Awareness of thoughts.
In the formal practice of sitting meditation,
We are taking a seat right in the middle of our lives.
We are intentionally bringing ourselves into a direct and intimate relationship with the present moment and what arises in it for us,
As much as possible,
Without judging.
In this practice,
We have the opportunity to expand our attention to explore body sensations,
Sounds and thoughts,
And,
When we are ready,
To open to all of these,
To the full range of events,
Within and without,
As they move and change,
Appear and disappear in our awareness.
We are taking time to become more familiar,
Moment by moment,
With who we are,
Beyond all the wanting and having and doing.
In a sense,
This practice is an expression of our own unique presence in the world.
So it is helpful to come to this practice with a sense of kindness and care for yourself.
Intention.
Coming back to the body and to the present moment.
Exploring looking at thoughts rather than from thoughts.
Practicing relating to thoughts similar to how we relate to sounds,
Seeing their arising and passing.
Attention.
Noticing recurring patterns in the mind and body in relationship to the thoughts,
How they develop and play out.
Attitude.
Non-judgment.
Kindness.
Opening to a sense of acceptance,
If that feels right for you right now.
Having a beginner's mind about the experiences unfolding.
Let's begin by finding a comfortable position,
Seated in a chair or on a cushion.
Perhaps feeling the ground beneath our feet,
Sitting bones making contact with the seat.
Spine growing tall.
Head balanced on top of the spine.
Allowing the hands to rest on the lap or thighs,
Whichever feels most nurturing today.
Grounding.
Making a choice to allow ourselves to be exactly as we are in this present moment.
Finding a point of balance where gravity is holding us comfortably upright,
Without strain or striving.
Allowing the body to become still.
Not leaning into or moving away from anything.
Simply present with and open to what is happening now as we encounter it,
As we practice this meditation.
If at any time sensations in the body become too uncomfortable,
Thoughts or emotions arise that are too difficult.
Remembering that it is always possible to come back to our anchor.
To the rhythm of our breath as a safe space.
A retreat to rest in.
Practicing coming back to this moment until we are ready to venture again into the meditation.
Just tuning in and listening to the sound of my voice again.
When it feels right,
Moving the awareness and attention to gently notice the movement of the breath.
As such a constant feature of life,
It is easily ignored.
Taking time with it now.
Actually feeling the sensations as the breath enters the body and leaves the body on its own accord.
Allowing it to move through its circle of in-breath and out-breath without controlling.
Simply breathing in and breathing out.
Noticing that there is a beginning,
A middle and an end of each in-breath.
And a beginning,
A middle and an end of each out-breath.
Perhaps sensing the rise and fall of your belly.
Maybe placing your hands on your belly.
Feeling the movement of the breath,
The rhythm.
Just letting it roll in and roll out.
Simply riding the waves of breath.
Moment to moment.
If the attention has wandered from the breath,
Gently but firmly practicing coming back.
Making the breath the centre,
The focus of attention again.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
And now,
When you are ready,
Expanding your attention beyond the breath to include the entire body sitting here.
Becoming aware of sensations in the body.
Perhaps sensations of contact with the chair or cushion.
Perhaps the touch of cloth on your body.
Or how your hands feel in the moment.
Sensations of temperature.
Being present with any sensations as they arise.
Noticing how sensations sometimes stay for just a short while.
And how other times they linger.
Noticing how they change in intensity,
Shift and pass away as new sensations arise.
Like the breath,
They have a beginning,
Middle and an end.
Noticing nuances of sensation.
Perhaps resistance or bracing.
And,
As much as possible,
Practicing simply observing.
Noticing that sensations change.
If the attention wanders,
Noticing and making a choice to bring it back with care and kindness to the awareness of the body and the breath.
Allowing your attention to shift from the breath and the body to the sense of hearing.
Not seeking sound,
Rather receiving whatever is available from within the body and from the environment near and far.
Becoming particularly aware of hearing.
Noticing how the awareness receives sounds without effort.
How some sounds are short and some are long.
How they are varied and textured.
How there is space between sounds.
Noticing how the mind labels sounds,
Has opinions about sounds,
Judges sounds,
Likes and dislikes certain sounds.
Noticing any desire to move away from some sounds and towards others.
As much as possible making space in which sounds can be experienced as they are.
Noticing how sensations and sounds sometimes stay for just a short while.
And how other times they linger.
Changing in intensity.
Shifting and passing away as new sensations and sounds arise.
Awareness that just like the breath they have a beginning,
Middle and an end.
And when ready,
Allowing the attention to shift from the changing patterns of breath,
Sensations and sounds.
And letting it expand this time into thinking,
The realm of thought.
Practicing seeing thoughts,
Not as distractions or truth,
But rather bringing our awareness to the thinking process itself.
Noticing how thoughts,
Just like sensations and sounds arise,
Stay for a while and then dissolve.
They too have a beginning,
Middle and an end.
Practicing looking at thoughts rather than from thoughts.
Noticing when we get lost in the content of the thoughts.
Allowing thought to be in the foreground of awareness.
With sound,
Body sensations and the breath in the background.
Maybe gently saying,
Hello thought,
Goodbye thought.
Practicing noticing thoughts.
Perhaps labelling thoughts,
Planning,
Planning.
Boring,
Justifying,
Justifying.
Remembering.
Gaining perspective.
Practicing looking at thoughts rather than from thoughts.
If we notice we are carried away in the current of thinking.
Practicing coming back to observing thoughts as separate elements that come and go.
Simply coming back to the anchor of the breath and the body sitting here.
Thoughts moving through an open and spacious mind.
There is no need to try to make thoughts come or go.
Just practicing watching them arise naturally.
Labelling them or briefly greeting them.
Saying hello thought,
Goodbye thought and letting them pass away.
Remembering the intention of the practice.
Looking at thoughts.
Watching them arrive.
Stay for a while.
Then leave.
Maybe seeing thoughts as leaves on a stream.
We are sitting on a rock in the middle of a stream looking at the water.
And the leaves are falling from overhanging branches dropping onto the water.
We are just watching the leaves as they pass by.
A leaf,
A thought appears.
We follow it a little down the stream and let it go as it flows out of our view.
Some find it helpful to bring awareness to thoughts in the mind.
In the same way that they might if the thoughts were projected on a screen at the cinema.
As we sit watching the screen all sorts of images are flashing across the screen.
We practice simply noticing each image as it comes and goes.
It's easy to forget that these are just images and get sucked into the story.
Practicing looking at the screen.
Staying aware that we are looking at a screen.
Practicing looking at thoughts rather than from thoughts.
Gently coming back to the body sitting here.
Breathing.
First following the breath rolling in.
And following the breath rolling out.
Gently bringing the attention back.
The eye is like our mind.
The clouds are the various thoughts coming and going.
Some may be small white clouds.
While others may be big black ones carrying thunder and lightning.
Some may even be so big that at times they cover the whole sky.
Though we know that the sky,
The sun,
Moon and stars,
They are behind the clouds.
Practicing looking at thoughts rather than from thoughts.
And now gently coming back to the body sitting here.
Breathing.
Practicing following the breath rolling in.
And following the breath rolling out.
The body moving with the breath.
Moving now into an open awareness.
Not choosing to bring the attention to anything in particular.
Simply sitting here.
Fully aware of whatever is presenting itself in each moment.
Observing.
Being spacious with whatever arises.
Sitting in stillness with whatever comes and goes.
Being present with it all.
Being here now.
Practicing opening to the totality of the experience.
Expanding.
Bringing the attention to include the entire body.
From the soles of the feet to the top of the head.
Being present to the totality of the experience of sitting here at this moment.
Sensing the body sitting here.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
In this moment.
Exploring the experience of our very live bodies which does include our minds.
Practicing allowing ourselves to be exactly as we are in this moment.
Aware of the thoughts,
The sensations and the breath.
And now grounding ourselves.
Earthing ourselves.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Down into the ground.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Down into the earth.
Earthing ourselves.
Being grateful to ourselves that we took the time to practice.
If it feels appropriate,
Perhaps taking a moment,
Bringing the intention of being present in our lives to mind.
Practicing being mindful of the whole of our experience.
Remembering that practicing in this way helps create a wider,
Deeper,
More open way of being in our life.
In which we can see more clearly and make more conscious choices for health,
Well-being and freedom.
Now gently turning the awareness to sounds in the room.
The sounds outside of the room.
Becoming aware of the room around you.
Maybe starting to move and stretch in any way that feels good right now.
Slowly opening the eyes.
Allowing the light in.
The meditation is now complete.
