Begin by settling into a comfortable position,
Feet flat on the floor,
Shoulders relaxed.
You can either soften your gaze or close your eyes,
Whatever is most comfortable for you.
Begin by noticing the breath,
Watching each inhalation and each exhalation.
Notice the sensations of breathing wherever they feel most prominent for you.
Simply watching each in-breath and out-breath.
There's nothing here to be fixed.
There's no need to change anything.
Simply observe.
Take a moment to imagine yourself walking through the woods.
Perhaps these are familiar woods.
Perhaps they're new to you.
Noticing the sunshine slanting through the branches overhead.
Smelling the fresh soil and the clean air.
As you continue your walk,
You come upon a stream.
Pause here,
Settling by the stream for a moment.
Now imagine as you watch the stream that each thought entering your awareness is like a leaf gently floating down the stream.
Simply watching each leaf as it floats down the stream at its own pace.
You may find with some leaves there is an urge to pick up the leaf,
To engage with it,
To look at it,
To follow that trail and get lost in the trance of thinking.
Once you notice you have become distracted by a particular leaf,
Simply return to watching it float downstream.
You may find yourself wishing to push away other leaves,
To wash them down the stream,
To hurry them along.
Simply notice any urges that may come up as you watch the leaves and see if you can allow them to move at their own pace.
As you watch the leaves come and go,
Some leaves may show up and speed down the stream relatively quickly.
Others may get caught in little whirlpools or eddies coming back up over and over as you continue to sit.
That's okay.
Simply noticing,
Observing with curiosity the behavior of each leaf.
You may also find yourself getting caught up in judgment of each leaf.
This leaf is good,
That leaf is bad,
That leaf is really bad.
You might even judge the absence or presence of leaves.
There's so many,
There's not enough.
If you find yourself getting caught up in judgment,
Remember that these two are simply thoughts.
They're simply leaves.
Allow those leaves to float down the stream with all the other leaves.
Again,
Just observing with curiosity and gentleness.
If at any point you don't see any leaves on the stream at all,
That's okay too.
Simply continue watching the stream,
Maybe touching base with the breath.
Taking the next few breaths just to hold the space,
To continue watching the leaves as they float down the stream.
To hold curiosity and acceptance as you notice each leaf for just what it is.
A leaf,
A thought,
Nothing more and nothing less.
Now just taking another moment here to simply return to observing the breath.
Noticing each in-breath and each out-breath.
Then returning to the room whenever you're ready.
Opening your eyes,
Stretching if you need to.
Taking the sense of intentionality and groundedness with you as you continue through the rest of your day.
