Watching Thoughts Pass Like Traffic

Listen to this meditation to help you have a sense of perspective on your thoughts - you don't need to engage with them or direct them, you can just watch them passing, like watching traffic going past on a road. You can't stop the thoughts, but you can take this perspective, which will make them feel a lot less troublesome to you!

Transcript

Welcome to a seven minute practice of imagining your thoughts are a bit like traffic on a busy road. So to begin with, Making sure your body is comfortable. Perhaps moving a little bit. Releasing any tension that will release easily. And letting your eyes close softly. Finding a place where you can feel the breath moving easily and clearly. And simply noticing and in-breath. Noticing an out-breath. Noticing the in-breath. To see the out-breath So just as best you can staying with the breath for a moment or two. And you're probably noticing that as well as awareness of breathing, There's quite a few thoughts in your mind. So this is completely normal. Most people's minds are really full of thinking. What's important really is not how many thoughts there are, But how we relate to them. Do we have to follow every one? Do we have to believe every single thought that comes into our minds? How would it be to step back a little bit and get some perspective? So the breath can be like a place to stand with your attention. So if you've lost the breath, Then coming back there now. And then seeing if you can notice the next load of thoughts that come into your mind. Instead of getting really involved, Is it possible to notice? Here's a do list. Oh, Here's some memories of yesterday. Here I am rehearsing a conversation. Here I am worrying about something. Noticing what happens when we get a bit of perspective like this. Noticing as well of their patterns. Do we have particular tendencies towards one kind of thinking? Maybe the same thought keeps coming back again and again. We don't push it away. We don't have to direct the traffic or stop the traffic. What we're trying to do is simply to notice what's there. And just simply to stand at the side of the road and watch. You might even like to think of particular kinds of thought as particular kinds of cars. Maybe the worry thoughts are red cars and the memories are silver cars, Or whatever. But the main thing is how we're relating to thinking, So we're just sitting back and watching it. And the breath kind of gives us a place to stand with our attention. We don't have to stop the traffic. We don't even have to direct the traffic. You just have to watch the traffic. Knowing all this mental activity is just mental activity. Some of it is doubtless useful, Some of it is doubtless not that useful. A lot of it you've probably seen before. And just see what happens when you don't engage with it so much. When you simply sit back and observe, Noticing patterns, Trends, Tendencies. And remembering as best you can to keep the breath in mind as your vantage point, Your observation point. You will lose this again and again. It's fine, You just come back. This happens to everyone. And now dropping the image of traffic in your mind and simply coming to breathing just as it is. Simply feeling the soothing rhythm of the breath in the body. Breathing in. Breathing out. Weeding in. Breathing out. And as we come to the end of the practice, Starting to move gently. Cracking open your eyes. And as you go into the rest of your day, Perhaps considering getting some perspective on all that mental activity.