Inner Silence—The Yogic Path to Mindfulness

Develop the experience of being the pure witness, the observer, in relation to your thoughts, feelings and sensory input. This practice is the yogic version of mindfulness, and also includes some elements of concentration meditation and pure being meditation, making it a more well-rounded technique. If you like the concept of mindfulness but haven't yet found a meditation that fully resonates with you, try this one.

Transcript

Close your eyes,

Keep your back and neck straight.

Relax your body,

Especially the shoulders and the muscles of the face.

Become aware of the external sounds you perceive.

There is no need to analyze them or follow them.

Just allow the perception of sounds to occur and let yourself be a witness to them.

The sounds you hear are now part of your meditation.

Pay attention to every sound as it comes,

Without interpreting.

Now pay attention to the bodily sensations you feel.

Be aware of sensations of heat and cold.

Be aware of sensations of tension and relaxation.

Be aware of sensations of lightness and heaviness.

Be aware of sensations of comfort and discomfort.

Be aware of yourself as the witness of sounds and sensations.

Remain the undisturbed witness of all sensory perceptions.

You are the center of consciousness onto which all these perceptions converge.

And the center is simply watching,

Undisturbed.

Now become aware of the content of your mind.

The thoughts,

Feelings,

Memories and images that are spontaneously occurring in your mind right now.

Let it all happen by itself.

Let it all follow its own course.

All you have to do is to remain watching every movement in your mind.

There is no need to analyze or interpret.

There is no need to develop attraction or aversion towards any thought or feeling.

Just watch.

Simply remain as the undisturbed witness,

The center of consciousness,

The perceiver.

Don't touch anything inside your mind.

Don't follow the train of any thought.

If negative thoughts come,

That is okay too.

Just remain the pure observer,

Without attachment.

Thoughts,

Memories,

Feelings,

Desires,

They all flow by like clouds in the sky.

Remain alert.

Notice the thoughts,

But don't think the thoughts.

Notice every single movement in your mind.

You are the witness of your mind.

You are not your mind.

Now we will move from being the witness to being the agent inside the mind.

So bring to mind a thought which you want to think.

For the next moment,

Think only of that thought.

Now set that thought aside.

Then create another thought,

Intentionally.

Stay with this new thought for some time.

And now remove this thought from your mind.

Mastery over the mind means that you can think when you want to think.

And you can remain the undisturbed witness when you want to.

In this part of the meditation,

Don't allow spontaneous thoughts to come.

Stick to the thought you are creating.

So one more time,

Think of a third thought.

Think purposefully.

You are driving the process.

Stick with this thought only.

Moment after moment,

Think only of your chosen thought.

Now dissolve this thought back into emptiness.

You have this ability to think when you want to think.

Dash off a thought when you are done with it.

And also to simply remain a witness to the spontaneous flow of thought.

Now,

In this final part of the practice,

Focus your attention on the empty space in the mind.

This space is the ground from which all thoughts come,

And into which they dissolve.

Be aware of this inner space,

The space of consciousness.

If thoughts arise,

Dash them off and focus on the space from which they came.

Focus on the inner space,

The empty screen behind all thoughts,

Behind all memories,

Behind all imagination.

Stay alert,

Watching this inner space.

Watch for any thought or image.

If they come,

Notice their presence and dissolve them back into the inner space.

Just keep watching this inner space.

This space is the source of all thoughts.

Remain still at the source.

This is the state of inner silence.

Reviews

Very helpful for me, thanks.

That was so good, thank you. Very clear and calming meditation. 🙏🤎

Excellent practice. Much gratitude 🙏🏼

Thank you 🙏

Namaste 🙏🏻

This has helped me gain more focus and control of my thoughts. Much appreciated. Thank you ❤️✨🙏

Thank you

Giovanni is an excellent guide...❣️

That was incredible! Thank you so much.

Wow I’ve not experienced meditation like this. Life changing!

Wow! Thank you!

Very good. Gratitude 🙏🏽

Masterful level of meditation and self awareness. This was deeply transformative. A session to keep practicing. Thank you. It took me 25,years just to get to this trail head.

Nice. Simple and difficult at the same time. Thank you

Useful guidance for working with thoughts. 🙏

I simultaneously enjoyed this meditation and found it very difficult and somewhat frustrating today. However I also realise that some days it's going to be easier than others and that it's a journey. Definitely something I'll come back to to learn to have more control over my mind / find stillness.

Interesting exercise to practice throughout the day.

Thank you. Your guidance is so personal and true.

That was so helpful to control my mind and thoughts. Loved it. Thank you.

Very relaxing, thank you, one to bookmark and come back to 🌻🥰🙏