A Busy Mind - Come Back To The Breath

If you have ever said, "I can't meditate — my mind is too busy," this meditation is made for you. Rather than trying to stop the mind from thinking, you'll learn a different way to relate to your thoughts—with awareness, gentleness, and a bit of patience. I’ll guide you in a simple, grounding practice of noticing when the mind wanders, softly naming “thinking,” and returning your attention to the breath. Just like training a puppy, the practice isn’t about perfection—it’s about kindly beginning again, and again. Over time, this builds a more peaceful, steady relationship with your mind.

Transcript

Welcome, I'm Lisa McCruhan and I am so glad that you are here. If you have an easily distracted mind or a busy mind, You are in the right place because I made this practice exactly for that. Here's something that I want you to know before we begin. A busy mind does not mean that you are doing meditation wrong. I've been a psychotherapist and a meditation teacher for a couple of decades and we all have busy and distracted minds at times, Especially these days with our digital culture and so often getting pinged and dinged throughout the day. This just means you're human. It means that we have brains that need some downtime and a practice that helps us relate to the busy mind in a skillful way. Meditation is not about stopping your thoughts. It's about changing your relationship to your thoughts. So instead of being swept away by them, We practice noticing them. We learn to watch the river without jumping in. This builds your capacity for equanimity. It builds the emotional muscles to handle difficult emotions or situations with more discernment, Mindfulness, And compassion, Which lowers your anxiety and increases your sense of contentment and inner peace. Whatever your mind is doing right now, Whatever thoughts are swirling, They're welcome here too. We're not going to fight them. We're going to work with them. So let's settle in. Take a moment and find a comfortable position. You might sit or lie down. Notice what helps support you, If that's being in a chair or having your back against something. And as you find that position, Then soften or close your eyes. Feel yourself being here right now. And then take a breath in and let it go. Now bring your attention to your breath. Our breath is going to be our anchor today. We're going to rest our attention on the breath. So take a moment and notice, Feel your next exhale and inhale. And just feel the wave of the breath. Bring your attention to the wave of the breath in and out. So here's what we're going to do today. When a thought comes, And it will, Just simply notice it. What can be a helpful practice with this is you could name the thought quietly to yourself. Some people use the word like thinking, Thinking, Or planning, Or the label like worrying. So just a gentle label with no judgment at all. And if you start to judge, You just say judging like it's no big deal. Judging, Because that happens. That's part of the human experience. And that's part of what the mind does. And so here we're training the mind to come back to our breath. And whenever there's a thought, We just say thinking or planning. So let's try this. With your eyes softened or closed. Again, Settle into being here. Breathing in and breathing out. Breathing in and breathing out. And when a thought comes up, Maybe you've already noticed one, You just name it. And you come back to breathing in and breathing out. And if another thought comes in, That's okay. No judgment. We're just noticing it and naming it or labeling it. And you gently and kindly shepherd your attention back to your breath. Every time you notice your mind has wandered, And you come back, That moment of return, That is the practice. So often people think that they're failing when they meditate, Or they're doing something wrong, Because then they follow a thought. And no, Not at all. This is the practice of noticing we've gone into a thought, And then we just bring our attention back to our breath. You're building the skill, The capacity for placing your attention where you want it. And when it wanders, You kindly shepherd it back, Just like if you were training a puppy to stay with you. Every time puppy wanders off, You gently pick up the pup and kindly bring him back. That's how kind I'd love for you to be with yourself. Take a few breaths in and out. Feel into how the breath comes in, How that feels in your body, And then how it feels to exhale out. Drop your attention into the breath and the experience of breathing. So let's take a breath together now. Just one breath in, And then out through the mouth with a little sigh. Gently open your eyes when you're ready. And you've just done a beautiful job practicing building this capacity to shepherd your attention, To place your attention where you'd like it. And you're building your capacity to have a healthy, A skillful relationship to your thoughts. Thank you for practicing with me today.