the myth of meditation
Raise your hand if you’ve ever thought that in order to meditate you needed to empty your mind of all thoughts!
Yup, me too.
I used to think that meditation was an impossible feat. I would try, get discouraged, try again, feel like it was impossible, and then stop trying.
But then I realized that the nature of our minds is to have thoughts. That thoughts are automatically going to be there, and that the goal isn’t necessarily to erase them (at least not in this life).
But what if instead you used meditation as a way to get to know yourself a little bit more intimately? What if you used meditation as a way to sort through what goes on within? What if you let all of your thoughts run wild, but instead of getting caught up in the story-telling, you learn a different way interacting with your thoughts?
The Nature Of The Mind
In Zen Buddhism, there’s a term called the monkey mind. The monkey mind is the unsettled, restless, inconsistent and uncontrollable nature of our mind. Think of a monkey jumping from branch to branch, from one thing to another, consistently on the move. Our minds work this way too. Thought to thought, story to story, tugging on our emotions, drawing up memories, planning, worrying, regretting.
Becoming Aware
Rather than focusing so much on the chaos in the mind and how you’ll (if ever) quiet your thoughts, I invite you to simply become aware of what is happening in your mind.
Become aware of this monkey nature of the thoughts.
Become aware of the aspects of your personality and the types of attitudes you carry.
Become aware of the stories you tell yourself.
Become aware of how easily you attach yourself to false narratives.
Become aware of how your mind spirals when a negative thought or idea comes up.
Imagine that you are a third party watching your own thoughts. Or imagine that the thoughts in your mind are actually in the mind of the person next to you. Try to simply take a step back from participating in your thoughts, and instead just observe them.
Truly, the first step to change is to first become aware.
Create Change
When you realize the nature of your inner workings, you can then begin to change those patterns. Through neuroplasticity (the brains ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections), we can literally change the way our mind works.
The catalyst to this change is the awareness gained through meditation.
In meditation, when we shift away from the method of controlling the thoughts and instead find a place of awareness, of watching, we gain the ability to change our perspectives.
Give this a try, and let me know if this changes the relationship you have with your meditation practice.
