Welcome to this short meditation.
In this Thalke meditation the focus will be to give an existing idea more sparkle.
I love to share with you a technique I frequently use for that purpose.
The technique is called making a flower of associations.
First I will explain what I mean by giving more sparkle to an existing idea.
Then we go into a guided meditation for approximately 5 minutes and after that we close together.
I presume we all know the situation where we have an idea we like a lot,
But it seems to lack something.
Something that makes it catchy enough to go for it.
Something that gives us the feeling that we want to work further on it.
We just know we have a good idea but it hasn't convinced us yet.
During this meditation we look for inspiration that resonates on a deeper level.
So that means we have to go inside.
We will become aware of associations coming from our subconscious.
Our monkey mind will be our guide and the same goes for sensations in the body.
They are most welcome when they show up during our meditation.
We will take an existing idea in mind and anything that arises from a deeper level and got our attention can be a spark for this idea because there will be a link between what shows up and the idea,
Even if it doesn't look like at first sight.
Thoughts,
Images or sensations like smelling,
Feeling,
Hearing,
They appear at a certain moment out of nowhere.
They come from our subconscious.
They come from our experiences and are related to our social context.
And they are triggered by what goes on in our life right now and related to our dreams and fears.
So when in meditation they come and go,
And now we will accept them as allies to elaborate our idea.
I'm not talking about visualization here,
Because we will not follow or act on what arises,
We will only notice and let go.
So I suggest we let go all the first thoughts,
Images or sensations that will appear quite quickly when we start our meditation,
Because they are too much related to our actual daily life and they are not interesting for the purpose of this meditation.
So we notice them and let them go.
We start taking notes the moment our mind and body are in a calmer state and what pops up comes from a deeper level.
We accept ourselves the way we are at this very moment,
With love and self-compassion,
Without judgment.
Before we start,
It's important to find a location where you can sit comfortably without being disturbed.
Make sure you have pen and paper or tablet at hand so you can make quick notes during the session.
For this session,
I invite you to keep in mind an existing idea that lacks the sparks we need to go for it.
So try to catch that idea in your mind's eye or ear or in your body.
And if handy,
You can also use an image or a sound or a sensation representing that idea,
Something that can act as a symbol,
It can be a word,
A sketch,
A sound,
Whatever works best for you to keep your idea in mind during this meditation.
When using the Flower of Associations notation,
We note our idea or symbol for it in the middle of our page and draw a circle around it.
This is the centre of our flower.
Each time we will pause to anchor something that comes up during meditation,
We put it somewhere around the central circle,
So it becomes a petal for our flower.
If you need to prepare,
Just pause this audio for a moment.
You can also pause it during meditation when it goes too fast for you.
Take all the time you need.
Enjoy your practice.
I will guide you.
I invite you to sit up tall,
Close your eyes,
Take your idea or the symbol for it in mind and the purpose is to keep it in mind during this session,
But don't do it in a rigid way.
If it fades,
So be it.
You can return to it when you return to the breath.
We take a few full breaths to prepare,
Until we are in a state of relaxed attention.
When the first thought,
Image or sensation arises in your mind or body,
Notice it and let it go.
We return to the breath and to our idea.
When we are aware of a new one again,
Give it a little attention and let go.
We repeat the note and let go act until the state of our mind and body starts calming down.
When a thought,
Image or sensation arises that is less obvious,
That has no direct link to our daily life right now,
Notice it.
Then give it a name or a short description.
Make a quick note about it,
But without disturbing your meditative state too much.
If something arises that is too elusive,
You are free to let it go and wait for the next one.
Then return to the breath and to your idea.
Breathe until a thought,
Image or sensation arises.
Then notice it,
Name it and make a quick memo.
Even if you think it's the same as before,
Don't judge,
Just note it down,
It can have a slightly other meaning.
Then return to the breath and to your idea.
Keep gently breathing.
When you notice something coming up,
Name it and make a quick memo.
It's possible that earlier notes will stick to your idea when focusing again.
Then it's up to you to choose.
You can separate them and continue with the original idea,
Or you can go on with the combination.
If you decide to go further with the combination,
You take both as a circle of a new flower.
If you decide to go on with the original idea,
Note the awareness as a petal and return to the combination in another meditation.
Then return to the breath and to your idea.
Breathe gently.
When you find your mind wandering off or a sensation in your body,
Notice it,
Give it a name or description,
Make a quick memo.
Then again,
Return to the breath and to your idea.
Just keep on breathing.
When something arises,
Notice it and make a quick note.
Then return to your breath.
Let your idea go,
Just remain in a calm state for a while.
We are grateful for whatever did arise during this session.
We close the meditation for now.
Now you can look at the quick notes you made.
You can pause the meditation and take all the time you need to add more information.
Whatever you remember that gives more details,
The kind of energy,
Powerful or soft,
If there were other things that followed quickly or accompanied it,
How did it trigger you and so on.
Try to remember whatever was floating along with them.
But don't judge,
Just observe.
And don't throw away input too soon,
Because maybe notes that look the same at first sight have another perspective or feeling attached to them.
So I suggest you look at your notes and think at the same time,
Hmm interesting,
I'm curious what this note will tell me.
Let time do the work.
On a given moment one or some of these notes will let your idea sparkle.
Or they will lead you,
By association,
To something else that gives your idea that extra to become an interesting,
Sparkling idea.
The reason we skip the first things that appeared is because they come right out of our actual daily life.
So they are not useful for this purpose.
The interesting ones start coming when the more obvious ones got a bit of attention,
So they could disappear for now.
Then there is space for more subconscious ones to come forward.
In case you experience that the last notation is still too obvious,
Just prolong the meditation.
A flower can have as many petals as she likes.
On the other hand,
It's possible that our mind is so busy and our body hurts so much,
That we really need longer meditations to get to a deeper and calmer level.
So feel free to continue,
Or to restart the meditation when you are in another state of mind.
It could also be interesting to explore the combination of your idea and some notes in a new meditation.
You can do it with the combination of your notes and idea coming from this meditation,
Or from another meditation.
Put them in the middle of your page and draw a circle around them,
And just let the petals appear during your new meditation.
Feel free to experiment.
It's your practice.
I hope this meditation helps you to get the extra that makes your ideas sparkle and worthwhile.
Thank you for meditating with me.
I wish you a deeply inspired,
Creative day.
