~ Reflection on Studying the Mind ~
In mindfulness meditation, we study whatever is happening in our minds. By gently shining the light of awareness on our thoughts and emotions, we can uncover what lies underneath them. Mindfulness meditation brings the unconscious into consciousness, allowing us to make more informed and wiser choices about our thoughts, words and actions.
So what does studying our minds look like in practice?
Normally, when think about studying something, we think of it as an intellectual or cognitive exercise. It’s about using our intelligence to analyze something. We want to understand whatever it is by breaking it down into its constituent parts, we dissect its essential features, and know its causes in the past and its consequences in the future.
But the study we do in mindfulness meditation is quite different. It’s not about analyzing, thinking, or reasoning. Rather, it is about looking at our direct experience and seeing what is true in for us on a moment-to-moment basis. We can gently ask ourselves “What is happening in my mind right now?”. And not searching for an answer, but rather seeing what emerges, if anything.
Studying our experience in this way invites curiosity, a positive interest in what’s happening which can provide a gap between us and our thoughts and emotions. Mindfulness can also help the mind to become more flexible when we are obsessing about something or feeling caught. It becomes easier to be with difficult thoughts and emotions because we aren’t reinforcing them by endlessly replaying them. We are studying them, but we aren’t getting caught up in it or feeding them.
A few years ago, I went through a period of feeling down. So I studied what this actually felt like in my body. I noticed sensations of tightness in my neck, shoulders and belly. Then I inquired into my thoughts and emotions and I found that there was a lot of negative thinking in my mind. I also noticed an unexpressed anger that was linked to memories of my childhood.
The inquiry I did was very open and accepting of the sadness and anger. I was not trying to get rid of them. Quite the opposite, I found myself asking the sadness and anger what they wanted to express and what they most wanted from me. Most often, I found that they wanted to be acknowledged, accepted and loved. This was all very visceral and feeling-based. It wasn’t about conceptualizing or thinking. It was about sensing my direct experience and working with it.
We usually try to avoid difficult thoughts and emotions but when we take the time to get to know them and listen to them, they can open our hearts to love and kindness towards ourselves and others. We all have the capacity to be happy, loving and at peace, and by studying our minds we can cultivate these wholesome states at the same time as we recognize and accept our direct experience – whether it is pleasant or unpleasant.
For more about studying the mind watch the video here.
So what does studying our minds look like in practice?
Normally, when think about studying something, we think of it as an intellectual or cognitive exercise. It’s about using our intelligence to analyze something. We want to understand whatever it is by breaking it down into its constituent parts, we dissect its essential features, and know its causes in the past and its consequences in the future.
But the study we do in mindfulness meditation is quite different. It’s not about analyzing, thinking, or reasoning. Rather, it is about looking at our direct experience and seeing what is true in for us on a moment-to-moment basis. We can gently ask ourselves “What is happening in my mind right now?”. And not searching for an answer, but rather seeing what emerges, if anything.
Studying our experience in this way invites curiosity, a positive interest in what’s happening which can provide a gap between us and our thoughts and emotions. Mindfulness can also help the mind to become more flexible when we are obsessing about something or feeling caught. It becomes easier to be with difficult thoughts and emotions because we aren’t reinforcing them by endlessly replaying them. We are studying them, but we aren’t getting caught up in it or feeding them.
A few years ago, I went through a period of feeling down. So I studied what this actually felt like in my body. I noticed sensations of tightness in my neck, shoulders and belly. Then I inquired into my thoughts and emotions and I found that there was a lot of negative thinking in my mind. I also noticed an unexpressed anger that was linked to memories of my childhood.
The inquiry I did was very open and accepting of the sadness and anger. I was not trying to get rid of them. Quite the opposite, I found myself asking the sadness and anger what they wanted to express and what they most wanted from me. Most often, I found that they wanted to be acknowledged, accepted and loved. This was all very visceral and feeling-based. It wasn’t about conceptualizing or thinking. It was about sensing my direct experience and working with it.
We usually try to avoid difficult thoughts and emotions but when we take the time to get to know them and listen to them, they can open our hearts to love and kindness towards ourselves and others. We all have the capacity to be happy, loving and at peace, and by studying our minds we can cultivate these wholesome states at the same time as we recognize and accept our direct experience – whether it is pleasant or unpleasant.
For more about studying the mind watch the video here.
