The very mind you think is getting in the way of meditation may actually be the mind you’re learning to train.

Does your mind ever get “caught” in a loop? Mine did last night at about 4:00 am. I remembered a task at my 9-5 job that I hadn’t yet completed and was due in a day’s time. This led me down a rabbit hole of other tasks I have on my plate and resulted in about an hour of lost sleep! Can you relate?

There is so much good news in this challenging circumstance that many of us experience. It is in rumination that you, ironically, find your meditation superpower. 

If your mind can move rhythmically from one object to another, it can move from breath to breath as well. 

Let that sink in for a moment. Take a mindful breath and allow yourself to feel into the possibility in this. 

The thing you wish to shift —the ruminating mind— can actually become the vehicle through which you experience the freedom of a more workable mind.

But! And this is a big but! You probably won’t remember to do this in the moment unless you have a mindfulness practice. This is where a meditation practice, no matter how meager, can really come in handy!

What a daily, short, ten-minute meditation practice is helping you to do is replace the object of your rumination, unhelpful thoughts, with something even more neutral: your breath! Why replace the object of obsession, craving, and reminiscence with something benign? Like a cat toys with a mouse, a shiny, interesting object at 4:00 am will keep going until you have exhausted every possibility. A more neutral object is more challenging to work with, but is also an opportunity to be more intentional. Working intentionally with an object is where the transformation from disruptive rumination to something beneficial occurs. 

Once you learn to have more volition over where you place your attention, you can, ironically, use the very system you wish to quiet down to actually ramp up your practice!

The next time you find your mind on repeat, try this.

Stop and notice. Take a breath. Notice the exhale. Now take three intentional cleansing breaths while continuing to focus on the exhale. Return to your normal breath and for 1-3 minutes stick with the breath cycle, anchoring the mind to the exhale. If other thoughts creep in (and they will!), celebrate the noticing (this is a present moment) and return to the sensation of breath. Wrap up with another nice full breath and observe if anything has shifted. Repeat this process as many times as feels nourishing to you. With practice, you become more capable of noticing rumination and redirecting your attention when it arises, especially when it arrives inconveniently at 4:00 am.