This meditation practice is a technique in which we learn to become aware of our thoughts.
We learn to observe our thoughts and gain a bit of distance from them.
Over time we recognize that we are not our thoughts.
We are the awareness that observes our thoughts.
Take some time to become steady and to become comfortable in your posture.
Once you find your comfortable seat,
Remain in stillness throughout the practice.
Begin now to become aware of the sensations of touch.
Feel the lower part of your body touching the floor or chair beneath.
Feel sensations of weight or pressure.
The different parts of the legs touching each other.
Feel the touch of your hands to your knees or lap.
Feel the pressure and the touch of your clothing to your skin.
Feel the touch of the air to your skin.
If there is anything that you can smell,
Experience that now.
If there is anything you can taste inside of the mouth,
Experience this.
Now begin to listen to the different sounds or noises.
Listen to the most distant sound you can hear and then find a new one.
Keep moving through the sounds,
Drawing the awareness and the sense of hearing closer and closer.
Keep listening.
Be attentive.
If the mind wants to turn inward,
Turn it back out to the sounds.
And finally now,
Hear the sound of your own breath.
Watch the breath.
Listen to it with total attention.
Awareness of the breath,
The breather.
Be the witness to both.
And now let go of observing the breath.
Begin now to observe the mind and the thoughts in the same way you observe the sounds,
The sensations,
The smells,
The tastes and the breath.
Observe the mind thinking.
Allow the thoughts to be completely free.
No suppression.
Try to resist the temptation to get involved with the thoughts,
To analyze the thoughts,
To merge with the thoughts.
Be the witness.
Begin to notice as one thought begins and another ends,
How one thought may lead to another.
Be aware that the mind is thinking.
Stay present.
Remain uninvolved.
And now take a short rest from observing the thoughts in this way.
And become aware of the space in front of the closed eyes,
The infinite space of the mind.
Observe this space.
Watch carefully.
Witness anything at all that arises in this space.
The thoughts may go on in the background.
This is fine.
And shift the awareness now back to the thoughts,
Observing spontaneous thoughts once again.
Begin to notice the quality of the thoughts,
Whether the thoughts are of the past,
Remembering,
Analyzing,
Wishing things had gone differently,
Whether the thoughts are of the future,
Projecting,
Imagining,
Fantasizing,
Worrying,
Or whether the thoughts are of the present moment,
Perhaps focused on an uncomfortable sensation or an irritating sound.
Take note of the quality of the thoughts.
At observing the spontaneous flow of the thoughts,
You may be able to observe the spaces between thoughts.
You may be able to experience moments,
Glimpses of inner silence,
Thoughtlessness.
Let go of observing the thoughts shift back to the space of the mind.
Notice this internal shift of awareness from the thinking mind to the expansive space in front of the closed eyes.
And now let go of this space of the mind.
And take a moment to consider something that has been perhaps weighing heavily on your mind,
A topic,
A topic that gives rise to strong emotions.
If you choose,
You can bring up a topic that creates strong positive emotions of joy or gratitude,
Excitement,
Love.
But you have the option to bring up a pattern of thought that creates within you strong emotions perhaps of fear or anxiety,
Self judgment,
Frustration.
And choose this topic carefully according to what you need right now.
And once you have this topic,
Think every conceivable thought around it.
Focus fully on it.
If unrelated thoughts come,
Let them go.
Explore this topic fully.
Stay focused.
If repetitive thoughts come,
That's fine.
If unrelated thoughts come,
Dismiss them.
And now let go of this pattern of thought.
Let go of this topic.
Completely drop it.
Completely let it go.
Completely return to observing spontaneous thoughts.
Let go of this.
Focus fully on it.
And now return your awareness to your breath.
Remember how finely your breath may be flowing,
How it may feel as though you're barely breathing at all.
Consciously now deepen your breath,
Shifting from a natural breath to a conscious breath.
As you deepen your breath,
Feel your breath bringing energy,
Wakefulness into your body.
Allow your breath to be the bridge between the internal world and the external world,
Guiding you back,
Guiding you back to your body,
Guiding you back to this room.
Become aware of your body in this room.
Be aware of the space you occupy,
Your height and your width,
Your depth and your weight.
Become fully present to your physical body.
Become oriented to the room around you.
Know that you have been practicing meditation and know that the practice is now complete.
When you're ready,
Begin to wiggle your fingers and your toes.
When you feel completely present,
Softly open your eyes.
