How do i stop the inner chatter?

[straycatphizzle]

I need help stopping the inner chatter while meditating, its like i have controlled thought and a background thought. Any advice on how I think nothing?

[zareste]

I think the mind just loses coherence as you get tired, so I haven't found any way to fix that. Maybe someone else has

[Tayesin]

That's a symptom, not the problem. So since it is only annoying, you can retrain yourself by every time you see the mind wander just pull your Attention back and Focus on what you Intend to do or are Doing. Soon enough you will be focussing much stronger and those wandering thoughts will not be so annoying. It's much easier this way than to spend years trying to quiet the mind so you can meditate.

The symptom is your energy goes where you place your attention, so if it is on fleeting thoughts you will experience "not being able to concentrate".  Take control of where you place attention, and you can do anything.

[straycatphizzle]

Thanks a lot man, that makes so much sense. My problem was I was focusing on the fleeting thoughts trying to destroy them somehow. This helps so much, thank you.

[astralp]

you can also try to focus on your breathing instead.  every time you have a random thought just acknowledge it but don't think about it, then keep focusing on your breating

[Xanth]

Also, don't 'force' it... you can't 'force' yourself to stop thinking.  The more you try, the more your mind will tell you off. 
So, as the poster above said... just accept the thought, allow it to wash over you and move on.

[Brianna6432]

It'll stop after awhile and you be thinking absolutely nothing. Patience. 

[Xanth]

The process I went through is this...

You'll be meditating and you'll get this stray thought... it can be something like:
"Am I doing this correctly?"
Then you'll notice that you're thinking and dwelling on that...

So what you do is catch yourself, accept the thought and let it go by... until it's like this:

"Am I doing this co...."
next time it'll be
"Am I doin..."
then
"Am..."
until you get to
"..."

You can end just about any thought in this manner before it becomes an annoyance. 

[jpmohave]

Drink Kava Kava tea, avoid caffeine, drink lots of water.

Picture a blackboard and raise the intensity of your mind to that of cramming for a test.  at first you feel you are not relaxing when you do this but its necessary in the beginning.  only the body needs to be relaxed - the mind only needs to be clear not totally relaxed until you can do this without the intensity.

The goal is a clear mind, picture a blackboard.  as thoughts appear wipe the board clean.  stare with conscious aggression into the blackboard of your mind as though you are waiting to pounce on a foreign thought and wipe it off the board.

[kurtykurt42]

Practice, practice and more practice. None of this is easy. If you want to get good at martial arts you can't learn a secret technique and become a master in a week. You need to practice every day for years.

[skydust]

For stopping the inner chatter, I suggest you read the book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.

[Yamabushi]

I stop the chatter by diverting my attention to bodily proprioception. For whatever reason, the orientational / positional sense of body location overpowers any background or foreground mental chatter, at least in my case. Of course, even proprioception (like every other sensory technology of the body) is generated by the central nervous system, making it an inner chatter of a different quality.

[Tiny]

Dear folks,

From my experience the real deal is to get your mind into an idle state not to try and stop or supress anything.
Thoughts inside your mind machine work only if you engage into them. You are the driver. The engine is always running but it is only you who is switching gears. Instead let your engine that is your mind run in idle state. You can feel the thoughtforms like impulses but they need you engaging into them in order for them to take hold in your mind. So don't react to these impulses and just let go. And don't try to supress these thoughtforms because that in itself is holding on to something, even if it is one that you created. Free yourself from thoughtforms for trance/meditation work.

Closing attachments also helps tremendously, see http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_astral_consciousness/quotreel_inquot_technique_close_attachments_meditate_easier_amp_better-t30448.0.html


peace

[supxsami3ma]

For stopping the inner chatter, I suggest you read the book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.

I read this book, and his newer one Awakening your life's purpose.
great books, & very helpful in teaching you to be present.