One of the most difficult things to deal with while meditating is thoughts.    You think about 60,000 thoughts a day, and you can’t just turn them off when you want to. Most of these thoughts are not productive.  They are generally self-doubt, worry, or the rehashing of past events or conversations, writing an entire story in your mind.  Each of us will have our own top ten that often show up as soon as we sit and try to quiet our minds.

How do you deal with the thoughts during meditation?

First, remember you can not stop your thoughts, and this is not the goal of meditation.  Meditation is recognizing that the thought is there and then letting it go.  The goal is learning to notice when you have gone off with a thought and turn your attention back to a sense object, or anchor, like the sound or sensation of your breath.

The unproductive top ten may be more difficult to unstick.  Recognize that all thoughts are transient energy moving through your mind.  All thoughts, even the difficult ones, will be created, will move through your mind, and eventually, even they will move through.   As soon as you notice your mind is playing one of these thoughts, acknowledge it, you can even give it a name, like Wanda Worry.  Don’t try to immediately push it out, say hello, maybe notice any sensations in the body associated with the thought, like tightness in the chest, or muscular tension.  Be curious, allow the thought and sensations to move through and move on.   

Another way to work with thoughts is to put distance between you and your thought.  You might imagine thoughts as clouds, or soap bubbles that float through your mind.  You can watch and observe them without engaging with them.

If any thought is too difficult to handle, you can always walk away from the meditation, you don’t need to force yourself to work with painful thoughts or emotions.