Labeling Thoughts as Thinking
Lesson 4 from: FAST CLASS: Meditation for Everyday LifeDavid Nichtern
Labeling Thoughts as Thinking
Lesson 4 from: FAST CLASS: Meditation for Everyday LifeDavid Nichtern
Lessons
Introduction - Why Meditate?
15:12 2How to Meditate - Taking Your Seat
12:59 3Placing Attention on Breath
04:32 4Labeling Thoughts as Thinking
06:35 5How to Meditate - Leaving Some Space
12:19 6Bringing Meditation Into Everyday Life
11:30 7Digging Into the Practice Part 2
05:51 8Obstacles Along the Way
08:29Obstacles Along the Way Part 2
08:59 10Body, Emotions, Mind, Stress, Anxiety
26:56 11Body, Emotions, Mind, Stress, Anxiety Part 2
06:28 12The True Meaning of Success
18:28 13The True Meaning of Success Part 2
03:40 14Developing Compassion for Ourselves & Others
04:39 15Compassion for Ourselves & Others Part 2
29:34 16Compassion and Mindfulness
26:27 17Compassion and Mindfulness Part 2
08:11 18Happiness and Joy
18:15 19Happiness and Joy Part 2
04:06 20How to Go Forward
10:59 21How to Go Forward Part 2
07:31Lesson Info
Labeling Thoughts as Thinking
we're adding now a third step to the uh, to the practice, which completes your understanding this shaman to meditation. This mindfulness meditation, which is the third step is called labelling thoughts as thinking. Labelling. So step one, take your seat step to bring your attention to the breath going in and out. And step three is what happens when you notice your mind is wandering off. And this is very important to look at this because I want to say a few things. One is you're not trying to shut that down. Everybody makes that mistake. Uh, if only there was a valve, I could turn, I would crank it, you know, and and achieve peace and quiet by suppressing the mind and in this particular type of practice that's not necessary and you can't do it. It's literally almost physically impossible to shut up in that way. You know, like, you know, it's like a kid who you know the mother says shut up and you go, you know, there's something still that's going to want to come out. So we don't look at...
that part of our mind is bad. This is very revolutionary here. In fact, we want to know more about it. We want to look at it as it arises and what the nature of it is. But we don't want to indulge it. It's like a kid, you don't want to indulge the kid, you say, okay, that's okay. And so we take a nonjudgmental attitude towards that very unbiased, open attitude towards that kind of play of the mind that those thoughts that are coming and going, but we do notice them and label them thinking so, uh, and then we come back to the breath. So this is an extra final kind of step in the process. This is all there is to it for right now, you don't need to know about counting or any of those kind of extra details are seeing colors. Whirling wheels, you know, like that pin wheel in the sky or flashes of light. Just those things if they happen, they just come and go, that's not what we're doing here. We're paying attention to our breath, we're very grounded, very present. And then our mind goes, I think I got a great idea here. You know, I think what I'll do is this company is pretty good. I'll start my own creative live company, you know? Yeah, I had an idea for and it could be very meditative. We'll talk about, I think mine will just be all about meditation and well being and stuff like that. And I know some friends who are and then you go, there's a little gap and a little click of awareness. You go, oops, and you label it thinking, say the word quietly to yourself, thinking come back to the breath, then you're back with okay good, I get it. So for those of you here and those of you um in the online gathering, if you could again one take your seat and that's just give me just a sense of settling yourself where you are. Yeah. And then to what's number two, well somebody else placement of attention on the breath so you're breathing. But you're also being aware of the breath, mindful of the breath going in and out. And then 3rd step is when you notice your attention is not on the breath and you're thinking about something else. Simply identify that by saying the word, thinking quietly to yourself and bring your attention back to the breath, back to the awareness of the breath. So let's try that for five minutes again. This will be a silent meditation, but everybody now knows what we're doing. So please, if you're at home try this with us, don't use this as a chance to go get the coffee break. Okay, this is the meat and potatoes of the, of the workshop. So you might want to just stretch your legs or body a little bit. Yeah, this is kind of where the idea being friendly to yourself comes into play really nicely. And if you're at home and doing this, you can actually get up and stretch for a moment. Sometimes the twist is good. You know, just getting this angle going back bend can be good. Just shake it out whatever you like, you know. Mm So I want to read you something very brief. That is a quote that a friend sent to me and the president being quoted as tibetan ST actually great meditation teacher from 1000 years ago. So if you think, you know, we're doing something uh kind of unprecedented, it's not, there's a long lineage in history of people just like us working with this, but this is kind of a good quote from miller rapper who's a famous tibetan yogi that a lot of, a lot of people would have quoted and he was considered to be, you know, a fully enlightened person by the end of it and a mess when he started by the way, which is good news for us, I think, you know, so he said when you run after your thoughts, you're like a dog chasing a stick every time I stick is thrown, you run after it instead be like a lion who, rather than chasing after the stick, turns to face the thrower, one only throws a stick at a lion once. So the, so the idea of following every thought which is our habit, we just follow every thought like a little puppy like you know where is this one gonna take me? And the idea of beginning to come back to the mind that is throwing the stick and resting, rooting your awareness more. This is very powerful. So this is really kind of the practice that we're doing. Um and the shaman to that's the full thing. One take your seat to bring your awareness to the breath. And three, when you notice the thinking, label it thinking, bring your awareness back to the breath.
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