‘From thoughts come actions. From actions come all sorts of consequences. In which thoughts will we invest? Our great task is to see them clearly, so that we can choose which ones to act on and which simply to let be’ (Joseph Goldstein)
This mind of ours is a wonderful thing, however sometimes we can meet some pretty unhelpful and dark thoughts as we try to sleep at night! Have you noticed sometimes that at work you are thinking a lot about being at home and when you are at home, you can’t stop thinking about work? Mindfulness training can help us to have some choice about the thousands of thoughts that come to our mind each day. We can learn to start observing them as mental events, which is called ‘metacognition’ – the ability to become aware of the quality of the mind, and the ability to become aware of thoughts as they are coming into our awareness.
So much of the time we spend on autopilot, we don’t even notice the quality of our mind or the quality of our thoughts. We often don’t realise that allowing ourselves to get whisked in any direction with the thoughts arising, can have a real effect on how we are feeling and how we are interpreting events that are happening during our day.
Very often when we have a painful emotional or bodily experience, the thinking we add to this initial painful experience adds a lot of suffering to us. This is referred to the 2 darts of pain in mindfulness. The first dart of pain we can’t stop, however we have some power over the second dart of pain. Exploring the body sensations with curiousity allows us to explore this present moment experience of strong sensations, rather than moving into ruminative thinking about how or why this happened, which often serves to distress us more.
According to Segal, Williams & Teasdale (2013), the creators of the 8 Week Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) programme, our thoughts can have a powerful effect on what we do and how we feel. And they are often triggered quite automatically with similar thoughts continuing to loop through the mind. By becoming aware of the types of thinking patterns that we are having, such as ‘why is it always me?’, ‘there’s no point in trying’, ‘I should be better’… we have some ability to notice and use our anchor of the breath or body to ground ourselves in the present moment. It allows us some choice around following a certain thinking pattern, for example planning a project in work, or choosing not to follow a certain thinking pattern, an old memory that keeps getting replayed in our mind, which serves to tell us ‘we’re not good enough’. In this way of observing the thoughts, we have an opportunity to widen our view and get some perspective on where the mind has narrowly focused in on. We also realise there may be other ways to think about the situation. Segal, Williams & Teasdale (2013) state:
‘that this allows us to see that there may be other ways to think about situations, freeing us from the tyranny of the old thought patterns that automatically “pop into the mind.” Most important, we may eventually come to realise “deep in our bones” that all thoughts are only mental events (including the thoughts that say they are not), that thoughts are not facts, and we are not our thoughts’.
Being able to notice our thoughts, can also allow us to notice some of the ‘habitual’ thinking that is occurring on a daily basis, which we mightn’t ordinarily be aware of. There can be a subtle background of ‘I’m not good enough’ running through the background of our experiences and our awareness, quite unaware to us, until we start practicing this mental training of mindfulness. And it can be quite a surprise to notice how much this is happening. These unhelpful thinking patterns can lead us in to a downward spiral, affect our moods and increase our levels of stress. We can very easily move from one thought, to another, and suddenly we are down a rabbit hole, lost in thoughts. By noticing when we are lost in thoughts, we can choose to let go of them and to begin again by anchoring our attention on our breath and body, which can support us to anchor into the present moment and develop some perspective around the thoughts. It is also worth mentioning that we may also realise that we need to give some unresolved emotional experiences in our past some attention, and perhaps may need to spend some time with a clinician to allow some healing of old wounds.
It can be quite freeing to be able to step back from our thoughts and realise that they are not ‘you’ or ‘reality’. Some thoughts are very helpful and some thoughts are unhelpful and being able to see this and distinguish between the two can offer us some liberation from this busy mind. Even being able to notice at moments of stress or anxiety that our thoughts are spinning or frantic – having the ability to pause in the midst of this and do a 3 Step Breathing Space or come to the breath offers a new way to work with some of these automatic patterns.
Ways You Can See Your Thoughts Differently By Segal, Williams & Teasdale (2013)
Here are some of the things you can do with your thoughts:
1. Just watch them come in and leave, without feeling that you have to follow them.
2. See if it is possible to notice the feelings that give rise to the thoughts: the “context’ in which your thoughts are but one link in a chain of events.
3. View your thought as a mental event rather than a fact. It may be true that this even often occurs with other feelings. It is tempting to think of it as being true, but it is still up to you to decide whether it is true and how you want to deal with it.
4. Write your thoughts down on paper. This lets you see them in a way that is less emotional and overwhelming. Also, the pause between having the thought and writing it down can give you a moment to respond to it differently.
5. For particularly difficult thoughts, it may be helpful to take another look at then intentionally, in a balanced, open state of mind, as part of your sitting practice. Let your “wise mind” give its perspective, perhaps labeling the feeling out of which, arises, and holding a sense of curiosity, as best you can: “Ah, here is sadness”; “Here is the familiar harsh and critical voice.” The keynote attitude to take with your thoughts is gentle interest and curiosity.
Two Kinds of Intelligence by Rumi
There are two kinds of intelligence: one acquired,
as a child in school memorizes facts and concepts
from books and from what the teacher says,
collecting information from the traditional sciences
as well as from the new sciences.
With such intelligence you rise in the world.
You get ranked ahead or behind others
in regard to your competence in retaining
information. You stroll with this intelligence
in and out of fields of knowledge, getting always more
marks on your preserving tablets.
There is another kind of tablet, one
already completed and preserved inside you.
A spring overflowing its springbox. A freshness
in the center of the chest. This other intelligence
does not turn yellow or stagnate. It’s fluid,
and it doesn’t move from outside to inside
through conduits of plumbing-learning.
This second knowing is a fountainhead
from within you, moving out.
Suggested Meditation Practices
- The 3 Step Breathing Space at times when thoughts are very busy or we feel overwhelmed. We can also just use this to become aware of the quality of the mind, body and feelings during the day.
- https://soundcloud.com/user-938311516/3-step-breathing-space-3-mins
- The Breath & Body 10 minute daily practice, to help us weave our parachutes before jumping out of the plane!!
- https://soundcloud.com/user-938311516/breath-body-meditation-10-mins
For more details on mindfulness training, check out mindfulness courses at www.mindfulness.ie
This Blog is adapted from Segal, Z.V., Williams, J.M.G., & Teasdale, J.D. (2013). Mindfulness–Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: A New Approach to Preventing Relapse (Second Edition). London: The Guilford Press.
