Hi,
Marissa here and this is a short practice for recognizing thoughts.
So come to a comfortable position,
Either sitting or laying down,
At a position that enables the head and the spine to be in alignment,
Allowing the body to be strong and supporting and relaxed and at ease.
Maybe taking a deep breath in and as you exhale,
Allowing any tension in the body just to release.
Coming aware of your feet on the floor or the body against the bed.
Just becoming aware of those contact points of the body and the surface that you're on.
Just bringing your awareness to those contact points,
That feeling of pressure,
Feeling of weight,
Whether the surface is hard or soft.
Just grounding in with that sensation.
Maybe becoming aware of the hands resting in the lap or down by your sides.
We'll just take a scan through the body,
Just noticing any areas that particularly pull your attention.
So any areas that have a strong sensation right now,
Maybe any aches or pains or tension in the muscles,
Any stiffness,
Maybe any sensations of temperature in the body,
Coolness or warmth.
Maybe even a more subtle sensation of tingling,
Vibrating,
Buzzing through the body.
Now move the awareness to any sensations of emotion,
Any awareness of any emotion in the body.
Just notice if anything's there.
Maybe a tiredness,
Boredom,
Anxiety or just neutral.
Just notice what's present for you right now.
Just feeling into how that feels.
And turning the attention towards the thoughts in the mind.
They may be just thoughts about following this practice or they may have gone off already several times to different places,
Remembering,
Planning.
The mind just skips off quite regularly.
So just noticing that busyness of mind,
Those thoughts as they come.
And also noticing sometimes when we deliberately turn our attention to thoughts,
That they sometimes just evaporate.
Not for long usually.
And a thought comes along and just notice if you can kind of visualize that thought as a bus,
A thought bus.
The bus pulls into the bus stop where you are.
You have a choice then.
You either get on the bus and ride that thought or you just allow it to pass you by,
Knowing that there'll be another bus along very shortly.
Just noticing how that feels to watch the buses come in and leave again as best as you're able.
Sometimes these thoughts can generate a feeling or a sensation.
They can be quite charged.
So if a thought triggers a feeling or emotion,
Just noticing that.
Ah,
Worry is present.
Here's worry.
Whatever the thought is.
When you're ready,
Just gently turning your attention away from thoughts,
Back to the body and to the breath in the body.
Bringing your awareness to the body breathing,
The belly breathing,
Chest breathing,
That gentle rise and fall of the breath in the front of the body.
Bring your awareness to the air passing back and forth in the throat as the breath enters and leaves the body.
And also to the sensation of the breath in the nostrils.
Maybe right at the entrance to the nostrils where the breath enters and leaves.
The temperature of the in-breath,
A slightly warmer temperature of the out-breath.
Maybe noticing the breath move across a little space just below the nostrils.
And then following that entire journey of breath from the nostrils down the throat,
Down into the chest and the lower belly to the full in-breath and the releasing,
Letting go,
The full out-breath.
So the full journey of this breath in and the full journey of the breath out.
And when you're ready,
Just seeing if you can expand that breath out into the whole body,
Into the very edges of the body.
So taking that breath into the whole body from the top of the head,
The fingertips to the soles of the feet.
Full body breath in,
Full body breath out,
Full body breathing.
If the mind gets distracted,
Just gently guide it back to this full body breath,
Just for the last few moments of this practice.
Breathing all the way down to the soles of the feet,
Noticing that contact again between the feet and the floor,
The body and whatever you're upon.
When you're ready,
Taking a deep intentional breath in and as you exhale,
Letting go of this practice,
Opening the eyes,
Having a stretch or a wiggle and continuing on with your day.
