If you have noticed yourself up in your head lately,
Overthinking things,
Feeling anxious or overwhelmed,
I hope this meditation can bring you a little peace.
We will be exploring the idea of your mind being like the ocean.
So first,
Find a supportive,
Relaxing position to sit or lie down.
Settle into your space.
Allow the surface beneath you to fully support you.
Notice that you are breathing and allow yourself to just be here.
Now to begin,
Let your eyes remain open and start to focus your attention on the middle of the room,
Halfway between yourself and the wall,
Window or ceiling in front of you.
Maybe there's an object that you can see and focus on,
A table or a chair,
Or maybe it's just empty space.
And then let your focus and attention go to the far wall or window away from where you're sitting,
The furthest edge of your space.
If you're lying down,
Bringing your attention to the ceiling,
And then bring your attention back to the center of the room.
And then letting your attention come closer to you about book reading distance.
And so you can notice that you can determine where your attention goes.
You can determine where your focus goes.
So now,
If you'd like,
You can gently close your eyes or allow your gaze to soften and let your attention turn inward.
Start to focus on your breath,
Noticing the speed of your breath,
The depth of your breath,
And where in your body you feel your breath the most.
Maybe you feel the air moving through your nostrils as you breathe.
Maybe you feel your chest rising and falling.
Maybe you can even tune in to your diaphragm,
Gently pulling down with every inhale,
Allowing your ribs to expand to the sides.
And then the diaphragm gently relaxing back up,
The ribs relaxing back down.
So take a few moments now and just let your awareness ride the wave of your breath,
Wherever you feel it most naturally.
Your nostrils,
Your chest,
Your ribs,
Maybe the whole body breathing.
Whatever comes naturally to you.
And just let your attention ride the wave of your breath,
The rhythm of your breath.
And continuing to sense your breath moving in and out as we start to bring in the imagery of the ocean.
Deep in the ocean,
Beneath the surface,
It is calm and clear.
And from that deep place in the ocean,
You can look upward towards the surface.
And no matter what the conditions are at the surface,
Whether it's flat or choppy,
Even a full storm,
No matter what those conditions are,
Deep in the ocean,
It's calm and clear.
Allow the sensation of your breath,
The rhythm of your breath,
To allow you to dive deep into the ocean of your mind,
Where from this deep,
Tranquil place,
You can look upward at the waves at the surface,
The brain waves that are the activities of your mind.
And from this deep place,
You can just notice the thinking or feeling or perceiving.
All those feelings and thoughts that are just there at the surface.
And notice them as being activities that come and go in and out of awareness,
Like ripples and waves that move through the water.
Allow your breath to bring you back to this tranquil place in the deep ocean of your mind,
Where it is calm and clear.
Taking a few moments now to just sense,
Notice,
Tuning in to the sensations of breath.
And when an activity of the mind brings your attention to it,
Like a thought,
A feeling,
A memory,
A sensation,
Then gently and kindly take note of that mental activity and redirect your attention to your breath.
It may be helpful to name what you see.
If there's a thought,
You can gently say in your mind,
Thinking.
If there's a sensation,
You can say sensing.
And then let your attention return to your breath,
To this depth of your mind,
Where you can just sense and observe the activities of the mind as just that.
Just activities and not the totality of who you are.
The ocean is so much more than what goes on at the surface.
The ocean is deep and vast.
So continuing to follow the breath from this calm,
Tranquil place,
Remembering that you can direct your focus here.
Whenever you need to,
You can bring your focus beneath the surface to this calm,
Clear place.
And when you're ready,
Let's take three last big deep breaths together,
Breathing in through the nose,
Breathing out through the mouth,
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Breathing in,
And breathing out.
And gently let your eyes open if they have been closed.
And this ends your meditation.
Thank you so much for joining me,
And I'll see you next time.
