Thoughts are a part of everybody's human experience.
You don't need to push them away in order to practice.
Learning to bring your mind back from its thoughts is the practice itself.
But how do you let go of thoughts once you've pulled them in?
This exercise offers one way to kind of unhook yourself from those thoughts and simply let them be,
All without pushing the thoughts away or denying that they exist.
You can be aware of the thinking mind whilst also remaining unattached from it.
So to start this practice,
Let's settle into a seated posture as you feel your back and legs supported.
Just find yourself comfortable.
You may rest your hands on your thighs.
And as you take a deep breath in through the nose,
Then out through the mouth,
Just gently close the eyes.
Just notice the energy in the mind and the body.
Just as you continue to inhale and exhale,
Breathing in and breathing out.
As you come into a period of mindfulness practice,
You may notice the energy of your day resting in the body and mind.
So you may see this by the mind being active,
Or maybe the body is feeling worked up.
You might notice a bit of lingering anxiety,
Or maybe it's some strain you feel from the day that you've previously had,
Or maybe the one that you've got coming up.
Just pay attention to what is going on within the body and within the mind.
It may be any thoughts,
Any feelings,
Any emotions,
Or maybe some physical strain.
Just think of a shaken snow globe with all that energy swirling around.
As you rest the little snowflakes,
They would fall gently to the ground.
Now think of yourself as a snow globe and every little snowflake as a thought.
And then in this way,
Just watch as each and every snowflake falls to the ground.
Now do not force yourself to calm down or to relax.
Just let it happen slowly and organically.
And then after a minute or so,
Just bring your attention to the breath within the body.
So for now,
Just focusing on the snow globe.
Just the little tiny snowflakes representing each thought.
And as we draw our attention to the breath,
Just taking a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
And as we continue to focus our attention on the breath,
Just choose one spot where the breath is felt easily.
So this may be the centre of the chest,
It may be the abdomen,
The shoulders,
The rise and fall,
Or maybe the nostrils as you breathe in.
Just observe the physical sensation of the body breathing.
Just observing the breath.
And whenever the mind does wander,
Just gently bringing the attention back to the breath.
Just think once again of the snow globe visualisation.
And as once again as thoughts begin to rise up,
Just observe as they slowly settle back down.
So now let's open our awareness to include the thoughts and also your general mental state.
Instead of returning to the breath when the mind wanders,
Just notice what the mind is doing.
You may notice yourself planning,
Fantasising,
Maybe figuring out or replaying past experiences.
Whatever you observe the mind doing,
Just let it be.
When you recognise a thought,
What happens?
Now try not to encourage the thought,
But don't push it away either.
Just allow it to be.
Allow it to settle.
And just allow it to go on its own.
See if you can watch the passing thought as it follows its natural trajectory and leaves the mind.
And then once again just return to the breath and patiently wait until another thought arises.
Before then just noticing it,
Watching the thought and coming back to the breath again.
Continuing with mindfulness of the breath and the thoughts.
Notice when you're lost in thought or when the mind wanders for some considerable time.
And remember throughout this practice,
If self-judgment does arise,
Just notice that just as you would of any other thought.
And remember that you can always return to the breath for a few moments to ground yourself back into the practice.
So as we now just bring our awareness back into the room,
Just feeling ourselves seated on the chair,
Our hands on our thighs.
As we take one last deep breath in through our nose and out through our mouth.
Before opening our eyes and bringing our full attention back into the room.
