13/10/2025
A student showed up to meditation class last week. He had been meditating using a popular app for a couple of years, but thought it would be helpful to get some instruction from a 'real' meditation teacher.
Like many, he was tired of his tendency to overthink, and craved some mental quiet, especially at the end of the working day. Despite diligent daily use of the app, this quiet had remained elusive.
He came to class with the expectation that meditation would help him to stop thinking so much, and that he should divert his attention away from thoughts in order to achieve that goal. He employed a range of techniques with this outcome in mind, but admitted that they usually left him feeling agitated, and / or frustrated.
In class we discussed the fact that the brain is a 'thinking machine' and that trying to stop it doing its job would be akin to trying to stop the eyes from seeing. We also pointed out that by considering thoughts to be 'distractions', he was inadvertently teaching his brain to be on high alert for them (thereby preventing his nervous system from relaxing).
We then did a meditation in which I suggested he make no effort at all to relax, or to calm his mind, or to try to focus on the breath. I also recommended that he allow his thoughts to be a natural and welcome part of the process.
Ten minutes later he reported that he'd just had the most relaxing meditation of his life!
