Welcome.
Welcome to Creating a Space for Thinking and Solving.
This meditation is to help shift gears into a calm,
Unhurried focus to enhance your ability to contemplate,
To reflect,
To create or to problem solve.
The meditation can be done sitting,
Eyes open or closed,
As is comfortable for you.
To begin with,
Choose an environment where you are less likely to be disturbed.
Set aside all your digital distractions.
Become ready to move into a do not disturb mode now.
Make a commitment to yourself.
I will now set aside all I need to do,
My immediate commitments and usual distractions for the next 10 minutes.
Let us repeat that again.
I will now set aside all I need to do,
My immediate commitments and usual distractions for the next 10 minutes.
Bring attention to your body now.
Mentally scan your body,
Noticing any tightness,
Stiffness and tension in the muscles related to the way you are holding your body or the momentum of your last activity.
Allow some small movements,
Gentle stretches to take the body into a more relaxed pose.
Begin to slow down consciously.
If you are sitting with a glass of water or a cup of tea,
Pay attention to your hand movements,
Sensations and drink your tea or water mindfully.
If you are seated without activity,
You can simply close your eyes and stay still.
Continue to keep your body as relaxed as can be for some time.
Start noticing your breath for a few seconds now.
Bring attention to your exhalation.
Breathe out at a comfortable slow pace and then take a deep in-breath very slowly.
Make sure your effort is minimal and gentle.
Continue to take a few breaths this way to calm your body and your mind.
So breathe in gently,
Slowly,
Deeply and breathe out gently,
Slowly and deeply.
A few more breaths this way.
Breathing in gently,
Deeply,
Slowly.
Breathing out the same way.
Now visualize a comfortable room in your mind,
A room that is spacious,
That is quiet and uncluttered.
Imagine yourself seated in this space with calm alertness,
Ready to focus.
You are now in your thinking room.
As you're seated here,
Begin to breathe in and breathe out deeply as before.
And as you do that,
Feel or see yourself going deeper and deeper into calmness with alertness and focus.
Breathe in deeply,
Breathe out slowly and deeply,
Descending into calm,
Alert focus.
Ten,
Nine,
Eight,
Seven,
Six,
Still descending into a calm,
Alert focus as you're gently breathing in and out.
Four,
Three,
Two and one.
You're now in your thinking room in a place that is quiet with a feeling of calmness and a mind that is alert and focused.
Start breathing normally again.
Now slowly bring the idea you want to refine or the problem or issue you want to think about into your thinking room.
Place it on a table in front of you where you can look at it clearly.
And as you focus on it,
When different ideas connected to the issue emerge,
Make sure to give each idea a distinct place,
A chair,
So that you can look at each one of them and focus on them separately.
Take time to look at each idea.
Spend time pondering on each one.
Let every idea take more form.
Sometimes random,
Unconnected thoughts,
Essentially distractions,
May lead you away tangentially when you're thinking.
When you do notice that has happened,
Just give a smile and simply draw your focus back to look at the issue or idea you were thinking on again without recrimination.
Don't dwell on the loss of focus.
Get back to the thoughts around the issue.
Continue to weigh your options.
Allow yourself to smile at any urgency that your mind creates.
Let yourself relax.
If you find yourself getting distracted frequently,
Remember to fall back on deep breathing to stabilize and sustain your focus.
Now allow your attention to deliberately shift away from these ideas,
These thoughts,
To notice your gut instincts,
Your primary feelings and emotions about the idea or issue itself.
Your feelings and emotions can give you cues,
Or they can be a reminder of other solutions,
Or they may warn you of pitfalls or even flag concerns.
Your feelings can clarify your needs.
They let you know what you want,
What you do not want,
What you're comfortable with,
What to do and what not to do.
Spend time on gaining this clarity.
Review the idea from different angles again.
Smile at any urgency that your mind creates,
Allowing yourself to relax deliberately.
Remember to fall back on deep breathing whenever you want to stabilize and sustain your focus.
Stay in your thinking room as long as you want.
Spend as much time as you want with your ideas.
But if you find yourself getting confused or without clarity,
Do step outside the thinking room.
Take a break for a minute or two or more.
Simply attend to the physical sensations of your body or your breath.
Then re-enter the thinking room and refocus to address the ideas again.
Remember,
Solutions and creativity are best arrived at when we are relaxed.
Remember,
It is a process.
Smile at any urgency that your mind creates.
Do not force a conclusion.
You can always come back to your thinking room whenever you want.
