You may have seen the reports from brain scan research sponsored by the National Science Foundation: They discovered that the average person has up to 60,000 thoughts a day, of which 80% were negative, and a staggering 95% of those thoughts were repetitive from the day before. This seems hard to believe at first, but if you take time to look at the nature of your own thoughts, you may find that they are probably not too different from what those researchers found.
The Vicious Cycle
Let’s think about this for a moment: if the majority of our thoughts are negative and repetitive, how much of our mental capacity is being squandered? Day-by-day, year-by-year, negativity and repetition accumulates in our minds, becoming the pattern of our life. If left unchecked, it would seem almost impossible to have a joyful life. In an attempt to escape these thoughts, many turn to entertainment, vacations, food, shopping, alcohol, drugs and so forth. These diversions offer temporary relief, but do not constructively break the thought patterns in any lasting way - and in fact perpetuate the cycle of negative, self-defeating thinking.
Where Thoughts Come From
Our thoughts and perception of the world are controlled by the experiences in our lives. Our minds retain pictures of our entire life experiences - much like a photo album. These pictures determine how we experience life in the present. In fact, we seldom experience the present moment simply as it is, because we are busy reliving our past experiences or projecting thoughts of the future. These thought patterns then become our unconscious habits. When we see the world through the lens of our past, it’s no wonder we feel trapped.
How to Break Free
It’s a well known medical observation that people react differently to stress if they had stressful experiences in the past. Thankfully, there is an answer to this problem. The meditation method that we practice allows us to let go of those pictures stored in the mind. You can break the grip that those pictures have on your thoughts, emotions, and perception of the world. Through the seven levels of meditation you are able to free your mind to experience the world as it truly is, always in the present. Our minds are freed from the preconceptions, prejudices, attachments and habits that confined us.
Enjoying the World As It Is
You will find the world amazingly beautiful. You will be free of all repetitive and negative
thoughts and create new and unique thoughts for each moment and each day. You’ll wake up in the morning, seeing each day as a new adventure. Even your physical energy increases because the mind is no longer blocked and energy can circulate in your body.
If you are ready to give this meditation thing a try and aren't sure where to start, Finding Hope Within is our foundational class and the place for you! Led by our kind and supportive meditation guides, you’ll spend a few minutes learning about our unique practice and then experience, firsthand, the freedom and bliss that comes from letting go of thoughts.
There’s truly nothing to lose, except your unwanted stress. I’ll see you there!
By Neal
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