I Notice And I'm Listening

Are you aware of the running commentary in your head all day long? What are you saying to yourself? You DO know you're listening, right? Join me in this meditation to slow down and notice ... notice the thoughts, the judgements, and then see how the commentary makes you feel in your body. If we can begin with the words "I notice ...," then perhaps we can find the opening for objectivity, compassion, and a sense of humor.

*Photo by Mihnea Stoian

Transcript

Hi,

I'd like to offer a brief meditation on self-talk.

As I work with client after client and I notice these same things in myself,

We have this constant internal dialogue and a lot of it is very judgmental,

Negative,

Critical,

Not good enough.

One day I'll get there kind of mentality and I can see it clearly in my clients and others can point it out in me,

But so often we are fish that don't know we're swimming in water.

And so I think a large part of meditation is that slowing down,

Noticing,

Observing without judgment,

With great curiosity and tenderness,

Just to see this mind stream and what we're living under,

These rules that we have made for ourselves or that we've adopted by society,

Our parents,

Religion,

Whatever it might be.

So I just wanted to offer a brief meditation that we slow down and notice what we're thinking,

What we're saying to ourselves in our head.

Do we like what we're saying and do we like how it feels?

And maybe we can't do too much about it at the moment except notice and maybe that's all we need for today.

So briefly,

If you could just kind of find a posture that feels comfortable to you,

I'll ring the gong and let's just meditate on this for just a couple of minutes.

So just slowing down for a moment here,

Finding your body,

Feeling your feet on the floor,

Noticing your spine,

Allowing your spine to be upright,

It's holding your body in place where it is but we don't want to be too rigid,

So then allowing some sway to your spine,

You're flexible.

You can find the place that feels comfortable for you and you might have to adjust that five seconds later.

Your spine is also your boundaries,

Again,

Strong but flexible.

Being aware of how your body is in this moment,

Nothing is excluded.

We're also not needing to manufacture anything,

Just what is here right now?

Do you have a slight headache,

Is there tension in your forehead,

The sides of your eyes,

Does your throat feel a little tight,

Any pain in your back or lower back,

Knees,

Ankles,

Just acknowledging how your body is feeling and then please,

Let's give some time to what's working.

Are you able to sit up?

Are you dressed?

It's okay if you're not.

Acknowledging all the ways that your body is working,

That you're even able to sit here and listen to a meditation right now.

So many things had to come together intentionally for you to be able to be doing this right now.

So can we honor that for a minute?

Your heart is beating,

You're breathing,

Your mind is working,

Sometimes in overdrive,

Sometimes not in very helpful ways,

And a lot of times in very helpful ways.

And after a feeling of groundedness of just the resources of your own body in the place that you're in,

The ability to even attend to yourself in this way.

Now moving on to our breath,

Experiencing the inhale and exhale.

Notice the temperature of the air in your nose or mouth,

Out your nose or mouth,

Registering how that air feels inside your system,

How it feels to exhale and let it go,

That little bit of space after you have breathed out before you breathe back in again,

That space at the top before you exhale,

Riding the waves.

And then moving into our minds,

Noticing the thoughts that are in our heads all day long that maybe we're not even paying attention to.

Maybe we're just the fish in the water,

But for these few moments,

Let's see if we can notice the messaging.

There might be a lot of criticism,

Judgment,

I should have done it this way,

They should do it that way.

And today I specifically want you to notice messages like,

I am a mess,

It's chaotic,

They'll never change,

I'll never change,

This is impossible,

I'm overwhelmed,

Kind of these declarative statements that almost seem to have no hope in them.

And I do realize hope can be a dangerous thing,

Because then some shift might have to happen,

Some change will have to occur,

Something more might be required of you,

You might not be up for that,

Or society doesn't seem up for it.

So again,

We're just noticing this whole thought process with some kind of care,

Observational quality,

Always with kindness and curiosity,

Oh,

Is that what I've been thinking?

And then just see how those thoughts set up in your system.

Do they feel constricting,

Limiting,

Do they feel expansive,

Hopeful,

Allowing?

Only you can decide that,

Only you can witness it,

Only you can see how it is working inside of your body,

And what it then propels you to do or not do next.

So I really just want to invite a noticing of the thought process that you're just peeking in on these phrases that you might say to yourself,

They might not even be fully materialized,

And some of you know very clearly what you say to yourself,

And maybe don't see your way around it,

And that's okay.

Today,

We're just noticing,

And of course,

All this is just brain activity,

Past experiences,

Ways we've encoded our experience and what we've made them mean,

So I'm not trying to dismiss any of our life experience,

Maybe have it be a bit suspect as something that you want to think about and wear the rest of your life if it doesn't serve you,

If it doesn't help you feel aligned with yourself,

Body,

Mind,

And spirit,

If it doesn't help you feel connected to yourself,

Or caring for other people,

Or light-hearted at all.

We're just noticing that we are always listening to what we're saying inside of our heads.

I'm just inviting you to use this phrase,

I notice,

Oh,

I notice,

I notice what I made that mean,

I notice how I'm feeling right now,

I notice how that interaction with that person made me feel,

Wow,

That felt good,

I want more of that,

Or I notice what I just engaged in,

That felt terrible,

I want less of that,

And I don't know where you'll go with that information,

But let yourself register that information,

Observing what you think,

How you take it,

What happens in your body,

How you digest it,

And ultimately how it makes you feel.

This is your life experiment,

So we're just kind of collecting the data at the end of the experiment,

Any particular interaction,

Even with yourself,

With your environment,

With your food,

With your drink,

And I always have to put a plug in for dancing,

If you have listened to music,

If you've moved your body,

If you've clapped,

If you've drummed,

If you've sang to the song on a radio,

If you've heard music in the grocery store and found yourself tapping,

Are you also noticing these moments,

How does your body feel when you let in the music,

Or hum,

Or whistle,

Do you feel more playful,

Do you feel more innocent,

Do you feel more sensual,

And you might have many other activities that you participate in that just light you up,

Make you feel open,

Maybe connected to nature,

The cycles of the moon.

Just a few more deep breaths,

Allowing yourself to be where you are,

How you are,

Who you are in this moment,

We're not really grasping onto anything in particular,

We're just noticing the flow of ideas,

Thoughts,

Who we say we are,

Again with curiosity,

Kindness,

Hopefully a sense of humor,

A little twinkle in your eye,

All might not be as it seems,

Maybe there's room for more,

More expansion,

More innocence,

More laughter,

More mischief,

So the invitation is just,

I notice,

I notice what I'm thinking,

I notice how it feels,

I notice how it works itself through my system,

I notice what I then do next because of that thought,

I notice what I want more of,

I notice what I want less of,

So just know that you're always listening,

You're listening to yourself,

Do you like what you're hearing,

Do you like how it makes you feel,

So thank you for your time to slow down,

Pay attention to yourself,

Let's do one or two more deep breaths,

And I'll ring the gong to end,

Another deep breath,

And just notice yourself now,

You've taken a few moments to slow down,

Pay attention,

See what you see,

Feel what you feel,

Attend to yourself,

Thank you for the privilege of hanging out with me for a few minutes and doing this with me,

With yourself,

We are all mirrors of each other,

And the more often we can do these kinds of activities,

Mindfulness,

Meditation,

Being aware of who we are,

How we present,

How we feel,

I think the world will be a better place,

In my humble opinion,

So just feel a moment of stillness before you continue on with your day,

And I'll ring the gong,

I wish you well,

And I hope you enjoy listening in on what you're thinking,

Because you're always listening,

Bye for now.