This is the third of ten mindfulness practices designed to help you increase emotional balance and presence in the current moment.
This is a practice of observing and accepting thoughts.
Thoughts are difficult to mindfully observe because they're constant and we habitually get lost in them.
It's also common to believe our negative thoughts and the stories we attach to them,
And this frequently leads to dissatisfaction and suffering.
This practice is aimed at helping you develop the part of you that can observe your thoughts.
It will also increase your ability to become non-reactive to thoughts.
In the first two practices,
We returned your attention back to the body and the breath any time you noticed the mind had wandered.
In this practice,
We're going to do something a little bit different.
You'll let your mind wander,
Notice where it goes,
Become aware of the thoughts or the images or the memories,
And just acknowledge them without trying to change them into something else and without trying to understand the story that they're telling.
Let's begin by bringing your attention to your breath.
Take a deep,
Intentional breath and let it go.
Now,
Bring your attention to the breath and notice its natural rhythms.
Widen your awareness to what it feels like to sit where you're sitting.
Notice the sensations of touch and pressure where your feet connect to the floor,
That sense of grounding.
You may move your feet and press them into the floor a bit.
Widen your attention to your thoughts and notice that there's a constant,
Steady stream of thoughts,
Always occurring one after the other.
And we'll practice observing thoughts through a visualization exercise by imagining you're sitting next to a slow-moving stream.
You may notice the sounds of water,
Blue skies,
Green grass or trees.
Notice a very peaceful setting where you're at rest,
Observing this slow-moving stream.
As you look at the stream,
You begin to notice that there are leaves that slowly drift by,
One by one.
Each time you notice a thought,
Place that on a leaf and observe it and notice it.
As it moves out of sight or as your mind has a new thought,
Place that thought on the next leaf and watch it drift by.
You might observe that it's easier to see a word or an image.
It really doesn't matter how you see it.
Just become aware of the thought,
Observe it,
Place it on the leaf and notice it as it drifts by.
As you continue the practice,
See if you can observe and be aware that there's a part of you that is separate from your thoughts,
A part of you that can notice your thoughts and notices that you are not your thoughts.
You might start to label the thoughts.
You might notice thinking or remembering or planning or worrying or reminiscing.
You might notice a pattern to some of those thoughts.
We'll practice this in silence for one more minute,
Being aware of your thoughts,
Placing them on the leaf,
Watching it drift by and just allowing it to be there with acceptance.
As we come to the end of this exercise,
Take a deep intentional breath and let it go.
Bring non-judgmental compassion to your experience.
Whether it was challenging,
Whether it was relaxing,
The outcome really doesn't matter.
Widen your attention to notice what it feels like to sit where you're sitting.
When you're ready,
Open your eyes and see if you can bring the sense of observing into this moment and carry it with you into the next moments of your day.
