But...how does 'awareness practice' work when we need to be thinking?
The following is a helpful snippet from Jack Kornfield's The Wise Heart.
---
The point of mindfulness is not to get rid of thought but to learn to see thought skillfully. We need to plan, think, organize, imagine, and create. Considered thoughts are a great gift. When we rest in the heart, then we can use thought wisely....
A professor of mathematics and topography who had come to meditation was worried because his work involved hours of thought. He asked how he could practice meditation while thinking through these complex math problems. Should he try to step back and always be deliberately aware of his thinking? This made him feel self-conscious. It was confusing.
I responded with a simple instruction: "First, check your motivation. Approach the math in a positive and creative way. Then, when thinking about math, just think about the math. If you get competitive and worry about publishing your solution before another colleague, that's not math. If you find yourself thinking about winning the Nobel Prize or the Field Medal, that's not math. Find a skillful motivation. Then do the math and enjoy the creativity of the mind."
The key to wise thought is to sense the energy state behind the thought. If we pay attention, we will notice that certain thoughts are produced by fear and the small sense of self. With them will be clinging, rigidity, unworthiness, defensiveness, aggression, or anxiety. We can sense their effect on the heart and the body. When we notice this suffering, we can relax, breathe, loosen the identification. With this awareness the mind will become more open and malleable.
...Now we can think, imagine, and plan, but from a state of ease and benevolence. It's that simple.
