{"id":4726,"date":"2021-02-03T20:32:26","date_gmt":"2021-02-03T20:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloomsoup.com\/?p=4726"},"modified":"2021-09-19T15:09:05","modified_gmt":"2021-09-19T15:09:05","slug":"what-to-think-about-when-meditating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bloomsoup.com\/what-to-think-about-when-meditating\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Think About When Meditating"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Wondering what to think about when meditating? You&#8217;re not alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sitting in a room with just your own thoughts for company is an activity seldom performed in our hyperconnected reality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the benefits of simply downing our mental tools and disconnecting daily can&#8217;t be underestimated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s investigate what you can expect when you begin this practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Misconceptions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Upon beginning a regular <a href=\"https:\/\/bloomsoup.com\/mindful-awareness\/\">mindfulness ritual<\/a>, many people question their approach and whether they&#8217;re &#8216;doing it right&#8217;. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are two common misconceptions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Beginners feel like they&#8217;re not thinking about the right thing, because they don&#8217;t feel any immediate, tangible reward from the practice.<\/li><li>A completely clear mind is compulsory and if intrusive thoughts are present, we&#8217;ve failed somehow. This is far from the truth.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Firstly, our minds naturally generate thoughts of their own accord and it&#8217;s unnecessary to stop them. The presence of thought doesn&#8217;t indicate any flaw in our approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Secondly, even longstanding meditators experience thought and emotion during their practice. However, they don&#8217;t &#8216;try&#8217; to direct, manage or funnel this thought towards a particular topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What to think about when meditating<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In short, we shouldn&#8217;t be attempting to think of anything when meditating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The practice, at it&#8217;s essence, is about non-doing. If thoughts arise, we welcome them. If they don&#8217;t, that too is an experience to be observed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The primary point here to understand is the difference between thought and attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bloomsoup.com\/meditation\/\">During meditation<\/a> we should pay attention to our minds. However, increasing awareness in this way is very different from aiming thought at a particular object.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rather than assuming the active role of the thinker and focusing its mental laser beam on a particular object, while meditating, we step back and become the observer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Adopting this spectator position allows us to gain psychological distance, a vantage point from which we can view the contents of our mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As thoughts arise unbidden, rather than conflating them with our identity, we recognise they&#8217;re merely one facet of consciousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So worry not about what to think about when meditating. Instead, simply tap into attention to observe whatever arrives, moment to moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Transcend the minutia of the mind by becoming awareness itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sitting in a room with just your own thoughts for company is an activity seldom performed in our hyperconnected reality. <\/p>\n<p>However, the benefits of simply downing our mental tools and disconnecting daily can&#8217;t be underestimated. <\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s investigate what you can expect when you begin this practice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4728,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What to Think About When Meditating | Bloomsoup<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wondering what to think about when meditating? 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