Awareness of thoughts?
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littlestudent
- Posts: 5
Thank you very much. This is very helpful indeed!
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healthyhappymind
- Posts: 10
- Location: Gold Coast, Australia.
- Contact:
I personally find it quite amusing when I stop to pay real attention to the thoughts that go through my mind. Normally they just happen and I'm not conscious of them, however, when I practice mindfulness I am gently, and with love, observing them. It's not about scolding myself, or scoffing at the (sometimes) nonsense that goes on in there, but more like being a kind friend who listens without judgement.
“Mind is a flexible mirror, adjust it, to see a better world.” - Amit Ray
http://www.healthyhappymind.com/blog
Follow me on Twitter @healthyhappym1
http://www.healthyhappymind.com/blog
Follow me on Twitter @healthyhappym1
Hi
My take on mindfulness is that it is about being in 'process', but without processing.
That is, to observe your personal process to see what thoughts come up, but to avoid processing such thoughts - which can be hard to do because our natural response is usually to develop and process thoughts further once they enter into mind.
A commonly used metaphor is to think of thoughts as clouds, and to allow them to float through the mind and out again without investigating them. Which can be difficult to do when your mind is very busy, or acting like a: 'dog with a bone' that won't let go!
Whatever the clouds, or bones, look like, just let them pass through and return to your mindful focus. It doesn't matter if the cloud is dark, or sunny, or how juicy the bone looks, just let it float through your mind. The aim is a simple one, but the process can be quite tricky, i.e. your mind may strive to have it's own way and work as if on auto-pilot.
One way of looking at this difficulty is to think that the harder it is to do, the more you need to stick at it, i.e. the greater is your need to find some peace in your process.
In the West we tend to be conditioned into planning and aspiring, and being good at things. Just: 'being' is not part of the national curriculum!
To my way of thinking, being mindful is not something that can be achieved all of the time because we use a very active cognitive process within our lives. The way I think of mindfulness is that it allows disengagement from the mental conditioning that modern living installs in order to give the brain a rest.
ATB
Sky
My take on mindfulness is that it is about being in 'process', but without processing.
That is, to observe your personal process to see what thoughts come up, but to avoid processing such thoughts - which can be hard to do because our natural response is usually to develop and process thoughts further once they enter into mind.
A commonly used metaphor is to think of thoughts as clouds, and to allow them to float through the mind and out again without investigating them. Which can be difficult to do when your mind is very busy, or acting like a: 'dog with a bone' that won't let go!
Whatever the clouds, or bones, look like, just let them pass through and return to your mindful focus. It doesn't matter if the cloud is dark, or sunny, or how juicy the bone looks, just let it float through your mind. The aim is a simple one, but the process can be quite tricky, i.e. your mind may strive to have it's own way and work as if on auto-pilot.
One way of looking at this difficulty is to think that the harder it is to do, the more you need to stick at it, i.e. the greater is your need to find some peace in your process.
In the West we tend to be conditioned into planning and aspiring, and being good at things. Just: 'being' is not part of the national curriculum!
To my way of thinking, being mindful is not something that can be achieved all of the time because we use a very active cognitive process within our lives. The way I think of mindfulness is that it allows disengagement from the mental conditioning that modern living installs in order to give the brain a rest.
ATB
Sky
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