How To Create Mental Space

Does your mind feel busy and crowded by thoughts? With this simple and effective mindfulness exrecise we can effortless create a sense of unlimited mental space and release all mental tension, stress and anxiety.

Transcript

So there'll be two main sections to the meditation,

Mindfulness of breath and mindfulness of thoughts.

And the mindfulness of breath is a good opportunity just to settle into the body and settle into the present moment.

And also to just take our focus away from the aim or expectation of the meditation.

And for mindfulness,

I always think of it as becoming more aware of what's already happening,

Rather than trying to create an experience.

So having that attitude of seeing what we can discover.

So if you'd like to begin by becoming more aware of your breath.

And I'd encourage you to see if you can really feel the physical sensations of the breath in the body.

So as much as possible moving away from the idea of it being a mental or conceptual exercise.

And more about really getting in touch with the body,

Being in touch with the present moment and using the awareness of breath to really bring us into the body and into the present moment.

I'd like to also encourage you not to concentrate or focus on the breath in a limited way.

But see if you can really keep your awareness open,

Light,

Broad and wide.

So we're not seeking to block off the awareness of anything else.

So we don't want to be aware of the breath or attempt to be aware of the breath exclusively.

I'll still be aware of thoughts,

Feelings,

Sensations and sounds and the environment around me.

These are all parts of the present moment.

So see if you can just gently keep the awareness of your breath in the centre,

In the foreground,

Just to allow everything else just to happen around the breath,

Just in the background.

Then And without making any effort to change the breath at all,

Just check that you're really allowing the breath in without restricting the breath and completely letting go of the breath without holding onto the breath.

Allowing the breath in,

Letting go as you breathe out and just notice how that feels,

Notice if that affects the breath in any way.

And see if you can get a sense of the breath flowing freely through the body and that you don't have to make any effort with the breath.

You're just allowing the breath to rise and fall in the body and within your awareness.

Now,

See if you can just get a simple sense of the space around the body.

So getting a feeling for the presence and location of your body and where the body is located in the space in the room that you're in.

Getting a sense of the space between the walls,

Floor and ceiling.

And now as you breathe,

Having that sense,

That awareness of the space that you're breathing into from and that you're breathing out into.

So now the awareness of the breath isn't just about what you feel in the body,

It's also this awareness of the space around the body and allowing the air to enter from that space into the body and then letting go of the breath and allowing the air to flow back out into that space.

This is the breath in the body and the space around the body.

So you can feel that you're connecting and interacting with the space around you through the breath.

Keeping that awareness nice and light and open,

Broad and wide.

The body within your open awareness,

The breath within your awareness and the space that you're in that you're breathing from and into.

Gently holding all of this lightly within your open awareness.

Maybe getting a sense that you're not breathing but the breath is breathing the body.

You're just allowing the breath to breathe the body.

And in a sense the space around you is breathing the body.

Just allowing your body to be part of this experience and part of this space.

Getting the body being breathed by the air that's all around you in this space.

Let's move on to the thoughts.

So allowing the breath to just gently move slightly into the background and gently bringing the awareness of the thoughts into the foreground.

Keeping the awareness nice and light and open.

Still aware of the body,

The breath,

The sounds.

Just paying a bit more attention,

Having a bit more interest with the experience of thinking and being aware of your thoughts as you think them.

And just as we did with the breath,

Don't make any effort at all to change your thoughts.

Just allow them to come into your mind,

Come into your awareness,

Allow them to stay for as long as they want,

Allow them to go whenever they're ready to go.

So although we're being more interested in the experience of thinking,

Actually adopting an attitude of complete disinterest in the content of our thoughts,

In what we happen to be thinking about.

That's completely irrelevant for this meditation,

Doesn't matter what you're thinking.

Just allow any thoughts to come and go.

So with the breath,

We started off feeling the breath in the body and then being aware of the space around the body and realizing and experiencing the breath.

Exists in that space just as much as in the body.

So initially it may feel like your thoughts are experienced just in the head.

That's an assumption,

An experience I think most of us usually have.

Breath in the body,

Thoughts in the head.

Let's just explore that assumption for a few moments.

The thoughts may seem to originate from the head,

From the brain,

But is there any reason at all why a thought should be limited to the space inside our skull?

Does a thought have any signs?

Is there only so many thoughts you can pack inside the space of your head?

We have to take some thoughts out to make room for new ones.

Let's connect back again with the space around us,

Just as we did with the breath.

Space around the body,

The space if you're sitting in a room,

The space between the walls,

Floor and ceiling.

And the space beyond the room.

Notice how easy it is for our awareness to extend way beyond the body and our immediate space.

You can be aware of the sky above us,

The horizon all around us.

There's no limit to our awareness and how far that can spread.

As we continue to be aware of our thoughts,

Just know that there is nothing that can physically restrict or hold a thought.

Each and every thought that comes into your awareness is free to go anywhere within this unlimited space of your awareness.

Each thought takes up no room at all and you're always surrounded by space,

No matter what the thought is or how many thoughts you have,

How quickly they seem to be appearing.

They're always occurring within an unlimited space of your awareness.

Maybe to begin with,

Just allow your thoughts to be in the space of the room,

Just as your breath comes and goes from the space of the room.

So I'll leave five or six minutes without commentary now.

Now we've got an idea of how we can practice mental space.

Maybe just moving between the breath and the thoughts.

Moving the breath into the body from the space around you,

As you release the breath,

Releasing it back into that space.

Then approaching the thoughts in the same way,

The thoughts appearing within the space of your awareness,

Within the space of the room.

And eventually leaving that space.

Allowing the breath and the thoughts to flow freely in this empty space.

Allowing the breath and the thoughts to flow freely in this empty space.

Allowing the breath and the thoughts to flow freely in this empty space.

Allowing the breath and the thoughts to flow freely in this empty space.

Allowing the breath and the thoughts to flow freely in this empty space.

Allowing the breath and the thoughts to flow freely in this empty space.

Allowing the breath and the thoughts to flow freely in this empty space.

Allowing the breath and the thoughts to flow freely in this empty space.

Allowing the breath,

Flowing in and out of the body from the space around you.

Allowing the thoughts to flow freely through that exact same space.

Everything happening within your open,

Unlimited awareness.

Allowing the breath and the thoughts to flow freely in this empty space.

Allowing the breath and the thoughts to flow freely in this empty space.

Allowing the breath and the thoughts to flow freely in this empty space.

Okay,

So just a few moments more before we bring the meditation to a close.

Just enjoying this time,

Just simply being present with the body,

With the breath,

With your thoughts,

Just as they are.

Allowing everything to flow freely and effortlessly.

Allowing everything in the empty space of your awareness.

Allowing everything to flow freely in this empty space.

Allowing everything to flow freely and effortlessly.

Allowing everything to flow freely and effortlessly.

Okay,

So when you're ready we can bring the meditation to a close there.

Reviews

This was really grounding. Thsnkbyou Stephen. ✨💚✨

I felt so beautiful and peaceful inside practising this meditation. The flow of my breath. bodily and mind sensations came into my self-awareness space however, I allowed them to enter, accepted them and let them go into outer space. I felt free and peaceful. The commentary compliments and helps me engage with this special and stillness state of being in the present from the start to finish👌🏼✨. Divinely and amazingly relaxing - Thank you Stephen🙏🏻💫💚

Very Hypnotic, Grounding & Expansive. A great combination!