You must practice WATCHING the thoughts - that aren't "yours" anyway.
Step one: You must first come to the realization of the following; The thoughts aren't yours because you can't stop them with your own willful volition. Until you see and accept this, no progress can be made. If you can't summon or dismiss thoughts with your will, then something else must be going on, correct?
It's not that you're weak or lack control or power to stop the thoughts. Something else is going on. Something few talk about.
Step two: Once you've accepted this runaway train you've accepted all your life as "my own monkey-mind", but now see differently, you can then begin to watch/witness the thoughts. This, rather than "engaging" with them. You learn to see how they come and go like clouds in the sky. There's no need to TRY AND STOP them. You can't. This will only generate even more thoughts.
When you begin to witness the monkey-mind thought-stream, but take no interest in engaging with them, they slowly but surely begin to lessen and eventually dissipate. They need your interest and engagement to continue proliferating.
There are two simple ways to do all of the above. Learning to tune into your heart-space is the easiest. All that's involved is shifting your attention back to your heart (the present moment) every time you find you're lost in the monkey-mind thoughtstream. It takes discipline and vigilance. Nothing more. You have to declare and intend to do it. Key in this process is to not berate and judge yourself when you get lost in the thoughts. Flip the script on this tendency. Instead, give yourself a pat on the back and a gold star every time you recognize you were lost in the monkey-mind as you shift back into the heart-space. This may be the most important part of the whole practice. Never belittle yourself. You've got 20/30/40/50/60/70/80 years worth of habit placing your attention on the monkey-mind thought-stream. You're not going to break said habit in a few days, weeks or months most likely. You have to develop and embody this new habit. That's all. Results come fastest when you don't criticize yourself for getting lost in thought.
The other way to go about this is more of the eastern esoteric teaching which is simply To become aware that you are aware and to then just sit and watch in this space. It's really quite simple, but your monkey-mind will try to make it complicated because it wants to "figure this out" and be the "doer" of the new practice. But there's really nothing for it to do, and this is why it fights back so hard.
So all you do really is place this thing you call "me" into your "screen of awareness", where previously you were aware of say your phone/computer, desk, chair, wall, etc. as well as other people in the room with you. As you're aware of all of this "stuff", you place your body into this scene as well. In effect, you've been brainwashed into treating the body called "me" as the "subject" and then everything else as "objects" that are "out there". Instead, include the body called me as one of the "objects out there" as well. Then, you will see that there are all these other bodies - family, friends, strangers, etc. - that are AWARE OUT THERE, as well as "me" in the mix. You will just see that there's somebody here called "me" that is aware.
There's nothing else to it. You simply sit in the space that in addition to being aware of other people that are "aware" around you, you drop your own self into this movie scene as well, and recognize that this body known as "me" is also aware "out there".
This is a process that animals can't do. In psychology they say humans are set apart from the animal kingdom because they have this thing they call "self awareness". This is what they're effectively talking about.
So the practice is to watch this me/self/body from a different vantage point. The "witnessing" vantage point. Said vantage point offers no commentary, no judgment, no criticism, it's just "aware". This is how you'll know whether you're aware from this vantage point, versus the ego monkey-mind which is always offering commentary, judgment, analysis, etc. of everything it sees "out there".
I prefer the former practice, but some prefer the latter. They both ultimately produce the same results however. It's a movement out of the ego monkey-mind, which only exists in the past or future, into the greater mind (heart) which only exists in the present moment. The former lives in the space of judgment and fear, the latter in the space of kindness, compassion, understanding, love, gratitude, etc. The former energy drains your power, the latter energy builds your power.
It's all really quite simple, but it's never "easy" after a lifetime of bad habits. All that's required is your conviction to make the shift and maintaining your discipline and vigilance.
Never try to "get rid of your thoughts". This is a fools errand. You can't do it. Nobody can. So first become convinced of this for yourself, experientially, and then choose the practice that you prefer and stick with it. Don't get discouraged. The shift is subtle and gradual. Some days are better than others. Some days you can't get away from the chatterbox monkey-mind no matter what you do. Don't despair. Stick with it, through thick and thin, and you will be greatly rewarded!!
You must practice WATCHING the thoughts - that aren't "yours" anyway.
Step one: You must first come to the realization of the following; The thoughts aren't yours because you can't stop them with your own willful volition. Until you see and accept this, no progress can be made. If you can't summon or dismiss thoughts with your will, then something else must be going on, correct?
It's not that you're weak or lack control or power to stop the thoughts. Something else is going on. Something few talk about.
Step two: Once you've accepted this runaway train you've accepted all your life as "my own monkey-mind", but now see differently, you can then begin to watch/witness the thoughts. This, rather than "engaging" with them. You learn to see how they come and go like clouds in the sky. There's no need to TRY AND STOP them. You can't. This will only generate even more thoughts.
When you begin to witness the monkey-mind thought-stream, but take no interest in engaging with them, they slowly but surely begin to lessen and eventually dissipate. They need your interest and engagement to continue proliferating.
There are two simple ways to do all of the above. Learning to tune into your heart-space is the easiest. All that's involved is shifting your attention back to your heart (the present moment) every time you find you're lost in the monkey-mind thoughtstream. It takes discipline and vigilance. Nothing more. You have to declare and intend to do it. Key in this process is to not berate and judge yourself when you get lost in the thoughts. Flip the script on this tendency. Instead, give yourself a pat on the back and a gold star every time you recognize you were lost in the monkey-mind as you shift back into the heart-space. This may be the most important part of the whole practice. Never belittle yourself. You've got 20/30/40/50/60/70/80 years worth of habit placing your attention on the monkey-mind thought-stream. You're not going to break said habit in a few days, weeks or months most likely. You have to develop and embody this new habit. That's all. Results come fastest when you don't criticize yourself for getting lost in thought.
The other way to go about this is more of the eastern esoteric teaching which is simply To become aware that you are aware and to then just sit and watch in this space. It's really quite simple, but your monkey-mind will try to make it complicated because it wants to "figure this out" and be the "doer" of the new practice. But there's really nothing for it to do, and this is why it fights back so hard.
So all you do really is place this thing you call "me" into your "screen of awareness", where previously you were aware of say your phone/computer, desk, chair, wall, etc. as well as other people in the room with you. As you're aware of all of this "stuff", you place your body into this scene as well. In effect, you've been brainwashed into treating the body called "me" as the "subject" and then everything else as "objects" that are "out there". Instead, include the body called me as one of the "objects out there" as well. Then, you will see that there are all these other bodies - family, friends, strangers, etc. - that are AWARE OUT THERE, as well as "me" in the mix. You will just see that there's somebody here called "me" that is aware.
There's nothing else to it. You simply sit in the space that in addition to being aware of other people that are "aware" around you, you drop your own self into this movie scene as well, and recognize that this body known as "me" is also aware "out there".
This is a process that animals can't do. In psychology they say humans are set apart from the animal kingdom because they have this thing they call "self awareness". This is what they're effectively talking about.
So the practice is to watch this me/self/body from a different vantage point. The "witnessing" vantage point. Said vantage point offers no commentary, no judgment, no criticism, it's just "aware". This is how you'll know whether you're aware from this vantage point, versus the ego monkey-mind which is always offering commentary, judgment, analysis, etc. of everything it sees "out there".
I prefer the former practice, but some prefer the latter. They both ultimately produce the same results however. It's a movement out of the ego monkey-mind, which only exists in the past or future, into the greater mind (heart) which only exists in the present moment. The former lives in the space of judgment and fear, the latter in the space of kindness, compassion, understanding, love, gratitude, etc. The former energy drains your power, the latter energy builds your power.
It's all really quite simple, but it's never "easy" after a lifetime of bad habits. All that's required is your conviction to make the shift and maintaining your discipline and vigilance.
Never try to "get rid of your thoughts". This is a fools errand. You can't do it. Nobody can. So first become convinced of this for yourself, experientially, and then choose the practice that you prefer and stick with it. Don't get discouraged. The shift is subtle and gradual. Some days are better than others. Some days you can't get away from the chatterbox monkey-mind no matter what you do. Don't despair. Stick with it, through thick and thin, and you will be greatly rewarded!!
Good luck!