Meditation For Beginners Series: Noticing Thoughts | Day 3

Welcome to day 3 of the Meditation for Beginners series! Today we are exploring one important dimension of awareness: our thoughts. I'll guide you through observing thoughts as they arise and letting them pass without judgment.

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to day three of the meditation for beginners series. I'm so pleased that you're here. Today's practice is a really lovely one. We'll be exploring and practicing the idea of observing our own thoughts without judgment. So without further ado let's jump in to today's practice. Let's start by coming to a comfortable seated position that embodies both alertness and ease the way we have been for the past two days. And take a moment here to get settled in. You're here now. Whatever you were doing before this is in the past. Whatever you will do next is not here yet. Give yourself full permission to pause and be here right now for the next few minutes. You and bring attention now to your breathing. Bringing air in through the nose and perhaps letting it go through the mouth in a deep exhale. Inhale and exhale. And let's do a few rounds of this together noticing in your nose and your lungs how it feels to inhale and how it feels to exhale. Maybe you already are starting to feel a little more present a little more at ease. You you As you continue breathing shift your attention from your breath to the physical body and pay close attention to what physical sensations are here. Perhaps you scan down from your head down to your neck and shoulders down your back and the front of the torso the arms the seat thighs down your lower legs and to your feet. Just notice what's here. You you Coming back to the breath as your anchor if you find yourself getting distracted at all taking deep breaths and letting sensations arise from the body. And now moving to another dimension of awareness bring your attention to your thoughts as if you were an observer. Just like we allowed physical sensations to come to the surface when we scan the body allow the thoughts to arise naturally as well without trying to change them or judging yourself for having a thought. If you find yourself thinking this is really hard or what's for lunch that's okay just say okay my brain is thinking about lunch and come back to observing what else comes up. You As soon as you realize ah I'm thinking bring yourself back to your position as observer. Watch your thoughts as they arise and let them pass instead of engaging with them. And no matter how many times your mind wanders off and starts thinking about something else keep bringing the attention back to observing what's here in the mind. Just like doing reps in the gym bringing your attention back to the present moment strengthens your brain's ability to be mindful. You And now as we come to the end of today's practice just let go of any effort and give your brain and your body something that feels good. Don't overthink it. Give yourself a stretch or a wiggle and let your mind be free to think about anything it wants to think about. Whenever you're ready open the eyes. Thank you so much for meditating with me today and I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow.