Have you ever had a bunch of thoughts woven into a problem or worry that never seems to go away? In fact you just don’t get a moment’s peace and quiet from the relentlessness of your obsessive thoughts.
They cloud everything you do.
They even affect you physically so that you may lose your appetite, or overeat, become sleepless, confused, even irritable and reactive.
You may find that in your meditation practice you become so agitated that you end up even more distressed than when you started.
First of all accept what is happening. Condemning and berating yourself about the situation won’t help. It just makes things worse.
Here’s a suggestion that may benefit you when you find you are just too distracted to sit and meditate.
Grab some paper and a pen and write non-stop for five to ten minutes. Write continuously about your obsessing thoughts. Write out all your worries, angers, perceived predicaments, anxieties, perceived losses, and frustrations. When you can’t think of something to write, write that down as well.
You will usually find that another set of thoughts will be triggered so get those down on paper too. Every thought that pops into your mind write it down. Put all your focus and concentration into writing everything that is keeping you in this state of obsessing.
At the end of five to ten minutes (set a timer for yourself), stop and go about your day. When the old worry or problem arises tell it you have already given it enough attention for the moment, take a deep breath, and change the thoughts to something positive. You could also put aside two periods of time each day to do this. Eventually you will be able to empty out the problematic thoughts and resume your meditation practice with greater equanimity.