Practising with choiceless attention, simply opening to whatever experiences arise moment to moment and orienting to the stable, steady awareness that knows it all (including the strong winds swirling around the meditation hall)
The Buddha gave a teaching on five different methods he recommended to work with disturbing thoughts. When we are mindful of the thinking process it's possible to see thoughts simply as mental fabrications. However, when we get caught in them and the body gets activated, we spin out in the story and are caught in a negative emotional response. We become identified with those mental formations and can more easily get lost. When that happens, the Buddha offers these five strategies as skillful techniques to deal with the confused mind.
