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Meta Cognition: Knowing the Thinking Process. Look how crazy your mind is. Listen to opinions or suggestions in your life and daily life. A voice that invites you to eat more of the junk food, or says a sentence that you will regret later.
So you need to practice realizing which thoughts are useful and which are not. Starting with feeling, the flow of breath in and out, physical sensations felt in different parts of the body, concentration. There is no need to empty your mind, it is impossible, unless you are already dead or become a god.
Just exercise, like exercise but the muscles in the brain that do the repetition, repeat one word or focus on breathing, until it gets stuck. That's the key, knowing when your mind is being hijacked by the sound of other thoughts.
An often-repeated opinion, bored but all this time you have been held hostage by it, the subconscious mind becomes the decision. The choice to act doesn't have to come from that thought, especially if the suggestion is bad.
So, close your eyes, just feel it and later there will be thoughts by voice. Be aware of that thought, refocus, get distracted again, so you keep practicing. Thoughts are the object of your consciousness, even though there is pain, you don't have to suffer for them.
Especially if you are in good health, there are no illnesses or injuries, just ordinary difficulties or negative experiences. It doesn't have to be unnecessary suffering, you can control yourself.
Even all emotions, you can try to control, so that they are more useful and not destructive. The conceptual framework for mental strength is having that awareness.
Recognize thought processes that seem automatic like breathing, but can be influenced. For example being angry, there is no need to explode with anger, to be angry. However, being able to observe the sensation, and be aware of its taste, can still act optimally with various data.
It doesn't just depend on what's in the head, thoughts and feelings. But later you can remain calm and in control, not a slave to passions, emotions, and thoughts. Become a conscious minded person.