Thinking Meditation

A Body Scan, Breath, and Thinking meditation to help you relax and open up. Ground yourself, bring gentle attention to your out-breath, observe your thoughts and bring yourself back when you start to wander.

Transcript

Welcome to this meditation. Begin by taking a few deep breaths and relaxing into the space that you are in. Open your mind and relax. We will start by grounding at six points. Your seat, Your legs, Your torso, Hands, Eyes, And mouth. Your seat. Whether you are sitting on a cushion on the floor or in a chair lying down, Relax at your seat and feel the parts that are in contact with the ground. Your legs. If you are sitting on a cushion, The legs should be crossed comfortably in front of you. Or if you are in a chair, The feet are flat on the floor and the knees are a few inches apart. If you are lying down, Feel the point of your feet and legs that are in contact with the ground. Relax. Your torso. Your torso. Ensure that your torso from your head to your seat is elongated and aligned. If you start to slouch during the meditation, Simply sit upright again. Your hands. Keep your hands open with palms down, Either resting on your thighs or on the floor. Your eyes. The eyes can remain open, Indicating the attitude of remaining awake and relaxed with all that occurs. Your eye gaze is slightly downward and directed about four to six feet in front of you. Your mouth. The mouth is very slightly open so that the jaw is relaxed and air can move easily through the mouth and the nose. The tip of the tongue can be placed on the roof of the mouth. At this time, Please put a very light attention on your out-breath. This space is as close as you can come to resting the mind in its natural open state and still have an object to which to return. Don't try to manipulate your breath in any way. Your attention should be soft, Like a sort of touch-and-go approach. And think about with each out-breath letting go of all the time that has passed before that breath. And with each in-breath, Imagine being born anew to possibility. The point is not to try to achieve some special state or transcend the sounds and movement of ordinary life. Rather, You are encouraged to relax more completely with your environment and to appreciate the world around you. If you feel distracted, Come back to these six points and then to your breath. Seat, Feet, Torso, Hands, Mouth, Eyes, Breath. If you find that your thoughts have carried you away, Simply say to yourself, Thinking with warmth and kindness, And come back to the openness of the out-breath again and again. Just come back to being right where you are. Seat, Feet, Torso, Hands, Mouth, Eyes, Breath. You might be sitting there with your out-breath and before you know it, You are gone, Planning, Worrying, Fantasizing, Completely in another world made of thoughts. Once you realize you've gone off, Say to yourself, Thinking and without making it a big deal, Simply return again to the out-breath. Remind yourself that meditation is about opening and relaxing with whatever arises. Stop struggling against your thoughts and just let them exist as thinking. Williams. I would like to read now about this dancer from the book When Things Fall Apart by Penna Chodron. The dancer came on stage and sat in the meditation posture. In a few seconds, Thoughts of passion began to arise. The dancer moved through the process, Becoming more and more frenzied as just a tiny glimpse of passion began to escalate until it was a full-blown sexual fantasy. Then, A small bell rang and a calm voice said, Thinking. And the dancer relaxed back into the meditation posture. About five seconds later, The dance of rage began, Again starting as a small irritation and then exploding more and more wildly. Then came the dance of loneliness, Then the dance of drowsiness. And each time the bell would ring and the voice would say, Thinking, The dancer would simply relax for a little longer and a little longer into what began to feel like the immense peace and spaciousness of simply sitting there. Let us be in this space and from thinking, Return to your out-breath. Seat, Feet, Torso, Hands, Mouth, Eyes, And breath. Let us be in this space and return to your out-breath. Let us be in this space and return to your out-breath. Thinking. Breathing. Breathing. Breathing. Breathing. Breathing. Begin to bring your awareness back and sense the world around you. Wiggle your fingers and toes. Combobulate to being in your body. Once we begin to realize that our thoughts are just that, Thoughts, We can have a profound realization of the choice to believe or act on them. This gives us an entirely new way to inhabit our existence. When you are ready, You may open your eyes. Please raise your hands to your heart center. Go forward with love and light in your heart. Send that love and light out to those around you and breathe in life at every moment. Raise your hands to your third eye and together as one and the same we say, Namaste.