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Dealing with negative mind chatter.

Pollyanna83Pollyanna83 Explorer
edited August 2013 in Meditation
How can I positvely deal with a lot of negative mind chatter?? Ive been practicing a few years now and meditate regulalry but still feel unsettled and unclear. It seems the more i meditate, the more confusion I feel about myself and my life. I do have beautiful moments of clarity and peace, but they seem so rare and fleeting when compared to the chaos im usually up against.

Comments

  • As you wipe the mirror clean, the little specks of dust and smears become more aggravating...

    just a part of the process, no worries, keep polishing
    SilouanPollyanna83karmablues
  • ZeroZero Veteran


    How can I positvely deal with a lot of negative mind chatter??

    What kind of negative mind chatter and when does it arise?
  • How can I positvely deal with a lot of negative mind chatter
    You could learn 'reframing' from Neuro Linguistc Programming. Changing the way you use language externally will alter your inner dialogue.
    What is the cause of clarity and peace?
  • The chatter in itself is harmless so long as you let it go and don't obsess over a particular train of thought. This is harder to do than it sounds because we develop habits over many years which are difficult to break.

    But noticing the chatter is an important step in undermining its power. Think of it as waves lapping on a shore.
    Jeffreykarmablues
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran

    How can I positvely deal with a lot of negative mind chatter??

    As Poptart says, being mindful of these this stuff is a step forward. I'm not sure what you mean by negative mind chatter, but have you tried metta bhavana ( loving kindness ) meditation?
  • I think just let the chatter be there and find the one who is watching the chatter. Just say "oh theres the chatter... hi chatter"

    Milarepa sat in a cave looking at the wall and thinking of a demon. Eventually after thinking so long a demon actually appeared. So he was in a pickle and the thing he did that helped was to make the demon a teacher. See if you can make the negative chatter into a teacher by showing you how to 'just observe' thoughts. In this case they are negative thoughts. They can't hurt you because you are not the thought unless you identify with a 'me' who is being 'oppressed'. By labeling them 'just thoughts' all of the sudden it isn't you versus them.
    FullCircle
  • aMattaMatt Veteran
    Pollyanna,

    Do you happen to also do metta practice? Metta is great for agitation, and perhaps the discursive thoughts are bouncing with afflictive emotions. Ajahn Brahm has a great guided meditation specifically for generating metta:



    With warmth,
    Matt
    karmablues
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