Hi,
This is a guided meditation for making peace with your mind.
Many people think that meditation is about emptying your mind of thoughts.
Then when they start meditating,
Very quickly they realise that this is impossible for them and so they end up frustrated or confused because in fact meditation is not about controlling your thoughts,
Rather it's about not allowing them to control you.
So in this guided meditation I'm going to guide you through a process of becoming aware of your thoughts and from this place of awareness creating some distance between you and your thoughts.
I'll guide you through the entire meditation and just know that no matter how many times your mind wanders,
You're doing it right.
So we'll start by taking a comfortable seated position and take a few moments just to settle into wherever you're sitting.
Allow your eyes to close and take three deep breaths.
And now just continuing to breathe normally and as you breathe get in touch with the movement of your breath.
Feel your breath in your chest,
In your stomach.
Feel the rhythm of your breath in your body like ocean waves coming in and out.
Focus on each inhalation and exhalation breathing in and out.
There's no need to control your breathing in any way,
Simply let your body breathe for you.
And as best you can bring an attitude of gentle acceptance and allowing to your breath.
There's nothing to be fixed,
No particular goal,
No particular state to be achieved.
Simply allowing your experience to be your experience without needing it to be anything other than what it is.
And as you breathe,
Sooner or later your mind will wander away from your breath to other thoughts,
Ideas,
Worries,
Concerns,
Daydreams or maybe just drifting along randomly from thought to thought.
And when this happens no need to judge or become frustrated,
This is what human minds do.
When you notice your mind has wandered become aware of the fact that you're thinking and just acknowledge that your mind has wandered.
Repeat perhaps to yourself quietly,
There's thinking.
And then gently guide your attention back to the sensation of your breath coming in and going out,
Just breathing.
And then perhaps your mind will wander again and then just become aware that it's wandered again,
Repeating silently to yourself,
There is thinking.
And then gently guiding your attention back to this breath.
And as best you can as you sit in this cycle of breathing,
Mind wandering,
Guiding back,
Bring kindness and compassion to your awareness.
Perhaps seeing the repeated wanderings of your mind as opportunities to bring patience and mindfulness to your experience.
And as you sit and breathe you may find some physical discomfort comes up in some part of the body.
And if that happens just acknowledge that presence so there is pain or there is discomfort.
And then guiding your attention again back to your breath.
As you sit and breathe you may notice your mind judging your experience.
I'm not doing this right,
I'm bored.
And when you notice these judgements come in,
Acknowledge them so this is judging and then return to the present experience as it is,
Back to your breath in and out.
And when the mind wanders again,
You may notice it,
Just label the thoughts and feelings as you notice them.
There is thinking,
There is judging,
There is worry,
Whatever it is just observe it,
Acknowledge it and come back again to your breath.
Notice how thoughts and feelings come and go in your mind.
Notice that you are not these thoughts no matter how intense they are,
They pass,
They come and go.
When the mind wanders,
Label your thoughts and then move on back to the breath.
And perhaps you notice the same thoughts coming up over and over again,
That's fine too,
Just notice the point that it's wandered and there is thinking and then coming back to the breath again.
Observing this thinking with kindness and compassion,
Just naming it,
There is planning,
There is wishing,
There is worrying,
Whatever your experience may be,
Just observing it,
Labeling it and then returning gently to your breath.
Taking a final few moments in silence in your own practice,
Following the cycle of noticing that the mind has wandered,
Acknowledging where it's gone and then gently,
Kindly guiding it back to your breath in your own time and space.
Good night.
And wherever you are in your meditation,
Gently coming back to my voice and coming back for a final time to your breath.
Using this meditation just as we went in,
Taking three deep breaths into your body.
And as the time for this meditation comes to an end,
You can gradually widen your attention to take in the sounds around you.
You can start to become aware of sensations in your body,
The feeling of your body in the room.
And then finally slowly opening your eyes,
Noticing your surroundings.
And remembering that whenever the mind wanders off throughout the day,
You can always take this practice with you,
Noticing that the mind has wandered,
Acknowledging where it's gone and then just coming back to the moment in front of you.
Thank you for meditating with me today and have a beautiful rest of your day.
