The most common myth about meditation is that you’re not supposed to have thoughts while you’re meditating, according to Josephine Atluri, a meditation coach and teacher.
“I think that this myth got perpetuated because oftentimes you hear people saying that you’re supposed to clear your mind of anything to be in the present moment and to gain clarity and nirvana,” she says. “And that’s just not the case because the truth is we have between 60,000 to 80,000 thoughts a day.”
The idea of completely turning off thoughts is unrealistic, even for the most seasoned meditation practitioners and teachers. It’s an intimidating concept to think you must turn off thoughts entirely.
After all, even the thought of not thinking is still a thought, points out Dora Kamau, a meditation and mindfulness teacher.
The true goal is to achieve stillness and silence while sitting in meditation. Then, when a thought does come in, you acknowledge it without judgment and send the thought away.
What exactly does that mean? Well, it depends on the person.
Atluri says that might look like silently speaking to the thought, saying something like, “I’ll get back to you later.” Or you might visualise yourself putting the thought on a cloud and pushing it away. Go with whatever works for you.