WHEN THINKING GETS IN THE WAY.

It is now common knowledge that what is going on in our conscious mind, what we are aware of, is the tip of a very large iceberg. It may be compared to the shallow end of a swimming pool. That's where all the fuss goes on, children play and splash about, toddlers toddle circled by watchful parents, and the babble of conversation abounds. The deep end is for serious swimming not concerned with such distractions!

Our minds have a 'deep end', away from the thinking, worrying, bothering, fretting part of our mind that makes up our conscious self, so often demanding our attention, bullying, criticising, judging, and demanding that we do something when we don't know what to do.

When we practice awareness through meditation, silence, stillness and simplicity, we discover an inner self that is separate from the conscious self. There is no ego, no imaginative narrative flow, no desire or aversion.

This is a wonderful, worthwhile practice because, free from distraction there is a steady flowering of inner wisdom and compassion that allows a clear seeing.

Often when we get out of the way of our own thinking and trust in this practice, a space is created for solutions to emerge. To follow this practice we need to be patient, we need to have a confidence that enables us to be comfortable with uncertainty, we need to be kind to ourselves rather than critical and doubting.