Be the witness of your thoughts.  ~ Buddha

The one who sees thought as a thought is the witness to mind and no longer subject to suffering. ~Vivian Amis

Do you find yourself caught up in circles of thought that threaten to overwhelm you?

Some days, when I sit down to meditate, my thoughts run the show. They swallow my attention. I’m unable to immerse myself in the inner silence. I feel like I’m drowning in the waves.

I am not being a witness of my thoughts.

Let me explain what I mean by witness.

The witness is usually thought of as the observer of a situation. They recount the “facts” as they know them. The witness captures the essential nature of the situation with fairness and objectivity.

When applied to our everyday life, something more begins to unfold. The observer takes on deeper dimensions. Possibilities for open communication open up.

Consider what your participation in life as the witness could offer.

Don’t Let Drama Run Your Show

I used to have a hard time when I felt people wanted something from me. Especially when it wasn’t something I felt I could offer. At least not without feeling like I had traded away something essential to my well-being.

If I give you what you want, I hope to get something in return. Love. Approval. A relationship. Ultimately, I’m trading away something precious in hopes of getting something elusive from you.

This works—to a point. Trade-offs are often the fluid that keep a relationship smooth. At least that’s true on the surface.

I’ve since learned that the price is too high. Surface smoothness brought me no joy. It kept me looking outside for what could only be found inside of me.

Think of the interactions you have that pull on your energy. They leave you inexplicably drained. Usually they have underpinnings of expectation and attachment to an outcome.

You know what I mean. When you are unhappy when things don’t go your way. Or your “other” expects something of you that you are reluctant to provide.

What if you could step out of the emotional drama that fires up relationships and throws you off kilter? 

Don’t mistake drama for engagement, participation and immersion in life. @TheBacaJourney (Click to Tweet!)

Drama expresses emotion that has no container and no balance. Emotional drama creates an energetic vortex that consumes the light. It takes the energy out of the room.

It doesn’t matter where it starts. When drama escalates, it threatens to drown the participants.

Drama buffers you from experiencing life as it could be. When emotion clouds the field, you cannot connect with that grand director of life, your own inner guidance.

Immerse Yourself in Your Own Life

Everything shifts when you drop drama as the go-to attempt to control your life. You are no longer caught in a sticky web, deciding who is right or wrong.

As the intensity of the drama dissolves, your body relaxes. Your availability to unveil the truth opens. Your senses sharpen. You listen with clarity, without bias. You feel what resonates, enabling your ability to discern what is true. Your vision gains clarity, widening to encompass a bigger picture.

You feel an inner strength.

There is no need to defend yourself or to seek agreement with others for your “position”. Your only desire is to know the truth. Fear, retreat, threat, retaliation and blame cannot stand with the bright light of truth.

The witness welcomes the truth. There is no feeling of threat. Once truth is expressed there is no attachment to an outcome.

You speak and let go.

The outcome? There is no need to campaign for a result. You are free to reflect on your next steps, aligning yourself with the truth that resides within.

A Free Body

Give yourself the gift of getting to know the difference between a restricted body and a free body. When your body becomes free you open the door for new creativity. You immerse yourself in the flow of life.

What if you could move from restriction to freedom? What would that feel like? Would you be willing to catch yourself in the midst of an emotional exchange and let it go? Not to give up, but to open the door for the still, small voice of your inner truth. You let go of the need to be right.

This is the way to freedom.

Let go and surrender to the truth of who you are.

You’re ready to claim more freedom in your life, aren’t you?

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs and try to be and do it. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go be and do that. Because what the world most desperately needs is people who have come fully alive. ~Howard Thurman


Bestselling author, Illuminator and Master Teacher, Laurie Seymour, M.A., is dedicated to showing you how to reliably connect with your own inner wisdom, dissolving self-doubt. Because once you have this inner connected firmly anchored, you’ll have the confidence and direction to manifest your big-picture vision. Laurie founded The Baca Journey to help illuminate your journey. As Turaya Grand Master, Laurie teaches Turaya Touch and Turaya Meditation online and around the world. Get her free Illumination Journey Bundle, including 7-Awareness Provoking Experiences. Learn to navigate life’s changes with greater clarity. You can find her on Facebook and Twitter.

Image courtesy of Simon Thomas.