Welcome to this mindfulness of thoughts and emotion meditation.
To begin,
Find a comfortable position which is reasonably upright.
Start to notice your breathing,
Not changing it in any way,
But simply noticing the inhales and exhales as they flow gently through your body.
Where do you notice the sensation of breathing most fully?
Is it around your nose or mouth?
Do you feel the expansion and contraction of your abdomen on each inhalation and exhalation?
Do you feel the expansion and contraction of your abdomen on each inhalation and exhalation?
Do you feel the expansion and contraction of your abdomen on each inhalation and exhalation?
Do you feel the expansion and contraction of your abdomen on each inhalation and exhalation?
Invite your attention now to expand outward into your entire body,
Noticing the wide open spaciousness of the spaces of your body,
As if you're breathing in to every part of your physical form.
If your mind begins to wander,
Simply return it to the image of breathing in to every part of your physical body.
If your mind begins to wander,
Simply return it to the image of breathing in to every part of your physical body.
If your mind begins to wander,
Simply return it to the image of breathing in to every part of your physical body.
If your mind begins to wander,
Simply return it to the image of breathing in to every part of your physical body.
If your mind begins to wander,
Simply return it to the image of breathing in to every part of your physical body.
If your mind begins to wander,
Simply return it to the image of breathing in to every part of your physical body.
If your mind begins to wander,
Simply return it to the image of breathing in to every part of your physical body.
Are there any parts of your body that feel stiff or uncomfortable?
If there are,
Simply feel the breath being directed there,
Calming and relaxing that part of your body fully.
If there are,
Simply feel the breath being directed there,
Calming and relaxing that part of your body fully.
Now invite your attention to expand once again to your thoughts and your feelings.
Now invite your attention to expand once again to your thoughts and emotions.
Just observe your thoughts and emotions in the same way that you did with your breathing.
Not judging or self-criticizing,
But being aware of your thoughts and emotions as they enter your mind.
You might like to think of these thoughts and emotions like clouds in the sky,
Which you can see for a moment,
But then they drift off.
Without judging,
Without describing too much meaning to your thoughts or emotions,
Simply notice them and then allow them to float away like clouds in the sky.
You may notice them and then allow them to float away like clouds in the sky.
You may notice them and then allow them to float away like clouds in the sky.
What do these emotions feel like to you?
Do they feel open or closed?
Do they feel like there's more to be unfolded within them?
For just a moment,
See if you can rest with one of the emotions that's come into your mind,
Feeling it in your body fully.
What does it feel like now to release that emotion from your body and return to choiceless awareness,
Where you allow thoughts and emotions to come into your mind and then simply float away with non-judgment?
What does it feel like now to release that emotion from your body fully?
What does it feel like now to release that emotion from your body fully?
What bubbles up in your mind as you're sitting in this state of choiceless awareness?
As before,
Anything that enters your mind can simply be noticed and observed but not judged,
And then simply and effortlessly,
Those thoughts and emotions can float away from your mind like a cloud.
What does it feel like now to release that emotion from your body fully?
What does it feel like now to release that emotion from your body fully?
What does it feel like now to release that emotion from your body fully?
What does it feel like now to release that emotion from your body fully?
What does it feel like now to release that emotion from your body fully?
What does it feel like now to release that emotion from your body fully?
What does it feel like now to release that emotion from your body fully?
What does it feel like now to release that emotion from your body fully?
As we begin to come out of this meditation now,
You might like to begin feeling movement in your body again,
Wiggling fingers and toes,
Gently moving your spine.
You might like to sit in quiet,
Conscious contemplation of any of the thoughts and emotions that have come to you today.
And when you are ready,
You can gradually open your eyes and take this new awareness back with you into your day.
You can slowly open your eyes and take this new awareness back with you into your day.
