Welcome to this meditation on mindfulness of thoughts.
Let's begin by finding a comfortable position,
Either seated,
Standing or lying down.
And gently close your eyes if it feels safe to do so or keep a soft downward gaze.
Let's take a deep breath in through the nose and slowly exhale through the nose or mouth.
You may do this a few more times,
Allowing your body to relax more with each breath.
Now bringing the attention to the sensations in the body.
Feeling the points of contact where your body meets the chair,
Floor or bed.
Noticing any areas of tension and see if you can allow some of these areas to soften.
Now shifting your focus to your breath.
Noticing the natural rhythm of the breath without trying to change it.
Feeling the coolness of the air as you inhale and the warmth as you exhale.
Observing the rise and fall of your chest or belly with each breath.
If your mind starts to wander,
Gently bring your attention back to the breath.
Using it as an anchor to the present moment.
Now let's consciously turn our attention to our thoughts.
You may begin to notice the thoughts that arise.
You might find that your mind is busy,
Full of planning,
Remembering,
Cooking dinner,
Making breakfast,
Daydreaming or other activities.
As each thought comes up,
You may silently name it.
For example,
You might quietly say,
Planning,
Remembering.
Cooking,
Daydreaming or worrying and so on.
As you are naming the activities that you are noticing,
The activities of your mind,
You may also observe that the thoughts can be speedy,
Sometimes slower,
At times quickly moving from one to the next.
As you are becoming curious about the thoughts,
Notice if there is any change in the pace of them.
Do they slow down when you pay attention to them?
Do they become louder?
Or perhaps you might even notice a slight pause between two thoughts.
Just like clouds drifting across the sky,
You can watch your thoughts as they appear and disappear.
There's no need to cling to any thoughts or push them away.
Simply notice a thought and let it pass if you can.
For the next minute or minute and a half,
I invite you to continue to observe your thoughts with gentle and curious awareness.
Noticing as thoughts may clump together,
Forming strong and persistent patterns or entire narratives.
In this practice,
We aim to pay attention to whether you're sliding into getting caught in a story,
So instead,
We can let the thoughts come and go,
Allowing them to pass without being bogged down by their narratives.
I'll give you some space to simply observe your thoughts for the next minute or so.
If you find yourself getting caught in a story,
If you find yourself getting distracted or dozing off,
Gently bring your attention back to your body or breath,
Feeling the solidity of your body,
Sensation of your breath,
And then opening up to noticing thoughts again in the background.
Let's take a few more deep breaths together,
Inhaling deeply through the nose,
Exhaling slowly through the nose or the mouth.
And as you're doing that,
Perhaps checking in with the body and noticing if there's a sense of grounding and calmness or maybe some tensions remaining and just know that it's normal,
Or maybe some tensions remaining and just know that it's normal,
Too.
When you're ready,
You may gently open your eyes and bring your awareness back to your space.
Thank you for joining me in this practice.
