Ep. 298: Sitting on 10-6-26 (being with the body)
Oct 7, 2026 · 1 hr 2 min · 10 segments
- Speakers
- BernieHost
Oct 7, 2026 · 1 hr 2 min · 10 segments
For those of you who've been here, especially who were here last week, As we follow the breath, as we feel the body during the sitting, if you get pulled away by thoughts, if you get lost in fantasy, lose track of the breath, lose track of the body, you might try that method which I suggested last week of just noticing the thought that's pulled you away, especially if it's a juicy one that has a lot of emotional pull on you, and just say, thinking, thinking.
It can be a way of, as I put it last time, breaking the spell of the thought.
You could put it more technically.
I mean, but actually I won't.
I won't right now.
That's good enough.
Good enough.
Just sort of like, it's just, you know, It allows you to notice the thought, and by noticing it, experience that the thought is not wholly you, because obviously there's a part of you that can notice you having the thought.
So that subtle shift in perspective, that just slight gap between noticing and full identification with the thought, I think that's crucial, and no need to make a bigger deal of it than that.
Obviously, you know, we have lots of thoughts.
Once in a while, I'll get a student who's like obsessed with like trying to note them all, like, wait, I need to, you can't, and don't worry about it.
Really the ones to worry about are the ones that seem to have a particular pull on you.
There's gonna be a lot of like background chatter, you know, planning, like thinking, fantasizing, blah, blah, blah, all that.
But if you start fantasizing about a person you have a really deep crush on and wonder why that person is not responding to you, okay,
then, oh, just, oh, thinking, thinking.
Or like have a thought like, I suck at this.
What's wrong with me? Why am I even doing this? I should just get up and go.
Okay.
Notice that.
Thinking, thinking.
Okay.
Okay.
After a long time of practice, you may not need to do this thinking, thinking.
It may be enough just to see the thought.
But especially as we're developing this capacity to not be caught up by our thoughts, it can be a very helpful tool, technique.
For those of you who've been here, especially who were here last week, As we follow the breath, as we feel the body during the sitting, if you get pulled away by thoughts, if you get lost in fantasy, lose track of the breath, lose track of the body, you might try that method which I suggested last week of just noticing the thought that's pulled you away, especially if it's a juicy one that has a lot of emotional pull on you, and just say, thinking, thinking.
It can be a way of, as I put it last time, breaking the spell of the thought.
You could put it more technically.
I mean, but actually I won't.
I won't right now.
That's good enough.
Good enough.
Just sort of like, it's just, you know, It allows you to notice the thought, and by noticing it, experience that the thought is not wholly you, because obviously there's a part of you that can notice you having the thought.
So that subtle shift in perspective, that just slight gap between noticing and full identification with the thought, I think that's crucial, and no need to make a bigger deal of it than that.
Obviously, you know, we have lots of thoughts.
Once in a while, I'll get a student who's like obsessed with like trying to note them all, like, wait, I need to, you can't, and don't worry about it.
Really the ones to worry about are the ones that seem to have a particular pull on you.
There's gonna be a lot of like background chatter, you know, planning, like thinking, fantasizing, blah, blah, blah, all that.
But if you start fantasizing about a person you have a really deep crush on and wonder why that person is not responding to you, okay,
then, oh, just, oh, thinking, thinking.
Or like have a thought like, I suck at this.
What's wrong with me? Why am I even doing this? I should just get up and go.
Okay.
Notice that.
Thinking, thinking.
Okay.
Okay.
After a long time of practice, you may not need to do this thinking, thinking.
It may be enough just to see the thought.
But especially as we're developing this capacity to not be caught up by our thoughts, it can be a very helpful tool, technique.
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