We will now begin this meditation on thoughts.
First,
Find a posture that is comfortable for you,
One that is both grounded and stable.
Now close the eyes,
Or gaze softly at the ground with the eyes slightly open.
Next,
Take a few deep breaths,
Watching the air go in through the nose,
Down the throat,
And into the belly.
Then following it back out,
Heating the air as it leaves your nose.
Watching the air go in,
And out.
Now search for any obvious tension in the body,
And let it relax.
Allowing your whole body to be at ease.
If you feel discomfort or pain at any time during this meditation,
Watch it mindfully for a bit.
And then,
With compassion,
You are more than welcome to move.
Now gently bring your attention to your anchor,
Observing it non-judgmentally,
Which we will now do for a number of minutes.
And now as thoughts naturally enter your consciousness,
Just take note of them.
You can even go,
Ah,
I'm thinking.
And then as the thoughts subside,
Bring your attention back to your anchor.
Just noting the thoughts,
Being the witness to whatever thought is arising.
Not following them,
Just noting.
Bringing compassion to whatever thoughts are arising.
Any thought at all is okay to have.
And any amount is okay,
Too.
If you find your thoughts are wandering this way and that way,
Also bring compassion to that.
And if we get lost in thought,
Just noting,
Ah,
I got lost in thought.
Every moment we bring ourselves back is a moment of awareness.
Notice the difference between being lost in thought and being aware of your thoughts.
Notice the quality of presence between the two.
You can label your thoughts,
Such as judging,
Judging,
Or planning,
Analyzing,
Worrying,
Ruminating,
Fantasizing,
Comparing.
Or you can just label them as thoughts.
Just think thinking,
Thinking.
Bringing ourselves back to being the mindful observer of our thoughts.
Notice what emotions or sensations are co-arising with your thoughts.
Maybe your thoughts are creating tension in the body.
Maybe sadness is arising with your thoughts.
Or joy.
Or confusion.
You can deliberately try having a thought slowly.
Noticing the spaciousness between each part of the thought.
Such as,
I am meditating.
Or,
Just this.
Now as you practice this,
Seeing how the thoughts sort of arise and pass away in the spaciousness.
Like waves coming and going in the ocean.
See if you can notice then the flow of experience continuing before,
During,
And after the thought.
And then notice the continuous awareness.
Aware of both the thoughts and the spaciousness before,
Between,
And after them.
See if you can sit in that awareness.
Bringing compassion and acceptance to whenever your thoughts sweep you away.
And now for these last few moments.
Continuing to sit in the awareness that holds all the thoughts and all the experiences.
And bringing in even more compassion and acceptance to anything that arises.
