I would like to welcome you back to this introductory guided mindfulness meditation.
I'm Adam Rosen.
If you've listened to the first two guided meditations,
We discussed the brief overview of the sit,
The awareness on your breath,
And when thoughts arise,
To label them as thinking,
Returning your attention back to the breath.
And in the second episode,
We discussed more deeply different ways in which you may place the attention on your breath.
In this particular guided meditation,
I would like to focus on your mind's thinking throughout a meditation session,
And ways in which you may deal with it as it arises.
So at this point,
Take your seat in whichever position is comfortable,
On the floor or in a chair,
And rest your hands comfortably.
At this point,
Notice your body becoming still and making sure that you're sitting in an upright posture of awareness and awakefulness.
You may place your attention on your breath,
Wherever you feel it most strongly.
And for the beginning of this session,
Just simply place your attention on the breath.
When a thought arises,
Label it as thinking,
And return your attention back to the breath.
If you notice a storyline has occurred beyond the initial thought,
Again,
Without judgment,
Just gently take your attention and return it back to the breath.
For the next few moments,
I would like you to imagine that your mind is clear blue like the sky.
These thoughts which arise are like white puffy clouds floating by.
You might notice a thought,
Label it as thinking,
Place it onto one of these clouds,
And let it drift on by.
Focusing on the bright blue sky.
If a story has developed in your mind,
Like a big cloud obscuring the sky,
That's okay.
It will pass too,
And gently let it float on by,
Back to the clear blue sky.
For these next few moments,
I would like you to imagine that you're sitting by a river.
And on this river are leaves that have fallen from the trees,
And they're floating downstream.
As you have thoughts occur,
Gently take that thought,
And place it on a leaf,
And let it float on by.
If a thought has arisen,
Just gently place it on a leaf,
And let it float on down the river.
For the last part of this meditation,
I would encourage you to let your mind go.
Let thoughts occur as they will,
And sit back and watch your mind,
Just as if you were watching a movie screen,
And see what occurs without judgment,
And without bias.
Now gently bring your attention back to the space around you,
And see how you feel.
I heard a meditation teacher once say,
That we have 68,
000 thoughts per day,
And only about 2% of those are new.
I looked up scientific research,
And did find a study that estimated that we have about 6,
000 thoughts a day.
Even so,
That's still six thoughts per minute,
And we probably have somewhere between those two ranges.
This practice of mindful meditation,
Being aware of our thoughts when they occur,
Labeling them as thinking,
And turning our attention back to whatever it is we're focusing on,
Is a practice that will improve your focus,
And it can improve many of the things that you do throughout the day,
Not just your time spent on the cushion.
I hope that you found this meditation helpful,
And I look forward to sitting with you again.
Until next time,
Be happy,
And be well.
