When you become intimately acquainted with your mental faculties, you find that there is a place where internal conversation takes place. This space appears to sit on top of the space of awareness. Awareness is not thinking, but awareness is aware of sensations and feelings. The internal conversation creates a person and endows this person with preferences and beliefs.
When we sit in meditation we can watch the conversation until it subsides, or we can replace the conversation with a word or mantra of our own choosing. If you sit for a half hour, you will certainly have moments when the conversation subsides and only silent, pure awareness remains. A dedicated daily practice will eventually allow you to quieten the conversation as needed. I am currently experiencing the conversation much like the breath where there are periods when it subsides, and periods when it dominates.
With increased understanding, you experience that neither the conversation nor the stillness is your absolute essence, and allow them to come and go as they please.