G'day,
My name is Rachel Grace.
Thanks for joining me for this practice.
I invite you to take a moment now to prepare for this practice by finding a posture that supports you to be both alert and relaxed.
Allowing your eyes to gently close or softening your gaze down to the floor in front of you if that feels right for you.
We'll start the practice with the ring of a gong.
Becoming aware of the sensations of breathing.
Breathing in,
Know you're breathing in.
Breathing out,
Know you're breathing out.
I invite you to settle into this practice by bringing a relaxed and focused attention to your preferred anchor.
Whether that be to paying attention to the sensations of the flow of breath or awareness of sounds arising and fading away or feeling the physical sensations in your feet and hands.
Whatever your preferred primary anchor is,
Focus your attention there now and each time your mind wanders,
Gently return your attention to your anchor and start again.
I'll give you a few moments now to set your anchor in silence.
If your attention has drifted away from your anchor,
Gently returning your attention now.
If your attention has drifted away from your anchor,
Gently returning your attention now.
I invite you now to start noticing your thoughts.
How do you experience your thoughts?
Some thoughts arise as words,
Some as images or pictures in the mind.
Take a moment now to notice how your thoughts arise,
However they might be.
And then when you become aware that you're thinking,
Start making a soft mental note acknowledging that experience as thinking,
Thinking.
You may begin to notice that some thoughts have a reoccurring theme over and over.
If you notice persistent types of thought patterns in the mind,
It can be helpful to use a more precise label for that pattern.
Some examples are judging,
Planning,
Remembering,
Fantasizing,
Worrying.
You can experiment with the notes that you use.
It's the quality of your attention that matters most,
Not exactly which note you use.
Noting your thoughts as they arise.
Stay alert for the appearance of thoughts arising in the mind.
As soon as you become aware of a thought,
Make a soft mental note of it.
When you note a thought,
Can you notice what happens to the thought as well?
Does it continue?
Does it change?
Or does it disappear?
Does it fade away quickly or over time?
We're not trying to figure out thoughts or get any particular experience that we might want.
We're simply learning to observe experiences as they are with a balanced mind.
Noticing and noting thoughts as they arise.
Let the tone for each note be infused with a quality of non-reactivity and acceptance and non-judging.
Being gentle and kind in your noting.
This will positively impact the quality of the mind.
Noting thoughts is a little bit like watching clouds.
Just like how if you're lying in the park watching the clouds move across the sky,
You would see all different kinds of clouds drifting by,
Coming and going.
Some clouds might be more grey than others,
Some are big and some are small.
Just like there are different types of clouds we can watch float by,
There are many different types of thoughts with different qualities,
Energies and content in them.
All we're doing here in this practice is treating each thought like another cloud passing by in the sky.
There's no need to say,
Oh I don't like that cloud or I want that cloud.
It's enough to simply know each thought just as a thought.
Noting it as thinking,
Planning,
Judging or doubting,
Whatever it might be.
Here we are building the skills for watching these thoughts moving through the sky of your mind without taking them so seriously,
Without having to be caught by them quite so deeply.
As we build this capacity to observe thoughts we are less controlled by them.
Noting your thoughts right now.
As we approach the end of our practice now,
I invite you to join me in taking a deep breath filling the lungs and then relaxing your body and your mind as you breathe out,
Releasing all the air from your lungs.
To end our practice I'll ring the gong three times.
Allowing your eyes to open,
Gently bringing your attention back up into the environment around you.
Take a moment now to appreciate yourself for the dedication to your own well being that you've just demonstrated.
Each time you practice you are changing your brain for the better and you're building your capacity to handle life more skillfully so well done.
May mindfulness positively impact you,
What you do and all of those around you.
Thank you for practicing with me,
I hope you will join me again.
