Thoughts and Emotions Meditation Adopt your usual meditation posture on a straight-backed chair.
Place your hands in your lap and allow your shoulders and neck to relax.
Begin by gently closing your eyes and tuning into the world around you.
It might be noisy outside.
You might hear cars,
Wind,
Rain,
Air conditioning,
Birdsong,
Or human voices.
Whatever is there,
Pay attention to the sounds for a few moments.
Gather up your awareness and move it down to both feet simultaneously for a few moments.
What do you feel there?
Tune into the actual sensations.
There's no need to label what you find or describe it in any way.
There is no correct way to feel.
Do your feet feel warm or cold,
Tired or achy?
The sensations may be intense or there might be none at all.
It doesn't matter.
What matters is that you are aware.
Now move your attention onto the ankles,
The lower legs,
The knees,
The thighs,
And onto the right hip.
Pause for a few moments to take in the sensations from both hips.
Now move your awareness to both hands at the same time.
What do you feel?
Tune into the actual sensations without feeling that you need to describe or name them in any way.
And your arms?
What do they feel like?
And your shoulders,
Neck,
Lips,
Nose?
As gently as you can,
Start paying attention to the movement of your breath and the effect it has on your body.
Can you feel your chest and stomach swelling on the in-breath and subsiding on the out-breath?
Can you feel your back or shoulders stretching and broadening on each in-breath and subsiding on each out-breath?
Try not to alter or force the breath in any way,
But rest your awareness within its natural movements.
As best as you can,
Focus your awareness on these sensations for a few moments.
From time to time,
Your mind will wander.
This is entirely normal.
Each time it happens,
Gently acknowledge where it went by saying,
Thinking,
Thinking,
Planning,
Planning,
Or whatever feels most appropriate.
After you've acknowledged your mind's wanderings,
Bring your awareness back to wherever the sensations of breathing are the strongest.
After a couple of minutes of focusing on the breath,
Allow your mind to wait patiently for a thought,
Feeling,
Or emotion to rise to the surface.
When you become aware of your thoughts,
Gently acknowledge them.
Simply observe them in your mind's eye.
Try not to argue with them or engage with them in any way.
Remember that you are not your thoughts.
Notice how they rise and fall in intensity,
How they entice you or goad you into reacting.
When this happens,
Simply observe them with the mind's eye as best you can.
Remain curious about them.
Often,
The act of observing thoughts robs them of their momentum,
And they simply melt away of their own accord.
Whether this happens or not,
After a few moments,
Return your awareness to the breath.
And after a few breaths,
Once again,
Begin waiting patiently for a thought or emotion to arise in your mind.
Allow them to appear in their own time.
If you feel an emotion or an urge or impulse to do something,
See if you can sense where it is located in the body.
Feel the sensations rise and fall for a few moments,
And then return your awareness to the breath.
After a few breaths,
Return to waiting patiently.
Try to gain a sense of what the absence of thoughts in your mind feels like.
It might feel like a place of pure tranquillity,
An emptiness or perhaps of something vast just beyond your grasp.
Be curious and open to what it feels like.
Don't try to change anything.
Whatever it seems like,
Simply wait patiently,
As if you're sitting on the edge of a vast pool.
And the next time a thought or emotion arises,
Watch its rise and fall.
Return to the breath,
And then to patiently waiting and observing.
And you may run through this cycle a few times,
Or perhaps 10 or 20 times.
It doesn't matter.
Only awareness matters.
And now in your own time,
Gradually shift the focus of your awareness to the world around you.
What can you hear?
Gently open your eyes.
Remain in this position for as long as you wish.
When you do decide to move,
Begin by gently wiggling your fingers and toes.
See if you can maintain the essence of this clear and open awareness as you move through your day.
