Virtually everyone has some kind of “internal voice,” some kind of self-talk that they use to navigate the minor to momentous celebrations and dilemmas of life.
These internal voices take the form of monologues, dialogues, and metacognitive voices. I are either positive (the Pollyannas: “I am so happy I got cancer; I have learned so much from it.”) or negative (Debbie Downers: Yesterday was too cold; today is too hot, I am never going to get to go out for a walk….”)
Most people have a simple self-centered dialogue. This kind of dialogue weighs the pros and cons of each situation and decides what is “best,” defining best as getting more of what we like and/or less of what we don’t like (“My best shot at getting them to sign the contract is if I lie about the long term effect; it’s ok as long as it gets them to sign. They would do the same to me if they were in my seat.”)
In Buddhist terms, that means all the dialoguing decisions are based on greed—wanting and desiring more, wanting to get our way.
Few people naturally have the other self-talk voices we are describing as a metacognitive voice, but anyone can develop them. A metacognitive voice, which is content non-specific, is an internal voice that says, “how am I processing the information that is coming to me? It is content nonspecific. A metacogntive voice is a voice that leads us to peacefulness in how we process information, regardless of the information—it is about process not content. There are simple metacogntive voices, and there are overriding metacognitive voices (examples below).
A List of Mindfulness-based Metacognitive Voices
Am I seeing what’s happening with a non-elaborative awareness of the present situation?
Am I being curious, open, and accepting?
Am I being patient, compassionate and generous?
Am I being present-centered, non-judgment, and openhearted?
Am I regulating my attention to actual present-moment experiences and sensations?
Am I preceding my experience with a narrative (false perception), or really seeing conditions as they arise?
Am I being non-reactive, confident, and trusting?
Is my awareness process-oriented not outcomes-oriented?
Am I being attentive and unbiased in my awareness?
Am I alert, mindful and aware?
Am I anchored in awareness without adding wandering implications or embellishments?
Am I centered by the belief that there are no beginnings and endings?
Am I anchored in the belief that everything is interrelated, cooperative and collaborative?
A Short List of Overriding Metacognitive Voices
In each and every moment, I am the best I can possibly be.
Each and every living being is supremely kind to me.
All phenomena, everything, is empty.
This is not me, this is not mine.
With questions about how to apply these to your life, or with comments, contact info@deepdharma.org