One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hello,
Hello and welcome.
We are going to be doing an observation-based meditation today.
And why I love observation-based meditations is it's really helping to learn how to separate our thoughts from how we currently feel and how we currently show up.
So this is really useful when you're feeling stressed,
When you're feeling overwhelmed,
When you're feeling anxious,
Or when you have the kind of spiral of thoughts,
Including things like body shame,
Negative self-talk,
Or catastrophizing.
So please get into a position that feels comfortable for you,
Whether that's sitting down,
Lying down,
Grabbing a chair.
And just start to close your eyes,
Soften your gaze.
And let's come into our breath,
Feeling your belly rise with your inhale and fall with your exhale.
Let's first just start by noticing how your body feels right now in this moment.
You're sitting on the floor on a chair.
What does that surface feel like against your skin or against your clothing?
What does the temperature of the room feel like against your face?
Depending on where your hands are,
Can you feel the texture of your mat or the texture of the floor or the carpet or maybe of your clothing,
Your leggings?
All trying to do this without judgment,
Without inserting our opinions,
But just noticing.
And as you continue to breathe and just focus on being present in your body,
Your thoughts are going to wander in and out.
And this is where we're going to practice noticing them,
Acknowledging them,
And also letting them continue to float away,
Making the choice to keep coming back to our body,
To keep coming back to our breath,
And not get sucked into the spiral of the thought.
So I find it's often helpful if you want to think of a visualization that works for you.
I often think of my thoughts as clouds floating by in the sky on a bright,
Sunny day.
They come into my view.
I can look at the cloud,
Notice its shape,
Its size,
Its color,
And then gently let it drift off the other side of my vision.
Maybe it's not clouds.
Maybe you want to think of your thoughts like the rolling waves of the ocean that start far away and gently get closer and bigger.
And then they reach their surface.
They reach the shore and gently roll back into the ocean,
To the water.
If you like the water theme,
Maybe you want to think of them as boats floating on the horizon,
Coming in and out of you as you sit and watch from the shore.
Or maybe if you like people watching,
You can think of yourself sitting in a park,
Watching your thoughts walk by like the different people that you might see on any given day.
And I want you to be kind and patient with yourself,
Because there's no wrong way to do this meditation today.
There's no wrong way to show up.
And if you notice yourself getting sucked into a thought,
Getting pulled away from your body and your breath,
All you have to do is continue to notice,
Become aware that you've drifted away,
And make the choice to come back.
Come back to your body.
Come back to your breath.
It doesn't matter how many times you need to do it today.
Each day will look a little bit different.
But every time we do it,
It counts as a win.
Every time we notice and have the opportunity to be intentional with our thoughts,
Every time we make the choice to come back to our bodies,
To come back to our breath,
We are being successful in our meditation.
We are building our muscles of mindfulness,
Our resiliency,
And our ability to choose how we show up and what we focus on.
Your thoughts are separate from who you are.
Your thoughts are very real,
And they don't have to be your truth.
They are temporary,
And you can choose something else to be your reality.
Feeling the belly rise with your inhale and fall with your exhale.
At any time,
If you want to move the body,
Whether that's gentle stretching or just swaying side to side,
You always have permission.
This is also the perfect opportunity to check in with your body.
Are you clenching your jaw?
Can we relax our shoulders down and back?
Can you continue to pull your breath down into your belly,
Thinking about lengthening through our spine,
Grounding down through our hips or our feet,
Knowing that this type of mindful observation is there for us any time we need it throughout the rest of our day today?
It doesn't have to be a specific seated or still meditation like this.
You can just take a moment to close your eyes,
Soften your gaze,
Maybe put your hands on your body,
And come back to your breath.
Come back to the present moment and try to notice the thoughts.
In order to feel differently,
In order to choose differently,
We first need to notice.
We need to be aware.
If you want to continue focusing on your breath,
Know that you absolutely have permission to do so.
Otherwise,
If you're ready,
You can gently call in a little bit of movement.
Maybe that's wiggling the fingers,
Wiggling the toes,
Rolling the shoulders down and back,
Rolling the head and neck,
Or even squishing up your nose,
Or wiggling your eyebrows up and down,
Coming into a nice big smile.
And let's take a few big,
Deep body breaths.
So inhale,
Reaching yourself long and tall.
Exhale,
Letting the hands relax.
Let's do that same thing one more time.
Big,
Deep breath in.
Exhale,
Relax.
And when you're ready,
You can gently open your eyes once again and choose any sort of movement that feels good for you and your body.
If you have time,
This is an excellent meditation to pair with a little bit of journaling and self-reflection,
Maybe noticing what thoughts came up during this time and thinking about how you want to choose to show up throughout the rest of your day today.
If you have any questions,
Comments,
Concerns,
Feel free to let me know.
And hopefully,
I see you again for a meditation or guided session soon.
