Mindfulness of thoughts:  become a field observer of your own wild interior

Watch your thoughts through the week and start a list of your Top 10. What turns up over and over again?

Some things to pay attention to (and possibly journal about):

• What do you find challenging when working with mindfulness of thoughts?
• What are the thoughts that most put you in trance?
• What are the thoughts that keep you awake at night?

Meditation: practice mindful breathing a minimum of five minutes a day. In mindful breathing, the breath is the anchor, the focus of attention that you can return to if you find your thoughts have strayed. If paying attention to the breath is difficult for any reason, or if you just want a change, choose another anchor. This can be the body, most especially a point of contact such as one hand resting in another, or the feel of both hands resting on your thighs; the sense of your seat on your cushion or chair; the soles of your feet on the ground. Yet another anchor is sound: Become fully aware of the soundscape, of everything that reaches your ears. including silence itself.

As you become comfortable with sitting in stillness — such an odd thing for us busy Westerners to do! — consider lengthening your practice time by five or ten minutes a day. Establishing a habit of daily practice is more important than how long you meditate. Experiment to find what is comfortable and doable for you. Setting a goal of too long a meditation can easily become the task you don’t have time to fulfill.

It helps with any habit to have a repeatable pattern. Experiment to find that time of day that you can be available for practice on a regular basis. For many people, this is first thing in the morning, before anything else is scheduled or interferes. This is my own pattern. Because I like the restfulness of meditation, it is easy to get out of bed, and I like the lovely solitude and silence of being up before others. I put the coffee on (something to enjoy after meditation!) and sit, usually for 30 minutes. It sets the rest of my day on a good course.

Other people find they can make regular time during the lunch hour, or just as they finish work, or before they go to bed at night. There is no right time, just your right time.