Welcome mindful writers.
Today we're going to practice a formal mindfulness of thought meditation.
And what makes it formal is that once we've settled into the posture,
We make a real attempt to not move or adjust in any way.
That's the invitation,
At least.
Of course,
If you need to move,
By all means,
Take care of yourself.
But the the idea here is to try to notice the impulse to move and then see if you can sit with it until it passes because it will.
So let's go ahead and get started.
Come into a seated position where you can be upright and alert but still relaxed.
Closing your eyes if it's comfortable for you.
Taking a moment to notice yourself in this position and adjust now.
Find a seat where you can be comfortable for 15 minutes.
Notice the feet on the floor,
Bottom on the cushion.
Adjust the posture if you need to.
And then as we drop the shoulders down and away from the ears and relax the belly,
We begin the formal part of the practice.
I invite you to try your best to not move.
Let's start with a nice deep inhale.
Letting it go in your own time.
Taking a couple more deep breaths.
Letting the exaggerated sensations of breathing bring your attention deeply inward.
As we start to let go of our worries about the future,
Thoughts about the past,
Just be right here right now.
And once you've taken those few deeper breaths,
Letting go of any control around the breathing,
Letting it find its natural rhythm.
And doing our best to maintain the awareness that we cultivated with the deeper breath as the sensations become more subtle.
And then using that awareness as a gateway into the rest of the body.
Checking in.
How are you today?
And how do you know?
Trying to bring as much acceptance as you can to whatever you find today in your body.
Focusing more on the how do you know part.
And then however you find yourself today,
Let's bring in a bit of gratitude for the body and all that it does for us.
Even when things aren't perfect,
We can still take a moment to appreciate that we're well enough to enjoy this practice.
To simply sit here and take a few deep breaths.
It's definitely worth a moment of gratitude.
So we send some thanks into the body.
And then also notice if the gratitude practice shifts our awareness of the present moment at all.
Do you feel any differently when you consciously bring in gratitude?
You may not,
And that's okay,
Too.
But just get curious,
Notice.
And then we'll let go of the gratitude practice as well.
And turn our attention towards an anchor.
You can come back to the breath if that's comfortable for you.
But if focusing on the breath makes it feel tight or uncomfortable in any way,
You can shift your attention to a different physical sensation in the body.
Or turn your attention completely outside the body to the sounds in the room.
And I'll give you a hint,
Too,
In terms of this formal practice.
If you have a physical sensation that begins to nag at you and draw your attention,
Sometimes it can be interesting to let that thing become the point of focus for the meditation.
So if you have an itch,
Turn towards it,
Focus on it.
What does it feel like?
Does it shift?
Does it move?
And then notice if it starts to lessen or get more intense.
And what often happens is that when that becomes the point of focus,
Eventually your mind wanders.
And by the time you notice that your mind has wandered,
That itch has dissipated,
Or the need to move your foot has dissipated.
It can be very interesting to explore.
So just keep that in mind as we go forward.
So we rest our mind,
Our attention on our anchor.
We let all other thoughts drift by as best we can,
With the intention of noticing when we get caught up in a thought.
Then we let that thought go,
Come back to the anchor and begin again.
Check in with your mind,
Just notice if it's wandered.
Come back to the anchor if you need to.
Again,
Check in with your mind,
Just notice if it's wandered.
Come back to the anchor if you need to.
Happy writing,
My friends.
