This post is for anyone who ever told themselves that their problems weren’t a big deal because someone, somewhere, has it worse.

You know what I’m talking about, right?  The kind of thinking where, despite the fact that you’re going through (or went through) real challenges, you dismiss them because you feel guilty for “complaining” about something so trivial.

People sometimes make the mistake of thinking that meditation needs to not only happen in a quiet, seated position, but that it needs to happen on the ideal cushion, and in the most serene and peaceful setting.  We want to shop for the best Zabuton, create a beautiful alter, and even have a separate “meditation room” - and when one of those things fails to come to fruition we somehow never get around to putting our little tushies on the cushion and getting to work.

Despite how the title of this post might make me sound right now — no, I’m not high.

What I’m talking about is a little thing that we refer to in my line of work as “projection.” In the broadest sense of the term, projection refers to the human inclination to take an internal thought or feeling and to make it external — to place it outside of yourself, psychologically speaking. Strange as it may seem, it happens every day. There are three main kinds of projection, and they go like this:

This article is about the simple but significant role that the act of “noticing” plays in our psychological lives. While at first blush it may seem basic, do not be fooled. Truly witnessing our thoughts, feelings and behaviors is the first – and quite possibly the most important – ingredient in creating desired change. While it seems magnificently simple, it is, in fact, positively revolutionary.