How Do I Tune Things Out?

Many of us come to a practice like mindfulness meditation to help us find some space to breathe, to relax, and to just be.

When we sit down to do meditation, we quickly discover that there are many things pulling at us from different directions. Thoughts, distractions, tension, pain, discomfort, worries, complaints – the list goes on and on.

Naturally, then, we say to ourselves, “How do I tune all those things out so I can get back to mindfulness, get back to meditation?”

That’s a very good question! Sometimes it can be helpful to rephrase a question, or to ask the question in a different way, and see if it gives us any new insights.

Instead of asking “how do I tune things out,” it might be more helpful to ask “how do I tune in to the present moment?” When we ask the question that way, we refocus our energy and attention in a more directive and intentional way.

Mindfulness is nonjudgmental awareness of the present moment. So it’s a practice of tuning in to the present moment. How do we do that? We can do that by bringing our attention to the breath, which is always happening in the present moment. What does it mean to tune in to the breath? Perhaps it’s like tuning in to a radio station, dialing the tuning knob so get a clear signal.

So when thoughts and distractions come up, we don’t have to worry about tuning them out. We simply notice them, gently let them go, and see if we can tune back in to the breath. Each time we drift off, we just tune back in again, without judgment of the thoughts, without judgment of ourselves. That is the practice of mindfulness meditation.