Come & Observe Our Thoughts

Buddhists often refer to the mind as the "monkey mind" as it swings from thoughts like branches in the forest. When I chat with people about meditation, they often tell me that they aren't very good at meditation because their mind wanders too often. This meditation is to start arriving at the observation that the goal of meditation isn't necessarily to quiet the mind, rather observe it. While the mind may quiet from time to time, our main objective is to sit compassionately and observe.

Transcript

Good morning,

Good morning,

Good afternoon,

Or good evening,

Wherever you are.

Today's meditation will work on a more subtle awareness.

We'll focus on the ears and sounds.

And then we'll move into cutting away anything holding us back from the past,

From yesterday.

So this would be a great meditation to do in the morning.

As we arise in the morning,

As we wake up,

We can cut anything from yesterday,

Anything from the dream world that was here with us,

That might still be residue from yesterday,

To allow us a fresh and clean day,

To start this day new.

So to start our meditation today,

We can find a tall,

Upright spine.

If we want,

We can lay down,

But just be careful not to fall asleep,

Especially if it's morning.

And if you like,

You can place something underneath your sitting bone so that your hips are higher than your knees.

That just allows the body to relax a bit deeper,

Allows circulation to flow freely from our torso down to our legs,

So that we don't cut off the circulation in our psoas muscle or our hip flexors.

So sitting up tall,

Rolling the shoulders back,

Softening the shoulders,

Softening the gaze.

We can close down the eyes,

Softening the jaw,

And slightly tuck the chin.

And if we like,

We can place our hands,

Either facing up,

Hands facing up,

Drawing an expansion,

This idea of expanding higher and growing,

Or we can place them face down on the knees,

Signifying grounding and stabilization.

Or if there's another place you'd like to put them,

You can place your hands in your lap or anywhere that feels good.

And as we sit here tall,

We can just start to notice the breath guiding the body.

You notice that as we inhale,

The body grows.

As we exhale,

It contracts and starts to notice the breath affecting every part of the body.

We notice the breath in the chest and the diaphragm.

We can feel it in the belly.

And we can start to move to a more subtle sensation of the breath,

Perhaps reaching all the way to the arms,

Shoulders.

We can notice the breath reaching all the way to the hands.

Perhaps we notice the head moving ever so slightly,

With the breath rising and falling.

We can notice the legs,

The subtle sensations,

Perhaps the skin,

Just the skin is moving.

As the breath inflates and deflates the body.

We can take a deep vibrational breath to start our practice.

We'll take a deep inhale and audibly exhale.

Let's do one more deep inhale and audibly exhale,

Letting go of anything.

Anything that we're attached to,

Any ideas,

Any thoughts,

Just allowing them to fade away.

Any ideas from the past,

Any beliefs.

We take one more vibrational breath and we just pour our beliefs and ideas and thoughts into that breath and let go.

We inhale.

Everything comes out.

We start to direct our attention,

This clear,

Lucid attention,

To the ears.

And see if you can notice all of the sounds around you at the same time.

Perhaps you can hear my voice in the music,

Any ambient noise around you.

Perhaps there are cars or birds or people talking.

No need to label what the sound is,

Just to notice the sound.

See if you can let go of any meaning.

As we're listening,

As if we would listen to rain just to hear.

No need to analyze,

No need to make sense of.

Rather just an open-ended hearing.

As if the sound is moving through your body.

And you're simply the instrument that it passes through.

And sing throughout all of these sounds.

You can pick one sound that you're drawn to.

And just notice that one specific sound as you let the rest drown out.

You can notice a sound that's close to you now.

Maybe you can hear your own heartbeat or your own breath in your nostrils.

And noticing now a sound that's a bit further away,

The furthest away.

Perhaps it's very subtle,

Perhaps there's a plane far away or a very faint sound in the distance.

And then bringing your awareness back to the breath,

Inhaling and exhaling.

Letting go of any sound.

The attention is on the breath in the nose and exiting the nose.

We can take two vibrational breaths,

Letting go of any thoughts in the mind.

Inhale,

And exhale.

Inhale,

And exhale.

Noticing a very light,

Very subtle sensation perhaps running through the body.

And notice if anything is blocking that,

If there's tension in any part of the body.

I want you to imagine yourself holding a sword.

A clean,

Crisp,

Sharp sword.

You can even hear the sound of it being wielded like a samurai sword.

And notice any tension in the body,

In the chest,

In the arms,

In the legs,

And just slicing right through it clean.

And as you slice through it,

You feel even lighter,

Even more expansive.

Perhaps any challenge that you had from the day before and you just slice right through it,

Any attachment that's holding you back from the present moment.

Clean cut.

Bringing you right back here to notice the breath.

Noticing any challenges you may be having in relationships.

You can slice right through any challenges,

Any pain,

Any resistance.

Letting it fade and clean cut.

As a rebirth,

You come out fresh and clean.

Taking a deep inhale.

And exhale.

I want you now to imagine.

Imagine you're standing on the side of a road in a desert.

It's a clean and widespread desert,

Expansive.

A lovely and warm yellow.

You notice the sand around you.

And this one road that runs for miles and miles as far as the eye can see.

And as you stand here in this blank road in front of you.

This untainted road.

The road of your mind.

You start to notice from afar a car coming.

And as you politely stand smiling at the side of this road,

Standing in the sand,

This beautiful,

Pure yellow sand.

The car slowly drives by you.

Without any thought,

Passes.

And you start to notice more cars and as they come you realize that these cars are your thoughts.

And as they pass by,

We can just stand and smile.

Wishing them well on their journeys.

No need to get in.

No need to ride along.

Just letting them pass.

These cars passing by.

Notice if a car stops and asks you to get in,

You can smile.

No thank you.

I'm good right here.

Or you may notice that you've already arrived in a car and you've been driving for the last ten minutes.

And if that's so,

Maybe thank the driver.

Take a step out and come back to the side of the road in this big,

Vast desert.

Perhaps there are times where the road is quiet and expansive as well.

Perhaps there are times where there's a traffic jam and cars line up.

Perhaps there's a time that you want to get in a car or times that you'd like to stay out.

Whatever you do,

However it is,

Whatever the conditions are,

They're okay.

Everything is welcome here.

The most important part isn't whether we're in a car or we're out of a car.

Or if there's a traffic jam or the road is clean.

Rather the most important is that we're deciding what we want to do.

We're consciously choosing to be in a car or to be in the road.

So wherever your mind is right now,

However the road is,

Just smiling and choosing to be wherever you are.

Let's take a deep breath in,

Inhale.

And audibly exhale.

We'll take one more,

Releasing any thoughts.

Sitting up tall,

Bringing our hands to heart center,

Smiling as we bow gently in gratitude.

Gratitude for this beautiful practice of awareness.

Gratitude for each car that's on the road,

For each thought that comes through.

Gratitude for those around us for this teaching,

For those who came before and those who will come after.

For everyone who plays a beautiful role in our life.

In meditation,

It's not that we have to have a clear mind.

It's a repeated attempt to come back to the breath that will bring us the most peace.

That will bring our mind to peace.

So keep repeating,

Keep attempting.

And don't forget no matter how crazy the road is,

No matter how many cars are there,

Just smile.

Thank you.

The enlightened in me sees and honors the enlightened in each and every one of you,

Wherever you may be.

Namaste.

Reviews

Great, uplifting, missed the bit about the cars so will revisit for another uplift and clarity on the cars bit. Thank you 🙏

Absolutely love it, thank you!

Thank you for this beautiful meditation time. 🦋🙏🏼🦋

Thank you. I always feel abundantly nourished and filled with joy from your meditation practice. I am grateful x

I thoroughly enjoyed this meditation. Thank you for sharing.

I’ve been going through a lot lately in my life. Having to do with a broken relationship after 37 years. The hamster wheel just never stops. Todays meditation is very helpful. Let the cars/thoughts go on by. A practice I will engage in. Thank you

As always, such a pleasure and joy to start the day with you, my friend, so nice to ride the start of the morning with such a candid soul. Namaste 🙏🏻💚

Thank you beautiful soul. Spoke deep to me. Love the happiness in your voice

Thank you, that was delighful this morning 🙏🙏 loved the image of the road and the cars 😊💜

So so good. This is exactly what I have been needing for the past few weeks as there have been endless traffic jams in my mind

Very nice meditation! Thank you very much! Namaste 🙏🤗

A beautiful meditation to awaken with.

Love love love it!! 🙏

Yesterday was a rough day. Thank you for helping me press the reset button and reminding me that it's up to me to choose what I want to think about. Namaste.

Love the image of the road in the desert. Thanks Sam

Thank you so much! Your meditation brought me to tears of emotions. It is very beautiful, light and forgiving with your voice, words and music. Amazing combination 😍

🙏 Thanks Sam ... and keep up the good work 🙏

I feel... This is the most enlightening meditation that I've practiced since beginning (60days)... Thank you so much! I'll rather prefer to walk than jump in:) Namaste _/\_

Love the music, your voice, and You !
💚🙏💫

Lovely and calming, thank you so much!!