Don’t Mind The Mind

There is a big misconception regarding meditation: it’s often thought as turning off our minds and sitting in complete mental silence. Resultantly, many become discouraged from practicing meditation, as they think they aren’t capable of doing it. The truth is, at times, all of our minds ruminante, and no one (that I have met) can mute their mental volume at will.

Meditation is not about shutting off our thoughts, controlling our minds or sitting in absolute mental silence. Rather, when we practice mindfulness we learn to simply notice, non-judgmentally, the thoughts that enter and leave our headspace. This implies that there is no evaluating as good or bad, no labeling as right or wrong and no attempting to push away or hold onto thoughts. Instead, we observe that we are thinking and time after time return to the present. (And if we notice we are judging, we simply observe that too!)

The more we practice non-judgmental observance, the more neutral we can become to the presence of our thoughts. And with a neutral relationship, we can develop acceptance, allowing for the thoughts to dissipate as quickly as they entered.

Meditation isn’t an effort to quiet the mind, but rather to shift the relationship to the contents of the mind, in the process our minds may become quieter, not from forcing silence, rather through simply observing without judgment.