Day 6 · Thoughts
Let Them Be
Thoughts come. Let them be. Then just sit.
Thoughts come. That is normal. You know to leave the breath alone. Today the instruction is what to do with thinking. Which is: not much.
Form. Same seat. Same posture. Breath left alone.
Mindset. Thoughts come. Let them be. Do not chase. Do not fight. Come back to the seat.
Thoughts need some time and space to settle. Offer yourself about 5 to 10 minutes of meditation in this session.
Let Them Be
Thoughts come. That is sitting, not a mistake. You are not collecting a quieter mind. You are sitting while the mind does what minds do.
Do not chase the story. Do not fight the next thought as if the sit were a contest. Do not try to empty the mind. Empty is just another idea.
When you notice you are thinking, if it helps you can say “thinking” in your mind. Just notice that you are thinking.
And then you can celebrate a little even. Because, after all, you noticed that you are thinking, which is good, and now you can just return to the seat.
You do not follow the thought, and you do not manufacture a blank. You sit. When a thought is here, it is here. When it goes, it goes. The noticing is enough.
When you notice you have gone with a story, come back to the posture. The return is the practice. No blame. No scolding. Just return to the seat.
Try It in the Day
Just like you can practice a Present Return on the breath, so can you on thoughts. Use the same 1-minute present return technique and observe your thoughts. When you notice you are thinking, return to where you feel the breath in the body. When you try it, I am convinced that you will find a whole lot of thinking can happen in the span of 6 breaths.
Thank you for sitting. Sitting today is the whole thing. You did it. Congratulate yourself! No regrets about the past. No plans for the future. This is it.
