I was teaching a class the other night, and after a guided meditation, one woman mentioned she found it hard because her mind was filled with many thoughts, and she kept getting lost in them. She had to continuously let go of those thoughts and refocus on her breathing. I reassured her that this is completely normal. In fact, the essence of meditation is noticing when you’re caught up in your thoughts and gently bringing your attention back to the present moment, whether it’s your breathing or something else.
Once you accept that this is part of meditation, you’re less likely to think you’re a “bad meditator” or that your practice isn’t going well because you get distracted. Distraction is actually a sign that your meditation is working as it should.
Years ago, I found it helpful to observe what I call the “thoughtspace,” which is the physical location where your thoughts seem to arise. You might not have considered that your thinking has a physical location, but if you pay attention right now as you talk to yourself internally, you’ll likely find that your thoughts emanate from a specific place, possibly inside your head. Monitoring this “thoughtspace” helps to reduce the frequency of your thoughts.
This practice can calm the mind, but I noticed there was a secondary thoughtspace. Over time, I realized that while I was observing my primary thoughtspace, there was a quieter, more subtle background whispering from this secondary thoughtspace. The primary thoughtspace would generate strong thoughts that could distract me and lead me into daydreams, while the secondary thoughtspace produced quieter, whispery thoughts that could coexist with my attentive breathing. However, these secondary thoughts could also become the main focus if I wasn’t careful.
You might want to try observing your thoughtspace and see if you experience the same. Having quieter thoughts from the secondary thoughtspace is better than more disruptive ones, but sometimes I like to calm my mind even further. To achieve this, I simultaneously observe my thoughtspace and what I call my “feelingspace.”
Feelingspace refers to the area in the body where feelings arise. The goal isn’t to stop feelings from arising but to observe them. Feelings can manifest in various parts of the body, often around the solar plexus, just below your sternum. However, focusing too narrowly on one area can feel restrictive, so I try to be aware of most of the chest and abdomen where feelings might appear. Within this broad awareness, I lightly focus on the area experiencing the most feelings at that time.
I’ve found that observing both thoughtspace and feelingspace simultaneously can quiet the mind even more. While the mind might not be entirely silent, periods of calm become longer.
Don’t get too attached to eliminating thoughts completely because it’s impossible to control their emergence. If you believe success means no thoughts arise, you’ll only get frustrated. Instead, focus on practicing and see what happens. It might take time to develop the skills, like including multiple parts of your experience in your conscious awareness simultaneously. This can be tricky if you habitually focus narrowly.
Positive outcomes include:
– Making an effort to observe both thoughtspace and feelingspace simultaneously.
– Improving your ability to do so.
– Becoming more aware of your thoughts without getting lost in them.
– Experiencing shorter periods of distraction.
– Noticing lighter and less significant thoughts.
– Encountering brief moments without thoughts.
– Becoming more aware of where feelings arise in your body.
– Noticing your feelings more.
– Observing the interaction between thoughts and feelings.
Any increase in awareness is beneficial. Any movement toward peace and freedom, however slight, is welcome. The goal is to be mindful of the body, feelings, and mind, focusing on the process rather than the outcomes.
You might want to try this approach yourself. I’ve generally found that observing two separate parts of my experience has a profoundly calming effect. It may work because thoughts and feelings interact with each other, which helps calm the mind.
Remember, having a single candle in a large room won’t light up the whole space. Appreciate the light you have rather than cursing the remaining darkness. Value any moments of calmness that arise, and by valuing calmness, you encourage it to grow.
Observing thoughtspace is fascinating, and I look forward to integrating it into my next meditation session. Take care and thank you.
I have a few questions from my personal experience. I understand the concept of feelingspace and can feel it in the form of subtle vibrations in various chakras during vipassana practice. But I’m struggling to grasp thoughtspace. The thoughts that arise during daily life or just after starting meditation are strong and not easily perceived mindfully. However, after a few minutes of Anapana, one becomes mindful of these thoughts. Is this what you mean by secondary thoughtspace? My doubt is whether you’re referring to thoughtspace as a physical location in the body or as part of the mental field?
Hi, Anurag. Thanks for writing. When I teach, I share my personal experiences rather than making authoritative statements. For me, thoughts seem to arise from a specific physical space inside my head. This might be an illusion, and the precise location could vary from person to person. Observing the area where thoughts appear to arise might help reduce the frequency of those thoughts, albeit mildly.
I’m not sure what you mean by your first question, but my experience involves strong thoughts that distract us and quieter, background thoughts. These secondary thoughts can shift into the forefront, becoming the main focus.
This is similar to what happens when we fall asleep, where a secondary thought can take over, leading to sleep. Richard Feynman described a similar experience, noting two simultaneous trains of thought — one obvious and the other background. This dual thought process happens during meditation and possibly throughout our waking life, causing sudden topic shifts.
My experience mirrors yours, Bodhi. There seem to be both “active participant” and “disinterested bystander” levels of thought. Strong feelings often manifest at the top of the belly, while sadness might show through facial expressions. I try to relax my facial muscles to let any underlying sadness surface and dissipate. This self-awareness helps me manage my emotions.
I often reach the state of quieter thoughts, analyzing or critiquing the ongoing meditation. This is progress compared to replaying events from the day. Striking a balance between accepting your meditation experience and making gentle improvements is important. Each experience offers something valuable, even if it’s just increased awareness of distractions or mental disarray.
Cheers mate,
Ed.
Thanks, I now understand what you mean. I too experience my awareness splitting into two streams, one engaged in thoughts and the other observing them.
Regarding dreams, I’ve had a few lucid dreams where this observing awareness is present, making the thoughts and images feel more real than in meditation.
Thanks for sharing your insights.
I tend to feel sadness in my solar plexus. I work with my chakras and thought this indicated a weakened third chakra. Now I see that it’s normal to feel emotions in the solar plexus. Thank you for this information.
Hey Gina. I’m surprised by how many Buddhist practitioners (not sure if you’re one) talk about chakras. The Buddha didn’t mention chakras, and I haven’t seen references to them in later Buddhist texts. Perhaps it’s more common in Tibetan Buddhism or picked up from yoga.
Aside from that, there’s a big nerve called the vagus that runs through your body, affecting your throat, heart, intestines, and other major organs. It plays a significant role in emotional expression, generating physical sensations. This helps explain emotional sensations like a lump in the throat or butterflies in the stomach. The chakra teaching might be an attempt to explain these normal sensations. Even if chakras don’t exist, focusing on them can help you become more aware of your feelings, which is very valuable.
Thanks for explaining the vagus nerve. This is useful information! Have you written more about it elsewhere?
I’ve written about the vagus nerve in relation to empathy and compassion in online courses, but those articles aren’t publicly available. A quick online search should yield many articles on the topic.
This information is very helpful! Thank you.
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