Recognizing the unsettled mind practice.
So to start this practice,
Gently,
Taking a few moments,
To sit comfortably within our seat,
With our feet touching the ground,
With our hands resting on our laps,
And with our chin parallel to the ground.
And then inviting a sense of dignity within our position.
So maybe having that felt sense of having a string pulling us up from the top of our heads,
Elongating our spine.
So gently settling down within our posture.
And once we are sitting comfortably,
Gently letting our shoulders drop and simply relax.
And just experience being here,
Where you are.
Feeling the pressure of our body resting on the seat and the ground.
And gently becoming aware of the space around you.
And this practice is very simple.
Just allowing ourselves to be there,
Gently experiencing whatever happens when we decide to sit,
Not needing to do anything.
So with the intention to sit and do nothing.
When the gong rang,
Where was your mind?
Were you sitting there,
Doing nothing?
Or were you perhaps thinking?
Just noticing without judgment.
And gently coming back to sitting on the chair or cushion with the intention of not needing to do anything.
So to sit there and do nothing.
So gently,
Once again.
And the gong rang,
Where was your mind?
Were you sitting there,
Doing nothing?
Or was something else going on?
Perhaps thinking?
Again,
Gently,
No judgment.
Just noticing it,
Gently letting go of thinking,
If there was thinking.
And gently returning back to sitting,
Not needing to do anything.
So gently,
Once again.
Where was your mind when the gong rang?
Were you sitting there,
Doing nothing?
Or was there perhaps thinking?
Again no judgment,
We are just noticing it,
Gently letting go of thinking,
If there was thinking.
And gently returning back to sitting,
Not needing to do anything.
And gently,
Once again.
Where was your attention when the gong rang?
Were you thinking,
Or just simply sitting there,
Doing nothing?
And as we gently start coming towards the end of this practice,
This deceptively simple practice,
Spending a few moments to do a short reflection,
I made a decision to relax and do nothing,
And is doing nothing including,
Not chasing after thoughts,
And getting involved in thinking.
But it might be that before we knew it,
You might have found our self-thinking.
So what does this tell us?
So gently spending a few moments reflecting on such question.
What does this tell us?
So what might arise from this practice is that there is this strong habit,
Constantly active within the mind.
And this habit is the habit to compulsively think.
And this habit might be so strong that it's so easy to get lost in thinking.
It has the power to override my conscious processes,
Our conscious intentions,
For example,
To just sit and do nothing.
And this habit of compulsive thinking is what we mean by the unsettled mind.
And recognizing and becoming familiar and acquainted with the unsettled mind is the first stage in our training for the cultivation of mindfulness.
And then gently,
In your own time and in your own way,
On the sound of the bell,
Gently ending the practice.
