Welcome to this meditation for unhooking from your thoughts.
I'm Jen Alio from Guided Being.
Find yourself in a comfortable position.
This may be seated or lying down.
Arm in a natural position.
Consciously releasing tension from your jaw.
Taking a soft gaze or closing down the eyes.
As your chin slightly dips.
Lengthening through the back of your neck and spine.
Holding yourself in a gentle and present posture.
As we begin this practice,
I invite you to take a deep breath.
Not to control anything.
Not to change anything.
But simply to arrive.
Notice what's present in your mind.
Perhaps there are thoughts racing in.
Looping stories.
Worries,
Plans,
Memories or projections.
This is natural.
The mind thinks.
Just as the lungs breathe and the heart beats.
We'll explore this insight through mindfulness.
While the mind thinks,
You are not your thoughts.
Thoughts arise and they pass.
They can be loud,
Persistent,
Even convincing.
But they are not who you are.
They are events in consciousness.
Like clouds in the sky.
And the sky is not the clouds.
The sky simply holds the clouds.
In this way,
Your true mind is not the content.
Your true mind is the context.
It's not the storm of thoughts.
But the vastness in which they appear.
This is what mindfulness means.
By awareness.
It's always here.
Even when the mind is busy or distracted.
It's the silent knowing.
That notices it all.
As you continue to allow your breath to flow.
As you allow your breath to flow in its natural rhythm and cadence.
When you rest in awareness,
You connect with something more spacious.
And more true than any one thought,
Judgment or label.
That awareness.
That witness.
As who you truly are.
As Zen and many contemplative traditions teach us.
The mind is not the thoughts.
It is the space in which they arise.
Consciousness is like the sky.
And thoughts are only the weather.
So today we aren't trying to stop thoughts.
Suppress or avoid them.
We're simply practicing remembering.
That we don't have to believe or follow every thought.
We can watch.
We can touch.
We can breathe.
We can return to that open space of being.
Where clarity.
And insight live.
Let's begin.
From that space.
And this is the practice of returning your awareness again.
And again.
And again.
To the open sky of consciousness.
Observing your thoughts like clouds in the sky.
Impermanent.
Passing through.
Allowing them to be here.
As the natural function of the mind.
And as you return to the breath in your lungs.
As you feel the beat of your heart.
Connecting to the essence of who you are.
Beneath the thoughts.
That move through your mind sky.
You can stay here for as long as you choose to.
If you'd like to finish your practice.
You can gently flutter open your eyes.
Bringing in mindful movement to your physical body.
Resting your awareness.
On the stage of clarity.
And peace.
And stillness.
That you gifted yourself.
By mindfully watching your thoughts.
And as you return to your day.
Know that you can complete this practice in real time in real life.
Feeling freedom.
Amongst the chaos of daily living.
And as you walk through.
This life.
Know that you are here.
For reasons that are outside of your conscious knowing.
You have a place.
You have a purpose.
Yours mindfully.
Gen.
