Don’t second-guess yourself — those busy thoughts that arise in your mind when you’re meditating are good things. Everyone goes through this when they meditate. Everyone. You might think that a mind that won’t calm down is a lost cause when it comes to meditation, but you’re wrong. I wanted to offer some consolation and encouragement for those who get discouraged by their meditation practice, wrongly assuming that it isn’t working. I’m going to explain how to detox your mind with meditation.
You may think your meditation practice “isn’t working” when it’s working better than ever.
If you’re struggling to meditate because there are ‘too many thoughts’ and you are so caught up in them, this is actually a sign that you’re on the right track.
Your mind needs to move through the thoughts that are lingering at the forefront in order to finally find stillness. This can be a long journey depending on the number of thoughts that need to be processed. The detoxification in your mind may require more time and effort. It can also be affected by your ability to cut through the ego-mind to stillness.
We all have a mind with thoughts fluttering around in it. It’s human. Don’t deny your humanity in search for something beyond. You can’t transcend by rejecting basic traits of yourself. You must embrace them.
Any meditation practice will include a phase of clearing, and you have to start somewhere. You can’t be expected to find enlightenment on the first attempt.
Thoughts and Emotions in Meditation are Signs of Detoxification
Your mind is full of emotions and thoughts on a daily basis, and not all of them are properly processed at the time they first show up.
Some of them get stuffed into a back corner of the mind and aren’t fully dealt with. These are likely the thoughts and emotions that come back to haunt you when you are meditating.
Contrary to what most people believe when they begin to meditate, this is a good thing. It’s a gift to be able to move through the baggage that has been sitting too long within us. Don’t waste that.
Don’t give up when you’re just getting started.
As you meditate, you’ll get better and better at processing your potential baggage, and then you’ll eventually find that stillness that you crave.
As events arise, you will effortlessly acknowledge, understand, and digest them so that nothing sits in storage in your mind. You’ll be baggage-free!
You’ll get so good at it that clearing away thoughts and emotions will become second nature in your daily life.
Process the Thoughts and Emotions Thoroughly
There is an important caveat that ought to be mentioned here. You can’t just let the same thoughts and feelings replay over and over in your mind. You have to process them.
How do you achieve this? Well, you need to face them head-on and acknowledge why they are there. Don’t turn away or push them into the far reaches of your mind, because they will only bubble up again at a later date.
You have to make peace with your scary thoughts.
Settle things with them. Understand why a feeling is still coming to you, why certain situations trigger certain responses in you, and how your own mind works. The more you meditate, the easier this will get. But no one is saying that it’s easy starting out.
A great amount of self-reflection is required here.
You can’t expect to get to a higher state of consciousness or free yourself from daily suffering by allowing the same thoughts and emotions to stick around in you. They need to be digested.
Enlightenment is Possible
Everyone on this planet has the ability to reach enlightenment. There is no one who is more privileged in their access to blissful living than anyone else. We are all equally able to learn to meditate and go beyond this role we are playing in this life.
It’s incredibly rewarding to pursue this — absolutely worth it. To find inner peace is the greatest goal anyone could have.
I secretly think that everyone’s goal is to find inner peace, but most people don’t think about it very much.
Our souls are simply calling on us to reach that higher state of mind all the time.
There are some for whom meditation comes more easily, and I personally think this is because they practiced a ton in a previous life. So, why not make use of the time we have in this life to try to reach further into the realms of enlightenment?
Hi, I’m Emily. I write about wellness, consciousness, and existence, and I help others in their healing journeys through spirituality, Ayurveda, and meditation. I have a graduate degree in philosophy and I’ve lived around the world. The divine in me recognizes the divine in you.
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