The purpose of meditation is to cultivate mindfulness. When we meditate, we focus all our attention on something in the present moment. By doing this, we enhance our capacity to focus singularly and thereby invite more mindfulness into our lives. Focusing our attention on what is happening in the moment enables us to be present for and savour the experiences we are having. The only time we have is the present moment and often we miss it because we are lost in the web of thoughts. Mindfulness enables us to show up more fully for the moments that make up our lives.
When we don’t practice reining in our minds, they tend to wander a lot. Our minds can lure us into many different places – the past, the potential futures, daydreams and all kinds of stories and movies that are not actually happening. The mind lures us through images and stories – tempting us to give it our attention in return for constant stimulation. Getting lost in our imaginings and thoughts can surely be more interesting and colourful than focusing on the simplicity of the movement of breath through our bodies for example. What we need to understand however is that our minds do not work in isolation to the rest of us. When we have thoughts, stories, fantasies and daydreams playing out in our minds these can effect our emotions, behaviours and overall wellbeing.
It is therefore important that we learn to cultivate a healthy relationship with our minds. Left to its own devices, the mind is like a toddler – flippant, irrational, erratic and wanting all of our attention all the time. As soon as we begin a meditation practice, for example focusing on the breath – you may notice that the mind immediately starts to tempt you back with “very important” or “very interesting” thoughts. The mind loves your attention and will keep creating a steady stream of stimulation to entice you to give it your attention. Similarly, there are ways in which we are addicted to our minds – we can become enthralled in fascinations and obsessive thoughts patterns and crave the constant stimulation from the mind. The mind is a clever and powerful tool, but if we don’t use it as a tool then it will become a dangerous distraction- dictating our behaviours and states of being. It is important to learn how to regulate our minds if we are to cultivate mindfulness and enhance health and wellness.
In order to regulate our minds, we must first learn and understand the nature of the mind. A great way to learn about any phenomena is to observe it. This is true also when it comes to our thought patterns. Mindfulness of thoughts means offering our attention to the processes of our minds as they occur and without judgment. It involves “decentering”, which is a process of de-identifying from our thoughts and watching the thoughts as they occur. We observe our thoughts from this vantage point and begin to notice what kinds of thoughts are occurring in each moment, the quality of the thoughts, if they are past/present/future based, if they are words or pictures, the duration and frequency of each thought, if they have an associated colour, sound, texture and anything else we can notice.
Often we may notice that some thoughts come in the form of a voice. The voice in our head comments, speculates, judges, compares, complains, likes, dislikes and so on. The voice may not be relevant to the present-moment situation you are in. It may be reviewing past events or imagining the future. When the voice is reviewing the past negatively it is called rumination and is a main feature of depression. When the voice is imagining negative future events, this is called worry and is a main feature of anxiety. The quality, content and tone presented by the voice can directly effect our emotional and behavioural responses and our overall sense of wellbeing.
When we are not in control of the reins of our minds, voices and daydreams are able to run rampant, go unchecked and control our responses indefinitely. When we bring mindfulness to this thought process on the other hand, we begin to get to know the nature of our minds and also the effects that our thought processes have on us emotionally and behaviourally. If we learn to bring mindful attention to our thought processes we may catch ourselves whilst drifting along a sea of fantasy or worry and rumination and rather than getting lost in the thoughts we can make the decision to call our attention back to the reality of the present moment. Mindfulness of thoughts practices are a great way to build a healthier relationship with our minds and to enhance our overall sense of wellness.
