Thoughts on a leaf meditation.
This is a great practice to do at any time but particularly in the autumn when the leaves are falling from the trees.
It can help to quieten a noisy mind by creating space between the thoughts.
So finding a comfortable sustainable position that might be sitting up either in a chair or on a meditation cushion.
We want the spine to be upright but relaxed.
Hands resting in the lap or perhaps having a cushion in the lap for the hands.
Or it could be done lying down if you prefer but sometimes lying down can make us feel sleepy so just being aware of that.
And once we've established our comfortable upright posture the invitation is to close the eyes here or if that feels like it's not comfortable just softening the gaze down.
Just having a sense of the posture of the body and the space around you in the place where you are right now.
Feeling that the spine is holding you nice and upright.
Sitting bones rooting down into the cushion or the chair and the crown of the head extending up towards the sky.
Or if you're lying down feeling the contacts between the back of the body and whatever surface is beneath.
Noticing any sensations that might be arising in the body.
Perhaps some parts feel relaxed.
Perhaps other parts feel tension or discomfort.
Perhaps in many parts of the body there's just the absence of sensation.
Welcoming now the sounds around you.
Just allowing the sounds to come to the ears without labelling them.
Noticing the sounds themselves and the spaces between the sounds.
And now noticing the breath.
Feeling the natural rhythm of the breath as it simply moves in and out of the body.
Noticing the natural rise and fall of the belly as the breath comes and goes.
Seeing if we can have this awareness of the breath just coming and going in the background throughout the practice.
Seeing if we can notice now any thoughts or feelings as they pass through the mind.
See if we can take a step back to simply observe without any judgement or getting caught up in the content of those thoughts.
Simply watching them arise and then pass away.
Now imagining that it's a nice sunny day and you're sitting beneath a tree by a river.
Just watching the river flow by.
Perhaps some little shafts of sunlight stream through the trees and sparkle onto the water below.
As you look at the river you notice it's a bit like a mirror reflecting the blue sky,
The white clouds and the rippling trees.
Perhaps you can hear the wind whispering through the branches of the trees.
You see it blowing the autumn leaves onto the water below.
And as you sit there beneath the tree you watch the leaves on the water,
Noticing their different colours and shapes as they float by.
And then returning the awareness to noticing the thoughts once again as they come and go.
At this time imagining that when a thought arises you can place it onto a leaf and then just watch that leaf float away on the river.
When you notice the next thought arising,
Placing that thought on another leaf and watching it sail away downstream.
If you notice that you've got lost in thinking or feeling,
Seeing if there can be a celebration for that noticing.
This is a moment of awareness.
And then just begin again by placing the next thought that comes into the mind onto a new leaf.
If there are any thoughts that perhaps you're not doing this practice properly or that there is too much thinking,
Try to remember that these two are just thoughts and placing them onto a leaf,
Watching them float away.
The aim here is not to get rid of thoughts or to have no thoughts at all.
We're not trying to push thoughts away.
We're just observing the arising and passing away of thoughts in the mind,
Letting them float away in their own time.
Okay.
Gently letting go of placing the thoughts onto the leaves,
Seeing if you can widen your awareness to take in the whole of your imagined river scene.
Where is your attention drawn in this scene?
Noticing any colours,
Shapes and textures.
Seeing if you can involve all five senses to really imagine the scene.
Can you notice any changes that might signify the arrival of autumn?
Gently letting your imaginary river scene fade away,
Bringing the awareness back to any sensations in the body where the body has contact with the surface beneath.
Noticing the breath as it comes and goes,
All of the places in the body where the breath can be heard and noticing any sounds and the spaces between the sounds.
And then just checking in with how you're feeling right now without any expectation or judgment.
Perhaps observing any fruits of the practice.
And then starting to deepen the breath.
Having a sense of the body in the room where you are right now and the space around the body.
And whenever you're ready,
Gently blinking the eyes open and just taking in the sights in front of you,
Just for a few moments as we draw this practice to a close.
Seeing if you can take this more spacious awareness out into the rest of the day.
