Welcome to this guided meditation on Allowing.
This meditation is designed to increase feelings of self-compassion and self-acceptance as we learn through the process of allowing to see or become familiar with all aspects of our minds.
In Tibetan,
The word meditation means to become familiar with,
And the process of mindful meditation really is to practice seeing our thoughts.
In seeing our thoughts,
We see more of ourselves.
Our minds are complex,
Multi-layered,
Wonderful hives of activity that are constantly striving to understand,
Problem solve,
Create,
Rationalize and protect us.
However,
We have a tendency to judge certain thoughts,
To disallow some and welcome others.
The word should often comes up,
Like I shouldn't think that,
I should think this,
Or labels,
That's a good thought,
Yeah,
I'll have more of that,
I'd like to think that more,
Or that's a bad thought.
But in the Buddhist practice of mindful meditation,
We are learning to simply see all thoughts as they are without judgment.
And in meditation,
People often strive to stop all thoughts.
The paradox is that when you allow your thoughts,
Naturally they will slow down and possibly stop for a while.
But if you order your mind to stop,
If you demand it to stop,
It will do just the opposite.
And then people decide that they can't meditate,
Or that it doesn't work for them,
Or that it doesn't work at all.
So when we allow them all,
We are able to let them pass,
As they will anyway,
Without a reaction.
And this reaction can be positive or negative.
And we are also developing increased self-compassion when we allow them.
We see more of ourselves as a self-in process,
Because we are constantly changing.
And our thoughts are part of that process,
They are constantly coming and going,
And they always will be.
We become more allowing and accepting of ourselves as whole people who experience a multitude of different thoughts and emotions daily,
As this is what it means to be human.
And when we reject a thought or emotion,
Whether consciously or unconsciously,
We are rejecting a part of ourselves.
And why is that part any different to the parts that we are allowing?
Because of a story that the mind creates,
Like it's not good to be angry,
It's not okay to be sad,
It's not okay to be scared,
It's not okay to feel that way,
I should feel this way instead.
It's another aspect of the mind trying to be in control,
To protect you.
Normally,
Taken from information,
It's perceived via social and cultural conditioning.
And that's okay,
It's not good or bad,
It just is.
A quote from Shakespeare,
There is nothing good or bad,
But thinking makes it so.
I'll say that again.
There is nothing either good or bad,
But thinking makes it so.
So the conscious practice of seeing our whole selves,
Starting with the mind,
Allows us to see more of others as well.
Allow more of others and accept more of others.
As we often project onto others what we like or dislike in ourselves,
So meeting yourself at a deeper and more compassionate level enables you to meet others there too.
Simply allowing your thoughts the space to be and illuminating them by seeing them disempowers them.
And they don't have so much power over you.
You being the part of you who reacts to them.
When you become the observer,
Sitting back and watching them come and go,
You gain freedom.
You are free to accept all thoughts and emotions without having them have such a hold over you.
When troublesome thoughts arise,
Because they will,
You can more easily detach and say it's just a thought.
We label it as a thought without the narrative of good or bad.
We don't go into the story.
It is the story that causes the problems.
So when you integrate your thoughts,
You integrate all parts of you.
You might find that this spreads to other external parts of you that you were previously rejecting.
Maybe your body,
Things you've created in your life.
So when you're ready,
Let's practice a gentle allowing of thoughts.
Take a deep breath in through your nose and release through your mouth.
Take a moment to notice the feeling of the support beneath you.
Whatever you're sitting on.
And feel where it makes contact with your body.
Naturally,
The mind will want to drift and interject at any time.
Taking you into thought streams and narratives about what you're doing right now.
If you're doing it right,
If it's worth it,
If it works,
Etc,
Etc.
And that's okay.
We're going to say to the mind silently,
And that's okay.
And simply bring your attention back to your focus point.
I invite you to focus on your breath for the reminder of this meditation.
On the feeling of the rising and falling of your chest.
Or wherever you feel it,
Strongest.
And so I'll be silent for a while now to allow you the space to practice seeing and allowing your thoughts as they come and go.
I'll be silent for a while now to allow you the space to practice seeing and allowing your thoughts as they come and go.
Bringing your attention back to the breath each time the mind wanders and that's okay it's okay to do it multiple times per second and now a different technique you can try is the acronym ALL,
A double L and this stands for allow,
Label and let go so you can allow your thoughts,
All of them and as they come label each one what type of thought is it,
Is it a memory,
Is it a plan is it a concern,
Simply label the type and let it go allow,
Label,
Let go,
I'll leave you space to try this now you And it's okay if there are still some judgments there.
We're gonna even allow them as well.
It's not an easy practice to suddenly start allowing all thoughts.
There will be resistance and that's okay.
We're gonna send compassion to that resistant part of the mind.
There may be thoughts of I'm doing this wrong,
How can I allow that and that's okay.
Each time we allow thoughts we are giving ourselves permission.
To simply be who we are,
Exactly as we are,
Without needing to change anything.
It is the ultimate act of self-love,
Self-care,
Self-acceptance.
And now bringing your attention back into your body.
Start wiggling your fingers and your toes.
As you start to bring your attention back into the sensation of what's beneath you.
The room or place where you are.
Taking a deep breath in through the nose and releasing through the mouth.
And taking a moment to pause and practice some gratitude to yourself for practicing this today.
It is a skill that you are taking time to develop and it can be a challenging practice.
So it's important to say well done and have compassion for yourself.
As you uncover all of the layers of the mind and start to see them all and allow them all and welcome them all.
They are all part of you,
You are a beautiful expression of life.
So well done and thank you.
And see you again soon.
