One of the foundations of inner peace for me is realizing that I am not my thoughts. In order to do that, though—and this is pretty much the core of everything I practice and write about—I had to learn to observe my thoughts, to recognize that the thoughts exist on their own plane, and that thoughts weren’t the same as me.
When I first began this journey to find inner peace, learning to observe my thoughts seemed impossible, like peeling that last slippery layer of film off an onion. I was my thoughts; my thoughts were me. I was so identified with my mind that I was barely aware of thoughts as something separate. The only time I had ever noticed them before were times when songs wedged themselves in my mind on a loop, often with lyrics that brought to light what I was really feeling (“Why Do Fools Fall in Love” was pretty much on endless repeat in my 20s and 30s).
I understood theoretically that believing my thoughts caused me pain, and so I was determined to learn this sleight-of-attention trick…
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