Most of the time we are functioning at an automatic level. We daydream or our thoughts are on the past: what occurred or what we think we should have done; or on the future: what we think we are going to do, fantasising or planning.
As a general rule, people whose thoughts are too much in the past are prone to depression and those whose thoughts are too much in the future are prone to anxiety.
If you think back to an event in your past you were probably not really present then, you were thinking about the past or the future, so in one sense you never really live because even your memories are made up from experiences that you were not really conscious of.
Take a number from zero to ten. Zero is a completely clear mind with no thoughts, ten is a mind so full of thoughts you couldn’t get another one in. Where are you on this scale?
This is very good exercise to enable you to detach from your thoughts and slow the mind down. Whenever you do this you are, as it were, standing outside of your thoughts. To observe your thoughts you have to detach yourself from them. You will also become aware of how busy your mind is, and usually for no obvious reason.
In meditation we place great emphasis on breathing. There are a number of reasons for this. When you become aware of your breathing you are in the moment, your thoughts are not caught up in the past or the future. Also, breathing bridges the gap between body functions that are automatic, such as heartbeat, digestive processes and so on, and those that are conscious, such as moving a limb. Usually breathing is automatic until we become aware of it. The same applies to blinking and swallowing.
It’s been said that all diseases are, in one sense, diseases of the mind. Although this is a gross simplification it is certainly true that developing a healthy mind will enhance the body’s natural immune system and the first step is to reign in the spurious thoughts that distract you.
