A few days ago I had one of those “lightbulb” moments. 

I was in the bathtub listening to Sam Harris’s soothing voice (the neuroscientist, not the musician)on the Waking Up meditation app and I heard him tell me to meditate on my thoughts as they appeared. This meditation instruction caused my mind to instantly say “WHAT?”. 

Everything I had ever learned or taught others about meditation was “notice the thought and watch it float away”, which if you have ever tried is hard AF! 

Like a good student, I listened to my wise teacher and began to focus on my thoughts as they appeared. 

Darn if this didn’t actually help them float away. 

The key is to focus my attention without creating a story! More on this later. 

The purpose of meditation is to teach me that my mind is a thought producing machine, that I can’t control what thoughts it presents, and that every thought, feeling and experience is nothing more than a momentary appearance in consciousness that I can choose to create a story about or let flow through me.

Meditation creates the necessary space to notice the thought and make a deliberate choice about what comes next.

Choice 1- jump right into story. Create a movie in my mind. Let the story hijack my nervous system. Likely result? Suffering!

Choice 2- notice the thought and decide, is this a thought that I would benefit from obsessing over, or is this a thought I should let float away? Likely result? Psychological freedom 🤩!

So why is this 2nd option so difficult?  

It is not because I’m weak minded or defective. It is because when my ancestors where trying to survive on the savannah, taking even a split second to determine if a thought was worth focusing on could mean life or death. 
All of this to say, PLEASE do yourself, your relationships, and society in general a massive favor and learn more about meditation.

Let’s all choose to use our minds for good by spending more time creating movies about what life is going to feel like as more and more of us jump on the meditation train.

Who is ready to join me on this fantastic journey?

There are a number of fantastic avenues to becoming a meditator but I usually recommend the #insighttimer, #wakingup, #calm, or #headspace apps.

Peace ☮️ out!

If are looking for help to get a handle in your busy reach visit our website https://www.lifeskillsresourcegroup.com/ or 407.355.7378 to schedule an appointment.

Cindy Fabico, MA, NCC, RYT200 Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist MT2724 Licensed Mental Health Counselor MH8555 Founder & CoOwner Life Skills Resource Group