Circumstances for learning this attention exercise
Experiencing lots of mental chatter
Navigating a challenging situation without an apparent resolution
Trying to unwind after a day of mentally taxing work
What is the biggest obstacle to consistently practicing mindfulness over enough time for its impact to reveal itself?
Typical responses I hear are not having enough time to practice, dozing off when you do, and having a mind that never stops thinking.
I try to address these obstacles by reminding people it doesn't require as much time. They think falling asleep is okay, and trying to stop thinking never works.
At the root of these obstacles is trying to observe sensations and perceptions instead of focusing on what they mean.
It doesn't take time. It takes a willingness to spotlight a perception briefly instead of evaluating it or understanding it conceptually.
We fall asleep when we try because the only other time during the day when we stop trying to make sense of everything is when we go to bed. It's more challenging to do this after waking up in the middle of the night and having enough energy to start engaging our minds in solving problems—including being unable to get back to sleep.
Thinking isn't an opponent of mindful awareness; it's another perception to practice observing without focusing on its meaning.
One powerful way to navigate these challenges is to let external sensations teach you how to observe internal perceptions more objectively.
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