Introduction To Chanting Meditation #11 Thinking
In this session we continue our exploration of Insight Meditation. A few sessions back we practiced how pop-out of a thought bubble when we noticed our mind had wandered. Knowing what our thoughts are comprised of, for example images and/or sounds… can help us pop-out of a thought bubble. We’re going to explore these two aspects of our thinking process. The visual images part and the inner talk part by dialing up the resolution on our inner world. Sometimes we notice these parts… other times we don’t because we’re inside them. And everyone is a bit different. You may be someone who has more images, or you may be someone who has more talk.
Transcript
And let's go ahead and get started because this one is actually a little bit of a longer one in the whole insight series that we're doing is a little bit of work.
It's like almost oxymoronic with meditation.
Meditation is supposed to be super chill.
Why does it work?
What is the hard work?
Insight in particular requires a little bit of effort.
So let's go ahead and get started.
Good morning,
Good afternoon and good evening to everyone.
Thank you so much for coming.
Welcome to session 11 of our 30 session introduction to meditation course.
Really happy to be here.
Last session,
We explored how our minds naturally wander and roam about.
It's completely normal.
Our practice when meditating is simply to become aware of our minds tendency to wander.
That's it.
First,
We notice it has wandered,
Smile for noticing,
Feel good that we noticed.
Take a moment to note where it went,
What we were doing,
And then gently return our awareness to the sensations of breath and simply begin again.
In this session,
We continue our exploration of insight meditation.
A few sessions back,
We practiced how to pop out of a thought when we noticed our mind had wandered.
Knowing what our thoughts are comprised of,
For example,
Is it images and pictures or sounds can help us pop out of thought bubbles.
We're going to explore these two aspects of our thinking process,
The visual images part and the inner talk part by dialing up the resolution on our inner world.
Sometimes we notice these things and other times we don't because we're stuck inside them and everyone is a bit different.
You may be someone who has more images or you may be someone who has more talk.
Again,
If during any of these insight sessions things get a little too intense,
Please let the exploration go.
Come back to the breath and the body until you feel stabilized and only begin again if you want to.
So what exactly does clarity mean?
Let's find out.
Enjoy the meditation.
Coming now to sit.
Entering into our meditation.
Setting our intention to be here,
Present and alert.
Taking a few moments to find your favorite meditation posture.
A position that is comfortable,
Supporting and allows your body to relax.
Sitting as tall as you can with the least amount of effort.
Back upright,
Aligned,
Body relaxed.
Resilient in the balance between effort and ease.
Beginning with three deep,
Calming breaths.
Inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth,
Making a soft sigh.
With each out breath,
Releasing any cares,
Worries or tensions that you might have brought.
Letting it melt away and slough off into the floor.
And softening your forehead,
Eyes,
Cheeks,
Jaw,
Mouth,
Neck,
Shoulders,
Chest,
Lower back,
Belly,
Pelvis,
Groin,
Legs and feet.
Aware of your whole body as you sit here.
Calming your whole body.
Gently easing your awareness to the sensations of breath.
In,
Out.
Coming in closely,
Lightly resting your awareness on whichever set of sensations of breath is most vivid for you.
Breathing in,
I know I am breathing in.
Breathing out,
I know I am breathing out.
In.
Let's start with images.
In your mind's eye,
Imagine a bird.
For some,
This is easy,
And others,
Harder.
Notice how it is for you to imagine a bird.
Is your bird vivid and colorful?
Or is it washed out and slightly blurry?
Notice where you see it spatially.
Is it in front of your eyes,
Or on the left or right?
Is it down inside you?
Perhaps there's no image of a bird at all.
Maybe it's just an idea of a bird.
However it is for you is perfectly normal.
You're just getting curious about yourself,
How you work.
No judgment,
No criticism.
This is all very interesting to learn.
Explore imagining a bird on your own for a bit.
Now letting the images of a bird fade away.
Coming back to breath in and out.
Using your breath as an anchor to ground you in the present moment.
Patiently observing if any other images come to mind.
Just sitting,
Breathing,
And noticing if any random images come.
If they do,
When they do,
You can use a label,
Like see.
When an image comes to mind,
Silently say,
See.
Then watch the image and see what happens.
Maybe it sticks around,
Maybe it disappears.
Maybe a new one comes to mind,
And so on.
And every time one does,
Say the label,
See.
If no images come,
That's normal too.
We're just sitting,
Breathing,
Watching whatever is happening on our own personal mental screen without judgment or criticism.
The practice is to catch ourselves in the act of using visual thinking.
Noticing,
Smiling,
Using the label,
See.
Keep going on your own.
Sometimes there's lots of images,
Sometimes none.
You may notice that sounds can trigger an image.
Whenever an image comes to mind,
Use the label,
See.
Saying it in a very calm,
Collected way.
See.
See.
It's like you're a sportscaster,
Calling out the plays.
See.
Labels help us pay attention.
Helps us from getting drawn into thinking.
And remembering if nothing comes to mind,
That's okay too.
You're just observing your own mind.
Sitting,
Breathing,
Watching.
Keep going.
This practice can be hard,
And sometimes make people a bit tense.
Take a moment and check in with yourself as you're meditating.
How are you feeling?
If you notice yourself tensing up,
Judging or criticizing,
Or trying too hard,
Take a few moments to do another body scan.
Softening your forehead,
Eyes,
Neck,
Shoulders,
Belly.
Perhaps taking a nice,
Long,
Deep,
Intentional breath in,
And letting out a great big sigh.
Staying present,
Alert,
And aware as best you can.
Images are very powerful,
And can draw us into this drooly,
Daydreamy space.
If and when you notice you start to get drawn into the images,
Pop out by saying,
See.
See.
Now we're going to switch and explore the audio part of our thinking.
Our own internal dialogue.
As it was with images,
Some have a lot of inner talk,
Some have very little.
Some have a lot,
But never noticed it.
To help us get started,
Silently say your own name in your head.
Notice where you hear your name.
In your ears?
Deeper inside?
Perhaps it doesn't really have a spatial location at all.
Say your name in your head,
Listening to where you're hearing it.
As you're doing this,
Notice how it feels to pay attention to inner talk.
Make it a bit of a game,
Playfully experimenting with saying your name louder and softer.
Listening in as you do.
Staying relaxed and anchored with your breath.
Just watching.
Now stop saying your name.
And resting with your breath,
Listen and observe what spontaneous inner talk might appear.
Listen to the inner sounds of your thinking.
Maybe it's your inner critic.
Maybe it's your inner list maker.
If and when you hear something inside,
Use the label hear as an h-e-a-r.
Hear.
Listening in a relaxed,
Non-critical way.
You hear some talk start.
Repeat the label hear.
Hear.
Notice what happens to the inner talk when you do this.
Maybe it stops.
Maybe it keeps going.
Maybe it's completely quiet.
All these possibilities are normal.
Our practice is just observing what's going on in our head.
Try this on your own for a bit.
This practice isn't easy.
You're doing great.
Now put these two ideas together.
Images and talk.
Keep going on your own,
Observing and watching your inner talk or your inner images in a relaxed,
Non-judgmental or critical way.
If you notice an image,
Say,
See.
And if you notice any inner talk,
Say,
Hear.
Wonderful.
Now stop trying to do any of this at all.
Let go of this inner focus of insight and completely relax.
You've earned it.
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Observing my mind's images and talk.
Breathing out,
Calming my mind's images and talk.
Mind.
Calm.
Mind.
Whether or not you enjoyed this insight practice,
The clarity gained can be invaluable.
Learning to boost the clarity of our thinking process by viewing inner images and inner talk.
Clarity empowers us to pop out of the trance of our thinking.
Popping out begins by noticing that we're in a trance in the first place.
Noticing when we're drawn deeply into inner talk,
Like our inner critic,
List maker,
Or our life story narrator.
Perhaps we're drawn into a visual memory.
We're learning how our own personal individual thinking works.
So the next time you're drawn into a thought loop,
See if you can pop out by noticing what parts are images,
What parts are talk,
What parts are none of these.
Perhaps using your labels see and hear.
Observing and listening in a relaxed way,
Without adding any judgments or criticisms to it.
For all of this thinking is normal.
It's just how our minds work.
This clarity into our thinking gives us more space and freedom to live and enjoy our lives.
Slowly and gradually beginning to emerge from your meditation.
Relaxing and releasing your meditation posture.
Wiggling your arms,
Wiggling your fingers and your toes.
Stretching your arms up high,
Breathing in a nice big stretch up.
As you lower your arms letting out a nice long sigh.
Rubbing your legs and rocking side to side and back and forth.
Bringing a bit of motion back into your body.
Waking it up slowly.
Reaching behind to your lower back and giving your lower back a massage.
Bringing your hands around to your belly.
Bringing your hands around to your belly and gently holding your belly.
Repeating your meta affirmations to yourself beginning with,
I am well.
And hands over your heart.
Repeating,
I am happy,
Loved and loving.
Crossing your arms,
Putting your hands on your opposite shoulders,
Giving yourself a hug.
And as you lightly stroke down your arm from shoulder to elbow a few times as you repeat to yourself,
I am safe at home in my body with my breath.
And caressing your face,
Your forehead,
Your cheeks,
Your eyes,
Your nose,
Mouth and jaw.
Through your hair,
Over your head,
Around to the back of your neck and pausing to give your neck and shoulders a massage.
Hands back to your heart.
Hands back to your heart.
And back to your belly.
Repeating,
I am peaceful and at ease.
Take a moment to feel grateful to yourself for giving yourself this gift of insight and calming and coming together to share it with each other as a community.
And take these good feelings with you into the rest of your day,
Evening and week.
Rubbing the palms of your hands together to warm them.
Lightly cupping them over your eyes,
Feeling the warmth of your hands on your face.
Next in breath,
As you breathe in,
Opening your eyes into your hands.
And as you breathe out,
Slowly lowering your hands.
Thank you all very much.
We'll see you next time.
