The Practice Of Observing Our Mind

I invite you to join me as we explore the profoundly powerful and liberating practice of observing our minds and the content that flows through them.
Becoming aware is the very first step to consciously allowing for healing to happen, thus allowing us to keep moving along the Path to Freedom.

Transcript

Blessings and welcome to the path to freedom.

My name is as always Daniel Ruccio and also as always very grateful and honored that you're choosing to tune in,

That you're choosing to join me in a moment of expanding our consciousness,

In a moment of allowing for ever greater and grander expressions of who and what we are to emerge,

Peace and love and joy and harmony and abundance and wholeness to well up from within us.

These are divine qualities,

These are the truth and essence of who and what we are,

And through doing this work,

Through tuning into this space,

Through walking the path of freedom,

We allow for more of that to well up from within us,

Regardless of conditions and circumstances and regardless of happenings in the world and our perceptions about them.

So today's topic is the art of observing and witnessing,

And this is a beautiful practice that basically boils down to us becoming observants or witnesses,

Is it called witnesses?

I don't know.

Of us observing and witnessing,

That I do know,

Of us observing and witnessing the thought forms that are flowing through our consciousness.

We've talked before about how consciousness is like the ocean,

That we are consciousness and through that consciousness,

Thoughts flow,

Thought forms flow.

We become aware,

We experience judgments,

Opinions,

Thought forms,

Thoughts as to what should and should not be,

Fears,

Worries and doubts,

But none of them are who and what we are.

We,

Just like the ocean,

The ocean exists.

It's a body of water and then in that body of water there's a lot of stuff.

There's a lot of content.

There's fish,

There are mammals,

There are seaweed,

There are plants,

There are corals,

There are rocks and mountains,

There's pollution,

There's submarines,

There's plastic,

There's oil,

There's all this content in the ocean.

But the content is not the ocean.

But the ocean is the container in which all this content exists.

And so we are sort of the container.

The container is obviously finite,

It has a beginning and an ending,

But we as spiritual beings,

As divine expressions of spirit,

We do not have a beginning and ending.

Consciousness is infinite,

But we,

So we are consciousness and then there is content in that consciousness.

And so this beautiful practice of observing the content,

Observing the thought forms,

Observing the habitual ways,

Habitual trains of thought that flow through the consciousness,

Is a beautiful way of us allowing ourselves to become conscious,

Ever more expanding conscious participants in the unfoldment of our lives.

In the sense that the more aware we become,

If we want to change anything,

If we want to allow for healing of anything to happen,

Awareness is always the beginning.

Awareness is always the beginning.

So finding a way,

Learning to observe our minds,

Judgment without opinions,

Without labeling the content as either good or bad,

Or trying to describe it,

Just observing it,

Looking at it,

Witnessing it,

Allows us to be able to make a choice.

It's been said that awareness,

That choice is a function of awareness,

Which simply means that when we become aware of the thought forms that habitually flow through our consciousness,

We now,

But only now,

Have the opportunity,

The possibility,

The ability to choose something else,

To choose to think something else,

To choose to entertain another perception,

To choose to take a higher vantage point,

To choose for a greater perception to emerge.

So here's the practice,

As I invite it,

As I practice it.

There are many ways to go about this,

But this is how I do it.

So first of all,

Coming back to the nowness in this moment,

To the now moment,

Coming back to the breath,

Allowing the breath to be my anchor,

To be the foundation from which I move.

And this has been a long practice of mine,

And I'm not saying that I have perfected it,

I'm not saying that I'm always able to do this,

But this is my practice,

To have part of my consciousness,

Part of my attention,

I sort of divide my attention,

And a part of it I turn toward my breath,

So that I'm always,

So that I am not always,

Because I'm not,

So that I am seeking to have my attention partly on my breath,

Which allows me to be centered,

Which allows me to be grounded,

Which allows me to be anchored in the nowness of this moment,

In the now moment,

Which has nothing to do with time,

Which is beyond time,

Which is transcendent of time.

And from that space of being here and now,

Fully anchored here and now,

I just listen to the mind,

Kind of like when,

You know,

Perhaps you've been in the kitchen,

You've been preparing a meal,

Or you've been doing something,

And you have the radio on in the background.

It might not be turned up all that high,

But it's sort of a soft background noise,

And you're sort of semi-listening to what they're saying,

Or the music that they're playing on the radio.

And then,

All of a sudden,

You become aware of this one song,

This particular song that you absolutely love,

And immediately,

Since you have been semi-aware of the radio playing,

When this song,

When this particular song begins to play,

You immediately turn your full attention to that song,

And you perhaps begin to sing along,

And dance along,

And do all these things.

But now,

Your full attention is on that song.

In the beginning,

It was half of your attention,

Part of your attention was on the radio.

And now,

All of your attention is on the radio,

Because you became aware of the song.

Had you had,

Like,

Ear muffles,

Or something that prohibited that sound from the radio,

From reaching your ears,

That kept you from hearing the radio,

You would not have been able to become aware of this song.

But since you were half-aware of the radio,

You're now able to be fully aware of this song.

And so,

That's my invitation,

To use the breath,

To be aware,

To stay aware,

To sustain your attention on the content that flows through your mind.

And when you become aware,

When we become aware,

Of either a thought that bespeaks of fear and worry and doubt,

Or a thought that bespeaks of something that we do not wish to experience,

You know that rule of thumb,

To only speak about that which we wish to experience,

Only think about that we wish to experience,

When we become aware of something that is contradictory to that which we wish to experience,

Or a judgment or a story around lack and scarcity,

An opinion about what someone has done,

Shame,

Guilt,

Be whatever it may,

When we become aware of that,

We can turn our full attention to that,

We do not need to engage in it,

We do not need to,

You know,

Engage in the story,

Or participate in the story,

We can simply listen to it,

Become aware of it,

Hear it,

Observe it.

And once we've discerned that this,

And from that,

From that space of awareness,

We can ask the question,

This thought form,

This perception,

This opinion,

This judgment,

Does it serve me?

Is it in alignment with who I wish to be?

Is it in alignment with what I wish my life to be about?

Is this in alignment with what I wish to experience in life?

And if it's not,

We get to exchange it,

We get to shift our attention from this thought form,

Not denying it,

Not repressing it,

Not suppressing it,

Not making it anything,

Just allowing it to be there,

But we can shift our attention to what we wish to experience.

So for instance,

If I'm minding my own business,

I'm doing my thing,

And I'm having my attention partly on my breath,

So anchoring myself in the nowness of this moment,

I'm having my attention partly on the content in my consciousness that flows through my consciousness,

And suddenly I become aware of a feeling bespeaking of lack and scarcity.

Perhaps I become aware of thinking that,

Oh,

I wish to,

I wish I could afford to go on that trip,

I wish I had enough money to go on that trip.

Now as my desire is to go on that trip,

The thought and the perception that I don't have enough money,

Which saying I wish I had enough money,

That would be saying that I don't have enough money,

Right?

So when I become aware of that thought form that I don't have enough money to go on that trip,

I can choose to turn my attention away from that thought form because I'm realizing that it is not in alignment with me going on that trip,

It doesn't serve me being able to go on that trip,

Thinking that I can't afford it.

So I need to shift my attention away from that thought form to,

I'm always sourced,

Field-funded,

I always have more money than I need,

I always have all my needs met,

I'm so enjoying myself here now that I am on this trip,

Experiencing all these beautiful things.

So I get to shift from the thought form that does not serve me,

That is not in alignment with what I wish to experience,

To something that is in alignment.

First need to become aware,

I first need to become aware of that particular low vibration thought form.

Unless I'm aware of it,

It's just gonna keep repeating itself,

It's just gonna circle and circle and circle and circle around until it's become habitual.

And that's how our thoughts have become habitual,

By us not challenging them,

By us not choosing to turn away our attention from them.

But we buy into them,

We engage in them,

We get caught up by them,

They repeat themselves,

Repeat themselves,

Repeat themselves.

So that is the beautiful practice of observing and the potential and the power of the beautiful practice of observing and witnessing our minds.

Just become aware,

Ask the question,

Is this serving me?

Is this in alignment with who I wish to be or what I wish to experience?

And if it's not,

We get to turn our attention away from it.

No judgment,

No opinions about it,

No beating yourselves up about having that or experiencing that thought form,

But with love and kindness.

All right,

So until the next time,

Thank you so,

So much once again for tuning in,

For participating,

For consciously walking this path,

For being willing to walk this path of freedom.

Until the next time,

I bless,

Bless,

Bless all of our days and I bless,

Bless,

Bless all of our ways with much love.

Namaste.