Practice Guide: Taming the Dragon

This page offers practical methods for dis-identification and DMN re-integration—the core practices for re-claiming your hijacked consciousness.

Remember: The goal is not to destroy the Ego or silence the voice permanently. It is to transform your relationship with the DMN from slave (to the voice) to sovereign (the Listener who observes the voice).

Foundation: The Central Question

All practices begin and return to this question:

“That voice in your head… Are you that voice? Or are you the one who is listening to it?”

This question is not rhetorical—it is the practice itself. Asking it genuinely creates a space between:

  • The Voice (DMN chatter, narrative Ego)
  • The Listener (Divine Spark, pure awareness)

In this space, the hijacking is revealed.

Practice 1: Observing the Voice

Duration: 5-10 minutes daily

Instructions:

  1. Find a quiet space. Sit comfortably with eyes closed or softly focused.
  2. Notice the “voice in your head”—the stream of thoughts, commentary, plans, worries.
  3. Don’t try to stop it. Simply observe it as you would watch clouds passing.
  4. Label it: “There is thinking.” Not “I am thinking,” but “Thinking is happening.”
  5. Notice: Who is observing the thinking? That observer is the Listener.

Goal: Create separation between the Voice (object of awareness) and the Listener (subject, pure awareness).

Neuroscience: This practice activates the Salience Network (the Listener) and begins to modulate DMN hyperactivity.

Practice 2: The Body as Anchor

Duration: 10-15 minutes daily

The hijacked DMN pulls consciousness into past (rumination) and future (anxiety). The body exists only in the present moment.

Instructions:

  1. Sit or lie down. Close your eyes.
  2. Bring attention to physical sensations: breath moving, heart beating, weight of body on surface.
  3. When the voice pulls you into thoughts (it will), gently return to body sensations.
  4. Notice: The voice says “I am anxious.” The body simply is—breathing, present.
  5. Ask: “What is here, right now, in this body?” Usually: just sensation, not catastrophe.

Goal: Anchor awareness in the timeless present, breaking the DMN’s time-bound narrative.

Neuroscience: Activates interoceptive awareness and the Task-Positive Network, disengaging from DMN rumination.

Practice 3: Dis-Identifying from the Story

Duration: 15-20 minutes, weekly

The hijacked DMN generates a story: “I am my trauma,” “I am my failures,” “I am this narrative.”

Instructions:

  1. Reflect on a persistent self-narrative (e.g., “I am anxious,” “I am broken,” “I am unworthy”).
  2. Write it down explicitly: “The story is: I am __.”
  3. Ask: “Who is aware of this story? Who is reading this sentence right now?”
  4. Notice: The story is an object (something observed). The Listener (you) is the subject (the one observing).
  5. Repeat: “This is a story the voice tells. I am the one listening to the story. The story is not me.”

Goal: Break identification with the DMN-generated narrative.

Gnostic Parallel: This is anamnesis (recollection)—remembering your true identity as the Divine Spark, not the counterfeit spirit’s story.

Practice 4: Loving the Dragon

Duration: 10 minutes, as needed

The hijacked DMN often manifests as self-criticism, shame, or anxiety. Resisting it creates more suffering. Taming requires compassion.

Instructions:

  1. When the voice is particularly harsh or anxious, pause.
  2. Acknowledge: “This is the dragon. It is scared. It is trying to protect me (by ruminating, planning, worrying).”
  3. Speak to it internally (or aloud): “Thank you for trying to protect me. I see you. You don’t need to guard the kingdom anymore. I am here. I am awake.”
  4. Notice any softening in the body or mind.

Goal: Transform the relationship from adversarial (fighting the voice) to integrative (compassionate witness).

Neuroscience: Self-compassion practices reduce amygdala reactivity and DMN-driven rumination.

Practice 5: The Witness Meditation

Duration: 20-30 minutes, daily (advanced)

This is the core practice for sustained re-claiming.

Instructions:

  1. Sit in meditation posture. Set a timer.
  2. Rest as the Witness—pure awareness observing whatever arises:
    • Thoughts (the voice)
    • Emotions (sensations in the body)
    • Sounds, sensations, impulses
  3. Label each arising: “Thinking,” “Feeling,” “Hearing,” “Sensation.”
  4. Key instruction: Do not engage with content. Don’t follow thoughts into stories. Simply notice: “Thought arising. Thought passing.”
  5. When you realize you’ve been lost in thought (hijacked by DMN), celebrate: “Awareness has returned!” and gently return to witnessing.

Goal: Establish the Listener (Witness) as your primary identity, with the voice as a background process you observe.

Traditional Parallels:

  • Vipassana (insight meditation)
  • Zen “just sitting” (Shikantaza)
  • Advaita Vedanta self-inquiry (“Who am I?”)

Neuroscience: Long-term practice creates lasting DMN modulation, strengthens prefrontal cortex (executive function), and increases gray matter density in areas associated with awareness and compassion.

Integration: Daily Micro-Practices

Throughout the day:

  • Pause and Ask: When caught in rumination or anxiety, pause and ask: “Am I the voice, or the Listener?”
  • Label: When the voice is loud, silently label: “Worrying,” “Planning,” “Criticizing.” This creates space.
  • Return to Breath: Three conscious breaths return you to the present, disengaging DMN.
  • Gratitude for the Dragon: When you notice the DMN serving you well (creative planning, useful memory), acknowledge: “Thank you, daemon.”

Cautions and Considerations

This is not medical advice:

  • If experiencing severe depression, anxiety, trauma, or suicidal ideation, seek professional help.
  • Meditation complements therapy; it does not replace it.

The Dark Night:

  • Deep practice can sometimes surface repressed trauma or destabilize identity structures.
  • If this occurs, reduce intensity, seek guidance from experienced teachers or therapists.

Patience:

  • The hijacking occurred over a lifetime (and ancestrally). Re-claiming takes time.
  • Progress is not linear. Some days the voice is louder. This is normal.

Community:

  • Consider practicing with others (meditation groups, sanghas) for support and accountability.

Measuring Progress

You are making progress when:

  • You catch yourself ruminating sooner (awareness returns faster)
  • You experience gaps—moments of silence, spaciousness, peace between thoughts
  • You can observe the voice with less reactivity (it doesn’t immediately hijack you)
  • You notice flow states more often (DMN balanced with Task-Positive Network)
  • Compassion arises—for yourself, the voice, and others trapped in the loop

Further Resources

See Resources for:

  • Guided meditations
  • Neuroscience research on meditation and DMN
  • Teachers and traditions for deeper practice

“You are not here to kill the dragon. You are here to tame it, and in taming it, you re-claim your kingdom.”