Mindfulness Meditation: Thought Life {Part 4 of 6}
Listen: “Where Is My Mind?” by The Pixies
Our minds can be crazy places to live. When I landed in rehab at the end of 2018, I was immersed in the Twelve Step program of recovery. I had read the Big Book of AA as a pastor who wanted to support people in recovery, never dreaming I would need it myself. There was a saying I heard from the recovery community which I did not like: “Your best thinking got you here.” I had always had confidence in my ability to think well. I had earned the highest professional degrees in my field of theology and ministry, and I was working on a second doctorate degree when I went to rehab. (I was in the dissertation phase of a PhD in the Hebrew Bible.)
I thought I could think my way out of anything, but addiction plays havoc with our minds. Most humans wrestle, to various degrees, with hurts, habits, and hang ups, and you don’t have to be an addict to wrestle with racing thoughts, ruminating thoughts, and judging thoughts.
The emergence of human consciousness is one of the most surprising developments of evolution, even leaving the most ardent atheists with a mystery that is hard to understand apart from some metaphysical presupposition concerning “mind,” “spirit,” or a “higher power.”
“Who is your enemy?” said the Buddha. “Mind is your enemy. No one can harm you more than a mind untrained. Who is your friend? Mind is your friend. No one can assist you and care for you better than your mind well-trained.” The Apostle Paul challenged people: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).
But how do we go about training our minds? Training my mind can feel much like herding cats!
Another challenge: most people have a muscular inner critic, especially those who have grown up in fundamentalist religious circles. We can judge ourselves for just about anything including normal humans thought processes. Judging, condemning, and shaming ourselves comes much easier than thoughts of self-compassion and self-care.
The most ancient part of our brain is called the amygdala. It’s the fight, flight, freeze part of our brain which is more attuned to focusing on negative experiences than positive experiences in order to enhance our chances of survival. Psychologist Rick Hanson famously stated: “The mind is like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones.” American actor and filmmaker Dustin Hoffman said, “A good review from critics is just a stay of execution,” and many of us are our own best critics.
Approximately ninety percent of our anxious thoughts are reruns and fake news (at least for me). One of my meditation teachers, Jack Kornfield, recommends the following practices when you sit in meditation and focus your awareness on your thoughts. I would encourage you to sit in silence for 10 to 20 minutes a day and explore your thoughts with the following prompts.
Name your thoughts. As you sit in meditation, simply name the types of thoughts which you are experiencing: planning, remembering, judging, imagining, ruminating, and wondering are just a few of the possibilities.
Identify your top ten tunes. I have been practicing mindfulness meditation for over four years. My top three are planning, judging, and remembering. Notice how thoughts come and go, similar to the rise and fall of our emotions. The negative thoughts tend to stick, and the positive ones tend to slide away more quickly.
Normalize the thoughts. Everybody experiences a variety of thoughts which stream through our minds. We attempt to judge, condemn and resist our unwanted thoughts and cling to our pleasant thoughts. Try simply recognizing and allowing the thoughts with curiosity, openness, and self-compassion. Martin Luther stated: “We can’t keep the birds (thoughts) from flying over our heads.” They come and they go. Judging and resisting unwanted thoughts, ironically, empowers them; recognizing and allowing unwanted thoughts, ironically, disempowers them.
Hold thoughts lightly. I love a humorous quote I ran across years ago when I was reading G. K. Chesterton’s book Orthodoxy: “Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly. Seriousness is not a virtue. Satan fell by force of gravity.”
Don’t believe your thoughts too much. Relax and let go. Learn to have a sense of humor about yourself and your thought life. Clinging to thoughts and resisting thoughts comes more naturally, but try laughing at your unwanted thoughts.
Notice that many thoughts are insubstantial. As stated earlier, most of our thoughts are reruns or fake news. They don’t necessarily correspond to reality.
Notice how you can be an observer of your thoughts. In one guided meditation session I experienced I was asked to use my imagination and sit by one of my favorite streams. I thought of a crystal-clear mountain stream which I have sat next to in Copper Mountain, Colorado. Then I was asked to imagine writing my thoughts on leaves that were falling from the trees, and then picture them falling onto the stream and floating down stream. I found it very helpful. It helped me put some separation between me and my own thoughts. I could observe my thoughts almost like a counselor for myself.
Mindfulness meditation encourages a deep sense of self-compassion and self-care when it comes to our thought life. I have done pastoral counseling with thousands of people over the last forty-five years, and one thing I have noticed is how often people judge themselves harshly for having unwanted thoughts. They feel guilty for having normal human thoughts that come and go, like birds flying over our heads. Thoughts are just thoughts. We don’t have to act on them or believe them, but we can learn to live with them in a healthier way.
Try implementing these practices in a daily routine of meditation over a period of time, and don’t beat yourself up for being human. Happy meditating!
Shalom
©realfredherron, 2024
