Welcome to the journey of our inner senses.
In the next few moments,
We'll aim to explore the inner catalog of our mind through various visualization techniques and writing,
So make sure you have something handy to write with today.
In yoga psychology,
Chitta is often described as a storehouse of our emotions,
Our memories and impressions in our mind.
It's where everything we perceive through our senses is stored in catalog.
So begin now by closing your eyes,
Coming down to your meditation position,
Whether it's on a cushion,
Your couch,
Or a chair.
Let your eyes gently close or perhaps look down to the floor with your eyes a bit open.
Expand the breath a little bit more so you can feel just a bit more present,
Breathing in fully and a gentle sigh out the mouth.
As you breathe in again,
Imagine this vast,
Infinite library within your mind.
Just imagine that you're in the library of yourself.
What would that look like?
This is your chitta,
Where every sight and sound and feeling and experience you've ever encountered is here.
The next breath or two,
Just visualize this special corner in this library.
This special corner is where there are specific imprints that are significant experiences,
Both positive and challenging.
And they've become the building blocks of your habits,
Your reactions,
Your triggers.
These are samaskaras.
Consider samaskaras as the deepest,
Most profound books in this library.
They are deep grooves etched in your mind,
Formed by repeated patterns,
Often unconscious to us.
Take another moment here,
Just grounding yourself,
Breathing in this visualization of your inner library.
Now imagine just sitting down now in this inner library.
Maybe you find a chair,
Cushion,
A nice little nook for yourself here.
Start to now bring the attention to the screen of your mind.
Going to move through various rapid-moving visuals.
As I move through these rapid-moving visuals,
Notice what comes up to the screen of your mind.
Waves crashing,
Children laughing,
A gentle breeze brushing along leaves,
The Mediterranean Sea,
The color of your childhood home,
A sound of your own law,
Your favorite song playing on the radio,
A hug,
Ceiling of bedsheets snuggling up towards your neck,
The sound of wood creaking,
A gentle stream of water opening the door of your home,
The sound of rattling keys,
Turning on lights,
A taxi cab,
A pink elephant.
Take a moment now to once again visualize yourself in this library that you are,
Where you sat down.
Now start to bring attention to now the physical self.
Maybe wiggle a couple fingers or a little bit of your toes.
You're going to gently blink your eyes open and start writing a couple things down.
It's nothing specific,
No one's going to read this.
What was your experience like to hear some of those visuals?
Are there any profound memories that came up,
Sights or sounds,
Specifics?
As you're jotting things down,
It might not even make sense,
So don't worry about the right sentence structure or whether you're writing in paragraphs,
It can be a bullet point and then one word and then you're all of a sudden drawing a little image.
The point is to simply reflect on this experience.
Rapid moving visuals are a great way to play a little bit with the unconscious mind.
They're somewhat random,
They're unexpected,
And things generally surface up from these different visuals,
So explore a little bit more,
About a minute or two in your writing practice here without judgment of what came up.
Feel free to keep going if you feel like you're really in your flow or you really found some of these visuals impactful in any way.
Otherwise,
You can pause or end your writing practice now,
Take a nice big breath in through your nose,
Let it all go out the mouth,
Ending with a nice clean slate,
And I will see you in the next session.
