Take control of your thoughts

Don’t you hate it when your thoughts start running out of control?

The nervous system is wired to scan for danger and our thoughts reflect that.

That makes it even worse is when we start to identify with the thoughts or we believe we ARE our thoughts.

Fortunately or unfortunately, our thoughts aren’t going anywhere soon. It’s futile to try to get them to go away.

What can we do instead, then?

We can become aware of them. 

When my thoughts know I’m watching them, it becomes near impossible to identify with them. They don’t have as strong of a strong hold on me. I feel at ease.

We might not be able to do this in day-to-day life immediately.

But if we practice it often, especially when it’s hard, it can have a spill-over effect, and suddenly we’re doing it more often without the effort.

Here’s something that’s helping me tremendously that I’d like to share with you: 

Set a timer for 5 minutes.

Eliminate all distractions and make yourself comfortable. Sit, lie down or walk.

Find an anchor that will help you stay connected to a body like the sensation of your breath or the sounds in your environment.

For me I like to have an open awareness, letting my consciousness wander between whatever arises in the moment and moving from one sensation to another. Not holding on to any one particular sensation. 

Whenever you notice a sensation, note “sensing” and let your awareness move on to the next sensation. 

At some point you’re bound to think about something. When you notice it, say “thinking” without getting involved further in the thought and move back to your bodily anchor. 

Keep going back and forth between noting sensation and noting thought. 

It takes practice not to get carried away into a story in your head. So treat yourself with tons of compassion if you find yourself getting carried away often.

Whenever you notice that you got carried away, congratulate yourself for noticing, no matter how long it took.

Remember! The idea is not to stop thinking. We can’t. The idea is to become really good at noticing when we are and waking ourselves up to the present moment.