Practice Observing Thoughts

[meditationman]

So, I have been meditating for about five months now, and I have seen a myriad of benefits from my practice. I have been using Mark WIlliam's MBSR book for a while, and I have finished the eight week program about three months ago. I have started trying to do unguided meditations to build my mindfulness, and as a change of pace from the guided ones; however, I still am experimenting around with formal practice when it comes to observing my thoughts. I have been using a common visualization--my mind is the sky, the clouds are my thoughts gently passing by in the wind--and I love the visual, but I am having a difficult time opening up to fully "see" my thoughts. Any tips on how to have an immersive practice for this observing meditation to better adequately observe my thoughts in action?
Thanks!

[JonW]

Hi. Welcome to the community. Good to know you.
Hmmm.
Sounds like you're doing all the "right" things.
I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say you are having a difficult time opening up to fully "see" your thoughts.
In my own practice, I simply observe the thoughts as they arise. If it's a particularly difficult thought I might label it. e.g. "Thought about ex-girlfriend". If it persists I might briefly examine the "texture" of the thought. eg. Does it feel sharp or blunt? Is it static or is it changing?
However, most thoughts I simply observe, as if I'm observing a bubble blown from a bottle. That way I tend not to get caught up in the narrative of the thought. I love the way Jon Kabat-Zinn talks about thoughts as, "mere secretions of the mind." That's how I like to think of them. In themselves they are no more meaningful than an itch on the elbow. It's when we give them power that they become a liability.
I'm a voracious reader and there are many books that have helped me in my mindfulness practice. Chief among them is Jon Kabat Zinn's Coming To Our Senses. Maybe give that a try.
I look forward to seeing more posts from you.
All good things, Jon

[Gareth]

My advice, which is the advice I would give to everybody is this: keep practising. The benefits of mindfulness trickle in with time and continued practice. I have been meditating for three years, and the benefits now are deeper than they were after I had been meditating for two years, and I was pretty peaceful at that stage. Questions come all the time, which is completely normal, but what's ultimately important is the practice itself. As time goes on, answers will become apparent to you, and you will learn much about yourself and the world around you.

[JonW]

Yes. What Gareth said.
I was just speaking to a friend who bought the Mark Williams book a few months ago and seemed very interested in mindfulness. I asked him how he was getting along with it.
"I've let it lapse," he said. "I tried to stick to ten minutes meditation a day. But I don't seem to have ten minutes to spare."
He then proceeded to rave about all the TV shows he'd enjoyed recently!
I usually avoid the cliche of "what you put into it, you get out", but this does seem to apply to mindfulness. The practice asks to be honoured. All it requires to be honoured is daily practice.

[meditationman]

Thanks for the prompt responses! I am quite sure that my answer is, as all of you have mentioned, to continue practicing. I have noticed that my focus has deepened quite a bit from when I began meditation. I usually meditate from about 20-25 minutes a day and have been incorporating various mindfulness "halts" throughout the day, where I stop and just focus on my breath. Living in a city with many red lights, I have many "halts" in my day. It is interesting to note how stressful people seem while they stopped at red lights, and I just sit there relaxed as can be lol.

[rara]

I have been using a common visualization--my mind is the sky, the clouds are my thoughts gently passing by in the wind--and I love the visual, but I am having a difficult time opening up to fully "see" my thoughts.

Sounds to me like you're using the visualisation so much that you're becoming too set on it. It's distracting to a degree...

Not such a bad thing...maybe your thoughts aren't even there because you're so focused?

If you're trying to visualise something that isn't really there, you can't expect to have the clear mind to even see the thoughts.

Ever watched something on TV so intensely that nothing else even appears to enter your mind?

Well, that.

Again, if it's not causing you problems, then forget about it all. Does it really matter?

Otherwise (I'm going on complete presumption of your situation here...maybe you need to elaborate) try concentrating on breath instead. A count as you breathe in, a count as you breathe out. Keep going until you're totally fixed on your breath that you need not count anymore...

See what happens...see what pops into your head. Notice it's a thought, then see if you can bring your attention back to breath.

Let us know how you're doing anyho

[rara]

continue practicing

The alternate teaching method which says, "you'll figure it out for yourself dude" lol. Meh, if you'd rather do that, don't read my post above

[meditationman]

I have been using a common visualization--my mind is the sky, the clouds are my thoughts gently passing by in the wind--and I love the visual, but I am having a difficult time opening up to fully "see" my thoughts.

Sounds to me like you're using the visualisation so much that you're becoming too set on it. It's distracting to a degree...

Not such a bad thing...maybe your thoughts aren't even there because you're so focused?

If you're trying to visualise something that isn't really there, you can't expect to have the clear mind to even see the thoughts.

Ever watched something on TV so intensely that nothing else even appears to enter your mind?

Well, that.

Again, if it's not causing you problems, then forget about it all. Does it really matter?

Otherwise (I'm going on complete presumption of your situation here...maybe you need to elaborate) try concentrating on breath instead. A count as you breathe in, a count as you breathe out. Keep going until you're totally fixed on your breath that you need not count anymore...

See what happens...see what pops into your head. Notice it's a thought, then see if you can bring your attention back to breath.

Let us know how you're doing anyho

I've recently tried Jonw's idea of just observing my thoughts as bubbles being blown from a bottle, and it has really been wonderful for me in being able to focus on my thoughts in stead of focusing on visualizations. I have also been consciously breathing and simply coming back to the breath when I notice a thought arise.
One interesting thing to note: I have been reading Buddhist literature, and I've been quite impressed as the book mentions decompartmentalizing one's self to bridge the gaps of being mindful outside of just sitting or walking meditation. I have some nervous habits (i.e. biting nails etc) that I have been able to decrease the frequency off just by noticing they are there. I'm starting to realize that meditation can be very well used to break from conditional attachments to live a fuller, more alive life. I feel that so many people today are merely living without being full alive, just going through the motions. Mindfulness is truly a lifestyle.

[JonW]

Glad to hear that's working. I feel that any kind of visualisation can be useful to still the mind and help us recognise that thoughts are only thoughts, that they have no real power in themselves. Over time the visualisations can be dropped as the mind becomes noticeably stiller.
One of my favourite writers Joan Tollifson is a life-long fingernail-biter. Her books address that subject very wisely. Worth checking out.

[BioSattva]

I'm starting to realize that meditation can be very well used to break from conditional attachments to live a fuller, more alive life. I feel that so many people today are merely living without being full alive, just going through the motions. Mindfulness is truly a lifestyle.

Indeed - this conditioning we have - habitual ignorant behaviours and unhealthy appetites that bring us so much unnecessary pain is most often hidden without mindfulness. Even if one practices for a time and then stops, the ignorance and appetites easily return.

Regarding observing one's thoughts, let's say one has a heart condition and loves eating greasy cookies. This has been one's vice and habit - one's condition - for so many years - it's automatic - one sees the cookie jar and one's body reflexively lurches towards it. One day one overdoses and has a heart attack and turns to mindfulness to correct the imbalance in one's appetites. Using this example to represent any conditioning a person has, as mindfulness practice deepens, one day one notices one has automatically and mindlessly taken a cookie into one's hand, and then out of self-compassion one decides to put it back in the jar. Next time, with mindfulness practice depeening further, one notices when one grabs the cookie jar. Then the next time one notices when one moves towards the jar, then the next time one notices when one notices the cookie jar, and suddenly one detects the thought "I need a cookie" upon spying the cookie jar. BOOM! (to quote rara ).

At this point, if one scans one's body and accepts the underlying 'emptiness' that the cookie will temporarily fill - smiling at it and soothing it with "It's OK, old friend carb-addict, I know you just want me to be comfortable", and reorienting oneself towards more 'noble' pursuits, such thoughts will be simply observed before they manifest as behaviours. A choice emerges - whether to indulge them or not. As Mark Williams says - the mind will often offer up unhealthy thoughts to you like a child holding out toys to a parent, and it is your call whether to play or not. Thoughts are our body's way of saying "Hey, have you considered this - it could solve a problem?". As you say; most people don't even recognise this part of their existence, and so most people just mindlessly and automatically play with whatever toy appears most attractive when it's made available to them.

The more we sit down and watch the landscape of our body-mind connection unfold, the more we get to know the territory and it's seasons - the watering holes, the sunny spots, the areas which tend to get polluted most easily, etc. With this deeper knowledge of one's internal territory, one cannot just plead ignorance when one's conscience - one's civilised, social dimension - kicks in - one automatically becomes proactive. Just by watching and noticing, everything unfolds in a more harmonious way. Easier said than done though!