‘ To meditate does not mean to fight with a problem.
To meditate means to observe.’
~Thich Nhat Hanh
It’s no secret that I advocate meditation as a great way to start your day, deal with stress, live in the present and more.
But what many people don’t realize is that meditation is perhaps the most important habit if you want to change other habits.
Be Mindful of Negative Thoughts
How do you learn to be mindful of your negative thoughts? Simple: you practice. And how do you practice mindfulness of your thoughts? By far the best method I’ve found is meditation.
Let’s look at why meditation is so good for helping to change your habits, and how to form the meditation habit.
Meditation is practice for observing those thoughts, for being more mindful of them throughout the day.
I will give you several examples in my own life, though actually there are dozens:
But none of that would have been possible if I didn’t learn to watch, to be mindful of my urges and rationalizations and negative thoughts that told me I couldn’t do it.
How did I learn to watch and be mindful? Meditation. It is the one habit where all you’re doing is practicing this mindful observing, where everything else is stripped away in a beautiful simplicity that leaves just you and your thoughts and the present moment.
To meditate means to observe.’
~Thich Nhat Hanh
It’s no secret that I advocate meditation as a great way to start your day, deal with stress, live in the present and more.But what many people don’t realize is that meditation is perhaps the most important habit if you want to change other habits.
Be Mindful of Negative Thoughts
How do you learn to be mindful of your negative thoughts? Simple: you practice. And how do you practice mindfulness of your thoughts? By far the best method I’ve found is meditation.
Let’s look at why meditation is so good for helping to change your habits, and how to form the meditation habit.
How Meditation Helps Habits
When we are unaware of our thoughts and urges, which arise in the back of our mind mostly unnoticed, they have a power over us. We are unable to change if these unbidden thoughts control us. But when we learn to observe them, we can then release their power over us.Meditation is practice for observing those thoughts, for being more mindful of them throughout the day.
I will give you several examples in my own life, though actually there are dozens:
- When I quit smoking, I would get an urge to take just one drag on a cigarette, and it would get so strong I had a hard time beating it. At the same time, I had these rationalizing thoughts: “It’s OK to smoke just one — one cigarette doesn’t hurt you”, or “Why are you making yourself suffer like this? It’s not worth it!” And those thoughts and urges would have beat me if I let them, but I watched them. I didn’t act, I just watched. And the would rise and crest and then fade, and I would be OK.
- When I started running, I wanted to stop when things got uncomfortable. But I learned that it was just a scared part of my mind that wanted to stop, a part of me that shied away from discomfort. I would watch that scared part of me, that makes me quit anything hard, and not let it control me.
- When I write, I often get the urge to go do something else. When this urge goes unnoticed, I just act on it, and procrastinate. When I am mindful of this urge (and the accompanying rationalizations that come if I don’t act on the urge), then I can pause and watch the urge and let it go, and return to the writing.
But none of that would have been possible if I didn’t learn to watch, to be mindful of my urges and rationalizations and negative thoughts that told me I couldn’t do it.
How did I learn to watch and be mindful? Meditation. It is the one habit where all you’re doing is practicing this mindful observing, where everything else is stripped away in a beautiful simplicity that leaves just you and your thoughts and the present moment.
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