Watch Your Thoughts!

By: Shabnam Khan -Family Counsellor
The idea of watching your thoughts might sound odd at first, but you will soon see that this is a very accurate description of a very useful tool. Once you get the hang of watching your thoughts, it will become one of the most powerful tools available to you. This technique has been around for as long as people have been meditating. Watching your thoughts is a small change that offers you the amazing opportunity to stop the wheels from turning every second and gain critical perspective. The payoff will change your life for good.
Imagine going to the theatre to watch a movie. You can be totally immersed in the movie and part of you is totally detached. The movie may not be of your in-terest and you are detached enough to know that the movie is just a movie. You are watching it but your attention is not there! When you start watching your thoughts as you would a movie, this same detachment allows you to witness the many thoughts that occur in your brain, but without being overcome by these thoughts.
What you come to realize is that you have an infinite number of thoughts each day, and many needs your attention simultaneously. “It’s as if one is yelling out to you, “Pay attention to me,” while another is saying, “No, pay attention to me.” This realization can be frightening. The good news, however, is that these are only thoughts! As you watch, thought after thought enters your mind. You realize that you can quiet the inner noise they make. This is where the importance of detachment comes in.
Over time and with little practice, you can get to the point where you treat your own thoughts much like the movie. You can be totally responsive to them, yet detached enough to keep your bearings and not allow your thoughts to drive you nuts. Every-day we must deal with hundreds of competing thoughts. The small change we can make is to stop trying to engage every thought that pops into our mind and stop try-ing to figure out every drama in our mind.
The next time you become agitated, worried or simply unable to focus, step back and watch your thoughts. The results will amaze you. With just this subtle shift, you can move from stress to uncertainty & to resolution, calm and joy!!!
info:shabnam@skcounselling.ca