Mindfulness practice three,
The observer.
Find a comfortable seat.
Notice your breath.
Follow your breath for a few cycles,
Focusing on the inhale and the exhale.
Pay attention to your physical body in your seat.
Feel where your body is touching the seat.
As you inhale,
Notice.
As you exhale,
See if you can settle into the seat just a little bit more.
When you're ready,
Notice your thinking mind.
Notice all of the thoughts or stories your thinking mind is concocting.
Perhaps your thinking mind is delving into the future,
Focusing on the things you believe you must accomplish,
Or the way you wish things would be,
Or an event or conversation you are preparing for.
Then notice your emotional state.
What emotions are brought up by these thoughts?
Stress,
Anxiety,
Fear,
Panic?
Or perhaps you're thinking about your past,
Something you said that you wish you hadn't,
Or something you perceive as having happened to you.
Then notice your emotional state.
What emotions are brought on by these thoughts?
Stress,
Anxiety,
Fear,
Shame?
Or maybe your thoughts go to something more positive in your past or future.
What emotions are brought on by these thoughts?
Joy,
Excitement,
Love?
Now I ask you to consider,
Who is it that is doing the noticing?
Who is aware of all these thoughts and emotions?
What if the noticer,
The one who notices your thoughts and emotions,
Is in fact who you really are?
In Eastern traditions,
This noticer or witnesser is also called the observer.
The observer is the entity behind what you might perceive as a reality of you or who you know yourself to be.
It is the calm,
Peaceful,
Non-judgmental entity behind your thoughts and emotions.
If it is available to you,
Sit for a few more minutes just getting to know your observer,
Especially if it is something new to you and even if it's not.
It is not bound by the stories of your past,
The stories of who you are,
The stories of who you should be,
Or the ways you should act.
It is much,
Much broader than that.
Stay with that sense of who or what you really are,
This expanded sense of the observer.
Some people experience the observer in their head,
Others near their heart or along their spine.
Some experience it as an emptiness that is not scary,
Nor does it produce a sense of dread,
But rather an opening that has no limits or boundaries.
This is also known by many names,
One of which is conscious awareness.
It is the one who is aware of your experience.
When you are ready,
Bring your awareness back to the present moment and back to your physical body.
Notice your breath for a few inhales and exhales.
Feel your body in your seat and slowly stretch your body however it feels it needs to stretch.
Welcome back.
Feel free to journal now about your experience or about any ideas or insights that arose for you.
