> Everyone has the running dialogue, all the time. Actually this varies! It seems like most people have it, but some people don't (including me). People are o

> Everyone has the running dialogue, all the time. Actually this varies! It seems like most people have it, but some people don't (including me). People are often surprised the other exists. [1] I obviously still think, but most of it is non-verbal. > noticing that you've been distracted, IS the practice I'm talking about the exercise with the goal to focus awareness on the breath. Of course I found myself thinking all sorts of stuff at first, but I approached it with the goal to be undistracted with pure awareness on the breath. It was very difficult and took a long time, and I can't explain how exactly I did it, but I think I largely got there, and it put me in an intensely altered mental state afterward. Maybe not having a normal running dialogue made it easier? It still felt extremely difficult though. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/9oyhie/is_it_true_that_many_people_or_even_most_people/ https://www.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/9oyhie/is_i... (I'm sure I've seen this come up more than once, there may be better links on Google)