Member-only story
How to meditate on thought when your mental health is a challenge
People with mental health challenges have extra wrinkles in the thinking process, but they can still meditate on thought. Mental health symptoms add an extra layer or filter that may lead to depressed, anxious, obsessive, recurring, or leaden thoughts. Those with mental health issues work with a mind that is extra active, extra inactive, or both.
All minds are tricky. It’s just a matter of degree.
Depending on how you experience thoughts, thinking is either a seductive, slippery slope with a sticky trap at the bottom or a window into the nature of consciousness. This is why it’s important, particularly if you have such issues, to have guidance, a meditation teacher and/or therapist to help you navigate these waters.
Be clear about the nature of thought. The human mind uses thought to model reality, but thoughts are not reality itself. We are not our thoughts, and we don’t have to believe everything we think. Some thoughts are useful. Some are not. No need to quiet the mind. We let it quiet itself. We can select thoughts as our object for movement practice the same way we use body sensations. While thoughts may be more seductive and trickier, once you’ve built stronger concentration skills, thoughts offer insight into everyday experience.
All minds are…
