In addition to being mindful of our environment, mindfulness about what is happening inside us is also beneficial. Thoughts often occur automatically and we can wind up engaging with thoughts and feelings throughout the day that may get in the way of our work and leave us feeling unhappy or unmotivated.
Let’s work on managing these feelings.
We often treat thoughts as if they are facts. For example: “I am no good at this,” “He’s is an idiot,” “Nobody understands me,” “I am brilliant,” etc. When we have a thought many times it can condense into a belief. A belief is just a thought or thoughts that you have a lot of the time. Beliefs can then be taken as facts. When certain thoughts become facts, we can become caught up in them and they can govern what we do and how we feel. Instead, when we start to pay attention to our thoughts with a gentle curiosity, then we start to think about thinking (meta-cognition) and we move away from believing that the thought is a fact and see it for what it really is – just a thought.
Some people like the metaphor of allowing the thoughts to just float like leaves on a stream, or clouds in a sky, noticing each passing thought and then the one that comes after it, and then the one that comes after that. You may notice that just at the moment you become aware of a thought, it passes and is replaced by another thought. That’s what happens – thoughts come, and they go.
Mindfulness of Thought Breathing Exercise
- I’d like you to sit still in your chair so that you feel comfortable.
- As you sit still, bring your awareness to your breath. Be aware of your breath as it fills your lungs and expands your abdomen, and then leaves your body.
- Now, slowly allow yourself to notice any thoughts that come into your head as you are aware of your breathing.
- Take notice, pay attention, and accept these thoughts, without making a judgment on them. Thoughts are not bad or good, positive or negative, they just are what they are – like the thought that you happen to be having at this particular moment. This space can be thought of as being the ‘observer’ of your thoughts.
- Watch your thoughts as they rise and fall into your awareness, you may struggle with this as it is easy and tempting to engage with your thoughts. If you notice yourself engaging with thoughts, just bring yourself back to being the observer. Engaging with your thoughts is what we normally or often practice so don’t despair if this happens, just bring your attention back to being an observer of your thoughts rather than an examiner.