Day Dreaming

We are working on focus and daydreaming is a crucial part of focusing. With this meditation, please listen as I first present the idea of purposeful daydreaming—giving your mind permission to explore, to wander—unlocking the mind to be used in different, creative ways. Then, I'll lead you on a guided meditation that will help your mind do just that.

Transcript

Hello everyone.

We are working on focus this month.

And so it might be odd to bring up the idea of daydreaming,

But that is what we're going to do today.

One of the things that I find important about focus is that it's a choice that I get to make,

But sometimes I don't have that choice because I am not in charge of my mind.

I as an awareness,

Right?

So when I say I,

That's really what I'm talking about is the part of us that really is an awareness,

But is eternal,

Not kind of the functioning part that I see in the world every day.

Really,

They're different aspects of who we are.

One is governed by the mind and one we could say is governed by the soul.

These days,

It's hard to focus,

Right?

We have trained our mind in a way to be engaged in little bits of information that bounce around a lot.

Last week,

We made a little bit of a promise,

A challenge or something,

Or just an idea that we would read a book this month,

A paper book,

Something that is not on the internet or on your Kindle.

And if ever you want to share what you're reading,

That's really nice because it's always good to have new and interesting things to read.

I asked us to do that because our mind engages differently when we're reading,

Almost as if it's a meditation,

Because we get so absorbed in the word and then we bring it back to the self,

Right?

So then there's this empathetic moment that I have with the text.

So there's this beautiful exchange that's happening.

And although the story is not taking place in the present moment,

Although I'm not focusing the way that I might in a particular kind of meditation,

I'm still using my mind in a way.

And the first part of that might be like,

I can't get through a page,

Right?

Because my focus is deteriorated in that way.

And that's okay because now you're starting and that's where everything happens right at the start.

Today I'm suggesting that we use our mind in yet a different way.

And any one of these suggestions over the month would be perfectly wonderful for you to practice.

There's one of them that really catches you.

I'm giving ideas.

You can say,

Hey,

I'm really going to dig into this one particular concept or way of using my mind.

Alongside of course of using our mind in meditation.

So why would we want to daydream?

Daydream is really,

Daydreaming we've been told is a useless task,

Right?

As young ones we might have been yelled at for daydreaming.

But as we know,

Young children are in the present moment,

Right?

They are in this beautiful experience of the now.

They are not plagued by worries and doubts and feelings of worthiness,

Right?

They're just playing and they're just daydreaming.

They're just having an experience.

Before of course they're told that all those things are not okay.

It is the seat of creativity.

If we are able to allow our mind to wander in a healthy way,

Not in a frantic or chaotic way,

Then we begin to regain our creativity.

But presently we go from little bits of information to long and arduous tasks.

And the tasks can feel very comforting,

Right?

If I get my checklist done,

If I can focus on this project,

There's a feeling of satisfaction.

When I am off that task,

What I am typically left with is my mind feeling anxious,

My mind beginning to worry.

So I'm just going to put my mind back on the task so that I don't have to deal with that feeling of anxiety or worry or whatever negative feeling comes up.

Daydreaming is a really different experience.

It is where we unlock the mind to imagine a different way of using our brain.

It's imagining,

It's time traveling,

It's having an experience in our mind that gets absorbed in the cellular structure of our bodies.

And so we're going to daydream together today,

Which is kind of exciting.

And I'm going to start you off and then I'm going to let you travel on your own.

You might meet up with each other,

Who's to say,

In your journey.

But I want,

What I'm aiming for,

Why I would do this is that I would like you to have different experiences of using your mind at your own will.

Instead of your mind using you,

You directing your mind.

And there is a way to direct the mind to daydream and then let the best of your mind let go into the full experience.

Ready,

Try.

Find your comfortable seat.

And of course your gazing point.

We remember that our gazing point is a way that we can bring our whole self into this moment.

So all those little bits of distraction,

All those little lost vibrations of prana get put into this singular point.

So that's a strong focus.

It's a different way to use our mind.

We are becoming,

This month,

I hope we are becoming very dexterous in how we as an awareness use the tool of our mind to make our own.

So,

This is a very important part of our journey.

And I hope that we are becoming,

This month,

I hope we are becoming very dexterous in how we as an awareness use the tool of the mind to make our own.

If you're creating that focus,

Can you do so in an open way so it's not harsh and rigid,

But that there is a little feeling of curiosity of becoming present with your gazing point.

As you begin to shift where you are essentially in your nervous system,

Can you notice what your body does?

How does it indicate to you that it is shifting fields?

Does your breath change?

Does your body feel different?

Essentially moving from fight or flight to the presence of rest to digest,

Where we feel safe,

Where we can let go.

Once you have felt that shift,

You can go ahead and close your eyes and bring that awareness inward,

Taking your mind off of the external world,

Bring it internally to maybe your breath,

Simply feeling the sensation of your breath,

Allowing things to slow down.

As we begin to have a sensed experience,

What does my body feel like here and now?

We're going to just touch on each of our chakras to make sure that they are all in agreement and find our way a little more quickly this morning to the seat of the Buddha,

Which is where we begin to daydream together.

It's nice to feel the root,

Always to feel the root so that all of your energy is in one place in this body,

Grounded in an experience.

Moving to your second space,

The navel,

The bottom of your ribs,

This touching point,

This is gentle momentary blessing to touch the heart,

The throat,

And then arriving at Buddha's seat,

Seat of the present stillness,

A welcoming seat.

Just take a look at that seat as an awareness.

Notice what it looks like to you this morning.

No worries if you can't quite see it yet.

Just have and hold the intention.

If you can,

Notice all of its details,

Its texture,

Its color,

The way that it feels to you.

And then when you're ready,

Go ahead and sit in that seat,

Lie back and let go.

Just a few moments,

There's nothing really to do.

You can let yourself fall all the way back,

Letting go of everything the way that you know it,

Releasing any fixed ideas so that you are in an expanded state,

In this field of utter possibility.

So if you were standing before the perfect canvas,

On this canvas,

You can have any experience that you want.

It can be very lavish or wonderfully simple.

Maybe there's a place that calls to your soul and you can imagine yourself being there,

A place that makes you feel whole,

That brings out true joy,

Imagined sense or actually feel yourself in this place.

If you begin to design this incredible experience,

That can be ordinary or extraordinary because it is your experience.

It can be ordinary or extraordinary because it is your experience.

When you have arrived,

Maybe you want to look around and see what else is there with you.

What is in the environment?

What are you doing in the environment?

Letting your mind take you into a mental journey.

See if your soul was creating this experience just for you.

Giving yourself full permission to unlock and create.

Letting your mind take you into a mental journey.

Letting your mind take you into a mental journey.

Letting your mind take you into a mental journey.

Letting your mind take you into a mental journey.

Letting your mind take you into a mental journey.

Letting your mind take you into a mental journey.

Something you may want to take back with you and create in the manifest world.

This does not have to be true,

But it is possible.

Letting your mind take you into a mental journey.

Slowly find your sway back to the seat of the Buddha.

To your body.

Taking your awareness.

Taking refuge in the physical form.

Letting your mind take you into a mental journey.

It is of great importance to be able to dream because it is a direct way of creating our life experience.