Confused on concentration vs repression

[piedwagtail91]

what jon says.
if you get involved with the story behind the emotion it can turn it into an overwhelming monster, but by learning to see it as physical sensations and getting your awareness out of those thoughts and into the body, into the sensations, can make it more manageable.
even focused on the breath the thoughts will still come back, by going into the body with the physical sensations of those emotions you're breaking into the cycle of thoughts feeding emotions, feeding stronger thoughts, stronger emotions.
though it does take practice and is difficult.

[JonW]

It's a challenge to be sure. But not as difficult as trying to rub your tummy and pat your head at the same time. Or scratching the back of your head with your elbow. Or sneezing with your eyes open. Or giving birth (especially if you're a man).

[piedwagtail91]

So it's not impossible then?

[JonW]

Wasn't there a feller in China who gave birth quite recently? What will they think of next? Cor dear.

[LucidMind]

I really appreciate you guys taking the time to answer my question so thoroughly, i'm starting to see that I really do label my feelings and that causes me to keep falling into narratives about my state of being in the moment. It is definitely something I am going to be mindful about. Thanks again for your help JonW and Piedwagtail!

[piedwagtail91]

just to confuse things further, it's ok to label your emotions/feelings (we call emotions 'feelings' because they bring 'feelings' or 'sensations' to the body when we experience them) it can help take some of the sting out of them especially if they're very intense.
it's part of working with difficulty meditation or if you use self compassion then it's part of soften soothe and allow.
but the trick is not to get involved in the story or narrative behind them but to label them and then go to the feelings/sensations in the body.

[piedwagtail91]

a link to our resources which has all the meditations mentioned and docs.
http://tinyurl.com/service-user

[LucidMind]

a link to our resources which has all the meditations mentioned and docs.
http://tinyurl.com/service-user

Wow...thank you so much for sharing this. I'm going to spend some time going through this treasure trove of mindfulness info. Thank you!

Also, I loved the picture you posted earlier about the 4 doorways of "action". It really reinforced the idea that I can choose how I react to anxiety. I CAN focus on my breath (allowing any anxious sensations in my body to just "be" in the background) or I CAN focus on the actual sensations, seeing them for what they are. How does that sound??

[JonW]

Absolutely. It really is a choice, albeit a choice that for much of our lives we're not aware that we actually have.
It astounds me that, until eight months ago, when I started my adventure into mindfulness, I was resigned to believing that I was completely at the mercy of my thoughts and feelings.
Negative thoughts and feelings still bubble up for me but without the frequency or intense persistence of old.
Daily practice IS key. And I find that reading helps enormously in fortifying my practice. Of late, exploring the work of some of the leading non-duality teachers (Darryl Bailey, Joan Tollifson, Jac O'Keeffe, David Carse, Toni Packer) has shifted my perspective in a major way and made me feel so much calmer and centred. But I wouldn't recommend those books to anyone still coming to terms with mindfulness.

[LucidMind]

I would like to bump this thread...all of the responses here so far have been EXTREMELY helpful and informative...but in the weeks since I first had this question I have come across a very deep understanding of the answer in my daily formal meditation practice.

My experience just goes to show that mindfulness really is about direct experience within your own consciousness. You can memorize the definition of mindfulness all day long, but you actually have to practice it in order to truly internalize the meaning and reap the benefits.

My problem was that I was thinking about going back to my breath and "hiding" from my anxiety/feelings/emotions. I was thinking that mindfulness of breath was about concentrating soooo hard on the sensations of your breath that you simply hid from all the turmoil in your consciousness (thoughts, feelings, etc etc). However, I have learned that "hiding" is the wrong word...what is a much more accurate statement is that we are "dwelling" within our breath, and *allowing* any unpleasant (or pleasant) sensation or thought to occur in the background. When we go to our breath, we are not trying to hide or repress anything, we are simply making space in our minds to allow everything else to do as it wants.

My concentration is on my breath, yet my body may be very tense, I have feelings of anxiety and anger, I am bored, I worry about the time, etc. However, dwelling in my breath grounds me and allows me to make room for all of these other sensations to occur in the background. Of course, I am often swept away in the current of emotion and thoughts, but I am always able to find my breath again and dwell in the peacefulness of silence, even while my feelings, thoughts, and body are screaming for attention. I find that after a while, all of the "busyness" of my mind and body quiet, which enables me to refine my concentration even more.