Hello,
Welcome.
Let's begin this practice by settling into your space.
You may be seated or lying down.
It's probably a little easier seated because it allows you to be more focused.
But whatever position is most comfortable for you,
You may even stand if you'd like.
Take a moment to allow the eyes to close.
Or if you'd rather,
Gently rest your gaze on something in front of you.
Do a light scan of the mind,
Noticing what kinds of thoughts are there today.
Is there a lot of mental chatter?
Or is it pretty still?
There's no right or wrong way for your mind to be right now.
So there's no need to criticize or judge these thoughts.
Just allowing them to be there and observing them.
Just taking note of what's there.
And now we're going to step away from this focus on the mind.
And bring to your attention an image of a stream.
Maybe it's one you've seen before or it could be completely created by you in your own mind,
In your own way.
Completely created by you in your own mind,
In your own way.
This stream is peaceful.
It's safe here.
Just go up to the water's edge and peer down at the water as it rushes by.
You notice that on the surface of the water there are leaves,
Large leaves being carried from one end of the stream,
In front of you and then down and out of your view.
These are strong leaves,
Nice and big,
So if you wanted to place something on them,
Something small,
They could definitely carry them and carry them away.
And on these leaves,
We're going to place our thoughts,
The ones that are just taking up space and not serving very much right now.
So imagine yourself plucking a thought from your head,
Just placing it on the surface of one of the leaves as it rushes by.
And then watching as that leaf carries it down the stream,
Off into the distance and completely out of your view.
And it's gone.
No longer there,
No longer cluttering your mind and taking up space.
Continue to do this.
Taking out a thought and placing it on the surface of the leaf.
And watching it as it floats away,
Gently out of your view.
And like you may even place an unwanted emotion or state of being upon these leaves.
Perhaps it's just a sense of anxiety,
A sense of trouble.
Just allowing yourself to take it from the mind,
Place it on the leaf and watch it float away.
Continuing to do this as many times as you'd like.
You may find that you have a lot on your mind right now.
And that's okay.
The mind is doing exactly what it was designed to do,
To think,
To consider and analyze.
And to harbor thoughts and feelings.
But sometimes we really don't need those right now.
They're not of use to us.
We can just take them and place them on a leaf where they can float away.
If they're important and we need them later,
That's okay.
They'll come back.
And if not,
We can simply let them go.
Let them float away.
And as you begin to breathe,
Place your thoughts atop these leaves.
These thoughts may take whatever form you choose through your thoughts.
They may take whatever shape you feel fits the most.
Just place them on these leaves and watch how they float away.
You may even find that you've taken up a thought that was useful before,
It was helpful.
It just isn't anymore.
If it feels right,
You may look at this thought in your hand and say,
Thank you,
Thank you for helping me.
Thank you for serving me when I needed you.
And then resting the thought atop a leaf and allowing it to float away.
It's okay to let these things go.
If you find a thought that may be snagged or really deeply embedded,
That's okay.
You can leave it there in your mind.
This is just to declutter a little bit in the mind.
It's not meant to get rid of every single thought you have.
That wouldn't be possible.
The brain just doesn't do that.
You're just getting rid of the ones that we don't need anymore,
Making a little more space for something new.
Just bringing the mind back whenever it wanders to picking up thoughts and placing them on these leaves.
Watching as they float away.
Now take a moment to place maybe one more thought,
Emotion,
Or something you may have in your hand already.
Just place it on the leaf.
And then sit back.
Don't reach back into your mind for another thought.
Just sit back and take a new scan.
And notice how the brain,
How the mind feels now.
Perhaps it's a little more peaceful,
A little more quiet,
Less mental chatter.
Maybe not much has changed because there's just so much to sift through,
And that's okay.
This is what works best for you.
Recognize that you can come back to this dream anytime you like.
So place thoughts atop these leaves and watch them float away.
Allow yourself to come back,
To let go gently of this image of this dream.
Remember that you can come back anytime you choose.
Anytime you feel the need to clean out the thoughts just a little bit.
Begin to open the eyes.
Wiggle the fingers,
The toes,
Maybe stretch.
And welcome back.
Here you are.
Thank you for joining me in this practice today.
I hope you can remember it and come back to it whenever you need.
