece of paper, You can say, Look, Thank you very, Very much. I'm very grateful. I've written it down. It's here. I'm going to put it on the wall. I'm going to write it down in my calendar. Thank you very much. We're not going to forget this. It's definitely going to be taken care of. Now, Would you mind focusing on the meditation for the next 10 minutes? And the mind will say, OK, Fine, Because you've acknowledged the thing that it was worried about. So we need a very nice, Relaxing, Loving attitude towards it. And that makes it much, Much, Much more cooperative. Got a comment here from Siliwi from Swaziland in Africa. What a joy. Thank you for being here. She says, Thank you for this wonderful experience helping and guiding me to spiritually recharge. I look forward to practicing more and more in order to move forward in my true natural being. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, You touch our heart. Thank you so much for being here and for the light you're shining where you are in the world. It's such a beautiful thing to have souls from all over the planet, Different corners, Special shining lights. It is so special to connect with you, All of you. We are continuously touched and feel the power of your love and your presence. It is such a sacred connection, Sacred gathering. So we deeply thank you for being here. And we invite and welcome you to share this, Share these audios with others. Because as each of us remembers how to spiritually recharge, Can you imagine the amount of spiritual power that floods into our own being and into the world, Creating a profound transformation? Shift consciousness, Shift in reality. Just take a moment to tune in with that, That you are personally a part of the great transformation. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So that's all for today. If anyone has any more questions, Feel free to send them in beforehand. And as always, Practice, Practice, Practice. We need to love the word practice in our hearts, Because anything in life that we want to get good at, Whether it's meditation or music or art or science or anything, It's practice that will lead us to mastery. So little by little, Make sure you continue to maintain your enthusiasm. Don't get disheartened, Because anything new will involve some level of discomfort, Because it's different. Your brain has to readjust. You have to reintegrate anything new in your life. So just realize that some of the growing pains, If you like, Or some of the slight discomfort you might experience in meditation is completely normal. And it's not a bad sign. It's actually a good sign. So if you're sitting there having a bit of a mild meltdown now and again, It's actually a good sign that you are making progress because things are changing. So Aral and I have both gone through various levels of discomfort and challenges along the path. And once we accept that that's part of the game, Then we can move through it more gracefully with more patience and love. And then what happens is that you reintegrate this new experience, This higher consciousness, And then that becomes the new place from where you live. And then from there, You go to the next level. So it's mostly enjoyable with some amounts of resistance and things that come up along the way because your physical brain changes when you change your thoughts. And so that is completely normal, Natural, And healthy. So again, Thank you for being here, For your beautiful presence. We look forward to deepening next week and connecting more. Oceans of love, Wishing you every blessing and endless moments of divine bliss, Peace, Love, Purity, Power in your personal connection to the Supreme and your spiritual recharge. Many blessings and Om Shanti. Om Shanti.