Hi Daphane,
I appreciate you and thank you for your genuine question. I am picturing you sitting there and unable to be still with your thoughts... The first part of meditation is to empty the mind of thoughts, yes Julia, I've been doing this for awhile and that is what isn't happening. The thoughts keep coming. Yes, I understand.
You are experiencing the initial stages of meditating. How? You are very aware of having alot of thoughts and they aren't stopping are they?. Truth. Before this, you were having all these thoughts and were not even aware that you were. Now, you are 'seeing' just how many you are capable of juggling. You are making 'head way' Progress in your even being aware of all these thoughts. Most remain in autopilot and just let them continue to run without thinking about them. It begins to make sense, the saying 'scattered brained' or 'monkey minded' chatter. I am not calling you names here Daphane, I am relating with you on this. I too went through this very same process. Once I became aware of just how much noise or how many voices were in my head (a Sybil moment), my 'prayer' became 'HELP!! Serenity Now!' Stop the racket!!
This is your opportunity to keep up with them (identify them) by getting a blank piece of paper ( a notebook or journal) and jotting down the thoughts you are experiencing. I will humorously say, just try and keep up!! This is stream writing because you won't have an opportunity to focus so much on all of them right now, you'll just be writing fast and furiously to keep up with them. The ones you miss, let go, trust me, if they want to be heard they'll show up again.
Now, give it a rest and go about your day. Just keep doing this and making this a habit. And you will most likely want to go over what you have written, take a peek at what you wrote. Certain thoughts will pop out at you after awhile and then you will begin to recognize ones that seem to repeat, perhaps a different name or scenario yet a familiar association of emotions related to these thoughts. Hmmm... a dinging within yet not quite clear enough to make it out... It's coming.
You are releasing and as you go with the flow of chatter, the deeper you will access you deeper thoughts. Patience is a biggie here. Why? Well, I don't know what 'age' you are playing in your current movie however it may have taken you awhile of allowing these thoughts to run on autopilot, free reign and they are not going to go graciously at first. They are all fighting to keep a hold of their place in your mind. Just keep doing this... it becomes more and more clear.
Once certain thoughts begin to stand out, ask to be shown which one is affecting you the most right now, what is the message in this or these thoughts you are holding on a (person, place or circumstance) and say thank you for showing me and go about your day truly. You will now begin to see how well you leave it there. Truth. How? You'll find yourself arguing and wrestling with this or these thoughts and catch yourself more and more at it and begin to realize how much you tend to hold onto it by picking it back up and taking over the how to of fixing it. Yes. It's hard to let go of control. Our hands have been molded over the faux pearl for so long that it takes awhile to stretch the hand back to open position and let the blood flow back in.
Now, you begin to practice the art of handing it over and really learning to Let Go or unlearning how to hold onto it. As you go through this step, you will find that you 'want' more time to yourself as the 'responses' show up, to find out more. I want more quiet space to myself because the Energy of others is distracting to your desire for experiencing this peace. You will get to the place where this is not experienced as much and then arrive at the place where your Peace is intact and not easily removed.
Taking yourself out of your home environment and into Nature is very helpful in this practice. Why? Because you have removed yourself from your 'comfort' zone and can make excuses easier to not have time to do this due to your being loving to tend to others nature. Make sense? Now, outside of you comfort zone, you will be left alone unless you invite someone into it. Do. The UnSeen ONE. Talk to this ONE like you were talking face to face with me. You don't have to change your voice or position to do this. Just show up and talk like you always do. You can stream your conversation in your blank page notebook and when you receive your InSights (aha's) write them down.
I InCourage ones to date the entry so that when the response comes and IT does, you can enter it next to the original entry with a different colored pen or pencil or a bold star. As you review your journal will begin to see how you are indeed answered and this will build your faith and trust in your Inner Self's care for you and your Inner state of Being will grow quieter. That is what Faith and Trust does. Gives you Peace and Knowing Awareness that All is Well and will be.
Sounds hokey Daphane. We make it way too hard. I meditate while washing dishes, showering, driving, making a meal, gardening, and on and on. This is after 30 years of being a 'student'. I have shared the process with you because the way I was shown can be done by anyone anywhere.
I trust these practicals will benefit you should you decide to try them. We are very reluctant to give up our habits, to change so be patient with yourself in the process. You will have days, weeks and even months maybe a year or so of not doing these things yet when you return to them, the benefits will be recognized immediately and more so than when you first began to apply them. Why is this? Because we are creatures of habit Daphane and sometimes we have to be really 'bad' at something to become very 'good' at something. Your awareness will shift after an absence. It becomes more pronounced this idea of meditating.
For now, don't just sit there, write those thoughts down, observe how you feel once you do this. It is like getting a load off your chest or out of your head...
Let me know how you are doing and I am here as all others to come alongside and give you a HIGH FIVE that you are indeed right where you are meant to be in the process of getting In Touch with your In TO I in motion. Intuition.
Oh, will you be so kind as to point me to the specific article that I posted in the forums here that refered to this cd? It's not ringing a bell here... much appreciated.
Love and Blessings of Peace,
Julia
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