Awareness of thoughts

[Pajko]

Hey again folks i have some questions about awareness of thoughts. Ive noticed that i simply cant be aware of a thought because as soon as i im aware that im thinking i stop thinking. The only thing i can do is remembering what i was thinking of, and therefore labeling "thinking,thinking". Another thing that i have noticed is that i feel emotions firstly, thoughts dont necesaraly have to come up. Like when anger arises, i feel the emotion first but the thoughts arent noticable. Is it okay to just be mindfull of my emotions and stay with them without bringing awareness to thoughts? I might remember them sure, but i dont know if its the same thing.

[Matt Y]

Hi Pajko,

Those are excellent observations. It's true, thoughts often do subside as soon as you bring your awareness to them. And you are right, sometimes it's only possible to remember what you were thinking about (after the fact), and sometimes emotions arise (or seem to arise) without accompanying thoughts, and vice versa.

To be aware of all these distinctions is to be mindful. Good job!

[francogrex]

In addition to the good reply by "Matt Y" I would like to add that thoughts rarely stop, it is only the awareness of the thoughts that stops. What happens is that quite likely you become fused to the thought without even being aware of it. For example in that moment you'll be thinking: "I am not having any thoughts right now, a few seconds ago I had a clear thought about this or that"... Did you realize that what you were saying to yourself above is actually a "thought"? A thought about not being able to catch a thought, but it is a thought in itself... see the paradox? It's a slippery slope sometimes, in general, "thoughts about observing thoughts" should be observed like any other thought. Until you get the hang of it, observing your thoughts is like trying to pick yourself up by your own bootstraps. Your initial attempts to turn the mind back on itself may be quite frustrating but it gets better with time and practice.