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Tools for Calming Mental Activity

Good morning again. For those of you on YouTube who weren't there at 6:45 this morning, I'm Diana Clark. Gil will be back tomorrow at 7:00 California time; he's spending some time with his family this morning.

I would like to say a few words about Anapanasati^[1] practice, mindfulness of breathing, that Gil has been doing on these mornings. As many of you know, there are sixteen steps, and Gil has been through the first half, the first eight. There is a number of ways in which we might understand all these steps and the organization of them.

One way is that this is a progression of getting to know one aspect of our experience: the body and the mind. After becoming familiar with it and being with it, there is some letting go, some releasing of that aspect of experience when the time is right. It doesn't have to be in a hurry; we just take our time, allowing the experience to perhaps melt or soften as best we can.

We started with noticing the physical aspect of our experience—breathing. This breathing accompanies us through all the other explorations. Just in the same way that when we're on a pilgrimage we keep walking one step after another, here it is one breath after another. After breathing, there is expanding to include the whole body and the bodily sensations. Of course, breath is occurring within a body, so we expand the awareness to include the body. In this, we also include any sense of contentment, any sense of okayness, or any pleasant sensations associated with this bodily experience. We allow those to be a support as we continue on our pilgrimage, so to speak.

Tuning into Mental Activity

Then we turn towards the mental aspect of our experience, including the physical sensations that are associated with thinking, or whatever mental activity we might be having. Sometimes the physical aspect of the mental experience is really subtle. Without getting tangled up and trying to figure it out, we might just be with the experience without being identified with or lost in it. In some ways, it is a little bit of a pulling back from our thinking. Of course, we notice how our judging and our evaluation of our experience is yet one more mental activity. We might feel how that feels—the judging, the pushing, the pulling, wanting and not wanting, thinking, this is desirable, not desirable.

To help support experiencing mental activities, it can be a stepping back of some sort. It is kind of a pulling back a little bit and knowing what is taking place rather than being fully immersed in it. Mental activity deserves our attention. Sometimes we might have the idea that we just have to get rid of it, but it deserves our attention because when unattended, it is often running our lives without our even knowing it.

After becoming familiar with mental activity, there can be a calming, softening, or relaxing of that mental activity. Notice that I'm not saying we have to eliminate, eradicate, or exterminate the mental activity. We are just allowing it to quiet.

Tools for Calming the Mind

I will say a few words about what can be some supports for this. One is that the earlier steps in Anapanasati—being with the bodily sensations and allowing some ease or relaxation of those sensations—can be a tremendous support for calming the mental activity. If we find ourselves really caught up and busy with thinking, we can just incline the mind towards the physical experience, including the physical experience of thinking. Grounding our awareness in the present moment, in the embodied presence that we have right now, is one way.

This also includes being aware of some of the pleasant sensations we might be having. There might be some ease with the breath or some smoothness of the breath. There also might be some vague, diffuse experiences of just some contentment or okayness. Maybe we can incline the mind in that direction. Tuning into that aspect of ease can also be a support for calming the mental activities.

Rather than feeling like we have to get rid of our thoughts, make them slow down, go away, or whatever ideas we might have, maybe we can place our emphasis on a gentle inquiry: Is this helpful, or is it unhelpful? Is it helpful in promoting a sense of ease, freedom, and peace? Am I learning something here? Is this valuable? Or is there a feeling that I'm just stuck, going around and around, and there is no sense of potential learning, freedom, or ease? That might be another way to work with mental activity. We shift away from it has to be different towards is this helpful? Sometimes the answer to that can bring a different reaction or response to our mental activity, which might allow that mental activity to unfold in a way that is helpful.

Another thing that we might do is to just do a gentle inquiry into what's fueling this thinking. There might be an emotion. Just like before the guided meditation, I talked about how when we're on a pilgrimage, there might be some barking dogs. One way to be with them is just to show them our open hands and show them that we're safe for them. Is there a way in which we can be safe for our emotions to be expressed, to show up? Can we, in some way, listen deeply to ourselves and allow the emotion to arise without getting tangled up in thinking that it has to be otherwise or it has to be different? Can we just create the space for our emotional experience? That might also soften some of the mental activity, as we soften the fuel—what is supporting that mental activity.

Sometimes it can be skillful to replace unhelpful thoughts with other mental activities that are more helpful, to intentionally do something else. An example might be to do some loving-kindness^[2] practice. If we feel that we're filled with rage, ill will, thoughts of harming, or hostility in a way that is not helpful or healthy, or we just feel like we're lost in it, we can do some loving-kindness practice. We do this in whichever way is easiest. We do not necessarily direct it towards the object for which we have hostility, but just incline the mind towards where it is easy, with a lovable being, allowing the mind to calm down and settle with this loving-kindness. So, we might replace uncomfortable or unhelpful thoughts with some other thoughts.

Another way might be to use our imagination. Sometimes we do this in guided meditations; maybe you do it yourself. You might imagine the wings of a bird flapping. Or maybe ice skaters—they skate, skate, skate, and then glide, and you feel into the glide. Or maybe use the imagination of taking off an itchy, scratchy sweater and instead putting on your favorite t-shirt. There might be some skillful ways in which we can replace some of our thinking. Can we do this while being aware of the breath, all the while allowing the breath to accompany us?

The last thing I will say is there might also be an opportunity to say to some thoughts, to some mental activity, No. I'll work with this later, after meditation. Right now, I'm going to be with the sensations of breathing.

Reflections

I offer these as some tools that might be helpful as we're practicing meditation. As tools, if they're not helpful, we don't use them.

With a sincere wish that you are being with the sensations of breathing with your practice and your meditations, may they be a source of support, of ease, peace, and freedom in your life and in the lives of others. Thank you.