Jim Kwik and Emily Fletcher explain that thoughts aren't the enemy of meditation. Trying to stop thinking is impossible, like stopping your heart. The real goal is to watch thoughts come and go, which shows you're not your thoughts, and creates space between what happens and how you respond.
My meditation coach, Emily Fletcher, and she was like, the enemy of meditation is not thought. You can't shut off your thoughts any more than you could shut off your heart beating. So people don't meditate because they have this objection saying, oh no, I can't do it because I have all these thoughts. No, you have thoughts, you're working. That's what's supposed to happen. The goal here is for you to surrender and to see these thoughts come in and see them leave because it helps you realize you are not your thoughts. There's a gap between stimulus and response where there's an infinite amount of possibility. Meditation helps you to be able to separate you from those negative thoughts.
The Library of Minds: Brain Coach: How to Stay Sharp When AI Does the Thinking | Jim Kwik
