When you sit down to meditate, you’ll likely notice the mind is a very busy place. You’ll also likely notice unpleasant thoughts and a general inability to settle the mind.
This DOES NOT mean you’re doing it wrong.
This is part of the process of training the mind, to become more aware and ready for learning how to work with the experiences of emotional discomfort IN THE BODY.
Over time, you’ll get more skillful in noticing when the mind is distracted, when your body is settled, or when it’s dysregulated.
- You’ll get more skilled at learning to work with the discomfort of when you have to give or receive feedback.
- You’ll get more skilled at noticing when you’re procrastinating and ways to motivate yourself.
- You’ll get more skilled at noticing and interrupting the habit of always imagining the worst-case scenario.
- You’ll get more skilled at changing unhelpful thinking patterns such as, “I’m not good enough.”
Initially, it can feel as though your mind is an unpleasant place to hang out in, like the mud at the bottom of a lake but through regular practice, you get to see that beauty and stillness can arise from it, like a lotus flower.