Hello and welcome to this meditation on the observer.
In yogic and other ancient philosophies,
There's an idea of two distinct parts of the self.
One is the experiencer,
The one who is fully immersed in the thoughts,
Feelings,
And events of life.
The other is the observer.
Some consider this the soul that is able to witness the thoughts,
Feelings,
And experiences,
Almost like a third-party objective viewer.
Things in our world can move so fast,
It's easy to become completely absorbed in the experience.
This can be wonderful with things like joy,
Wonder,
And love,
And also extends to experiences of suffering.
From a recurring worry to chronic stress or even feelings of despair,
It can seem at times all-encompassing.
When we see things from the view of the observer,
We're able to detach from the sometimes charged or painful thoughts and emotions in a fully conscious way.
From this point of view,
We're able to find more peace and well-being within ourselves and choose our responses instead of simply reacting.
So today,
We're going to practice this ability that we all have to switch from the experiencer to the observer.
To start,
Make your way to a comfortable position where the spine is long and the body is relaxed yet still alert.
Open the body,
Releasing any gripping or holding.
Start at the soles of the feet and slowly work your way up,
Relaxing the legs,
Finding some ease in the hips and low back.
Find the shoulders,
The arms,
The hands.
Keep the face soft,
Even relaxing the tongue and the mouth.
As our entry and exit points into this meditation,
We'll take our awareness to the breath.
Simply notice the power you have to consciously move your awareness.
Watch your inhale come through the tip of the nose,
Move into the chest,
The belly,
And emptying out from the belly,
The chest,
And back out through the nose.
Allow yourself to take in what you experience in your external environment,
Maybe noticing sounds or sensations,
And start to label what you experience without applying a classification as good or bad.
For instance,
You might hear the sound of someone moving outside of the space you're in.
You can label that as,
I hear a person walking.
There might be noises outside your window.
You might label a sound of construction,
Or birds chirping,
Maybe even more subtle noises in the room.
I hear a clock ticking,
Or a heater running.
You can use all of your senses here,
Maybe noticing and labeling a smell or a feeling on or in the body.
You might label floor pressing into sitting bones,
Or even hair resting on the face,
Ears,
Or neck.
Maybe notice and label tingling in the foot.
We'll continue moving inward to our thoughts.
Stay curious and not critical.
Aim to simply notice the thoughts in the mind without getting caught up in them.
Continue labeling the thoughts.
For example,
A thought of,
This feels great.
You can just label as positive thought,
Or a thought like,
I'm not good at this.
Just notice and label as a negative thought or a judgment.
Continue noticing your thoughts.
What comes up?
Maybe there's a thought like,
Oh,
I need to remember to pick this up or do this today.
Simply notice it,
Label it as a worry.
As you practice observing your mind,
You learn to slow it down.
You may start to feel more at ease in your body.
If you notice the mind wandering,
That's totally normal.
Simply label mind wandering and then bring it back to observing and labeling your experiences,
Your thoughts.
You might begin to observe feelings as well.
Notice your mood.
Simply apply a label to whatever feelings come up.
Frustration,
Sadness,
Joy.
By observing and labeling your experiences,
You step out of the story that your thoughts and feelings usually create for you.
Almost like taking off the virtual reality glasses,
You step back from the chaos.
And as you step back,
You're restoring your inner equilibrium and wellbeing.
You are pausing the parts of personality that we sometimes misidentify with and coming back to the light and peace that always resides within you.
Remembering at a deep level the beautiful soul that you are and the things that do not define you.
You are not your body.
You are not your thoughts.
You are not your emotions.
You are so much more.
This is a practice you can take with you throughout your day,
Whenever you have a few moments or are feeling overwhelmed and caught up in the world you're in.
Can be especially nice in the few moments just after waking or right before bed.
The attention is like a muscle.
You can get tired,
So release any residual effort of labeling and simply notice your breath.
When you're ready,
Feel into the body,
The room,
And flutter the eyes open.
