How do we work with our thoughts?

It is said that the first step towards change is awareness. With that in mind, let’s take a look at our thoughts. How do we actually work with our thoughts? Here’s a way we can begin this process with gentle awareness.

1.) Notice your thoughts. What are they saying?

2.) Notice that the thoughts create a feeling inside of you.

3.) Notice when that feeling occurs there is a tendency for more thoughts of a similar nature – which then reinforce the feeling. (Example: A worry thought creates an anxious feeling, which leads to more worried thinking and a continued or even more elevated experience of anxiety).

Now that we are aware of this, what do we do?

The answer is not to try and forcefully stop thinking negative thoughts. The mind brings to the surface everything we have stored inside us from all of the experiences we have had in life. This is actually a good thing. It is giving us an opportunity to release that stored energy instead of keeping it inside us where it gets triggered time and time again. The way out is to start to realize when a thought occurs you have a decision to make. You are the one watching your thoughts. From the role of the observer, you can be more objective.

The only way out of this is to let your thoughts come up and to stay in the seat of observation. You don’t act on the thought nor do you repress it. This takes on a very deep practice in our life. Meeting each moment as an opportunity to let go of our ego reactions and stored pain puts us on the path to true freedom.

By working with life in this way, our spiritual practice becomes each moment in front of us. The present moment becomes our teacher, savior and path to transformation. We are able to let our stored patterns rise up and choose to see they do not have the power to make us act from that lower energy. We get to decide. We can observe and watch it hit our stuff and then relax and let go. The more we do this, the more peaceful our life and our minds become. 

Not because we are trying to be positive or attract good things, but because we realize we already have everything we need. Peace, joy, and serenity is our natural state when we stop letting ourselves get disturbed by our thoughts. The mind produces thoughts. We can stop trying to manipulate the mind into only thinking the thoughts we want and pushing away the thoughts we don’t want. Mind control doesn’t work and it is not the answer, it creates more resistance.

We make the focus observing our reaction to the thoughts. That is where the power lies. If we stay centered and do not get sucked into believing our thoughts then a natural result of that is the negative thoughts lessen. We feel more peaceful. Not because we attracted more peace. Because we became peaceful; and peacefulness is our natural state when we stop letting our thoughts disturb us. The Law of Attraction is superseded by the Law of Vibration. We are peaceful because vibrationally we are radiating peace. In that sense, we can have anything we are willing to become.