A woman's meditation practice transformed when she learned about the brain's default mode network instead of chasing the myth of a blank mind. Neuroscience showed her that meditation isn't about stopping thoughts, it's about noticing them. Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as intentional, non-judgmental awareness of the present moment.
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My first attempt at meditation, I was like I couldn't do it. So my mind was racing. I was fidgeting. I was like meditation's not for me, and I didn't want to touch it again. And so when I finally did, after the neuroscience came out, when I was watching the Mind and Life Dialogues, I was like maybe I can give this another shot because I can look at the what's happening in the brain and then practice more accurately or precisely. And I realized I was like oh I can totally do this. I just had bad instructions. If someone tells me to clear my mind. That is impossible. But if someone tells me to watch my default mode network, I can totally do that.
And you know, I love Jon Kabat-Zinn's definition, right, of mindfulness. He says it's the awareness that arises by paying attention on the present moment without judgment, on intention, right? Intentionally you're choosing. So it's not about not having thoughts, which is the most common definition of people of, I can't meditate, my brain doesn't stop racing. Your brain never stops racing. The only person's brain who stopped racing is the person who's dead. So unless you wanna be dead, don't assume that to be the case.
