Hello,
My name is Sam and welcome to this meditation to help deal with negative thoughts.
Our thoughts shape our world.
When we're feeling good,
We invite happy experiences into our reality.
When we're not feeling quite so good,
This can perpetuate a series of less welcome experiences to manifest in our physical world.
Today we're going to play with an idea that can help quash those negative thoughts before they take root so that we don't end up sliding down the slippery slope with our thoughts leading from one negative place to the next.
Let's begin by finding a quiet place where you can relax undisturbed for a little while.
Feel free to sit or lie,
Whichever feels best for you today.
Take a big deep breath in through your nose and sigh the breath out through the mouth.
Feel that sense of relief as you exhale.
Allow your body to relax and feel a gentle downward pressure as it lets go.
Notice how the surface you're on supports you completely.
Relax into that support.
Take another slow deep breath in and sigh the breath away.
You can vocalise the out breath if you wish.
And if your eyes are starting to feel a bit heavy,
It's fine to close them.
Take a moment to notice how good it feels to be still.
Feel the breath steady and calm,
The body moving at its own natural rhythm.
You might find it slows down the more you relax.
Feel yourself drop into a state of being rather than doing,
Like an observer to the goings on around you.
Observe the breath,
The body's busy taking care of the breathing all by itself.
Watch how it makes your belly expand and deflate with each breath in and out.
Watching the breath can help us to stay anchored in the present,
So if you find yourself drifting too far away,
Gently invite yourself to come back to the breath.
This may happen several times and don't worry,
It's normal.
And as you relax,
Thoughts will start to appear in your mind.
It's the natural order of things.
It can help to visualise these thoughts as clouds in the mind.
They float into the picture and eventually they either dissipate into nothingness or drift on by.
The clouds will be different shapes,
Sizes and density.
Some may stick around longer than others.
The important thing is that you are not the thoughts,
You are the observer of the thoughts.
Just watching them come and go.
When one appears,
Identify it for what it is.
You might say to yourself,
That is a negative thought or that is a happy thought and leave it at that.
We are just giving each cloud the most basic of labels,
A few words to describe what it is.
This is a memory or this is something that has not happened.
That's my imagination and so on.
As you are breathing in and out gently,
The thoughts are rising.
Just give each one a very simple label.
You are not the cloud,
You are the observer of the cloud.
You are watching from a distance.
You see it,
Identify it and let it go on by.
Like clouds,
Thoughts are not solid nor fixed.
They form into a shape and they dissolve away.
They are continuously changing shape,
Blown by the wind.
In the same way we cannot grasp a cloud,
We cannot grasp a thought.
So we let them float away.
No need to follow it.
We don't attach to the thought.
If a particularly joyful thought enters your sky,
Feel free to linger and notice its beauty.
What a beautiful thought.
It makes me feel so good and let it go.
As always,
The breath is our anchor,
Keeping us in the present moment,
Breathing in and out rhythmically and soothingly.
Continue to be the observer,
Watching from afar,
Noticing without judgement or need to follow each thought.
Just letting it drift through,
Acknowledging and allowing it to continue on its way without you.
And the breath continues,
Steady and constant.
Now let's slowly get a sense for our bodies and the space around us,
Remembering where you are and noticing how you feel.
You can gently move your hands,
Fingers or wrists and wiggle your toes a little,
Gently waking the body back up.
You might like to take a really delicious full breath in to prompt the body back to a more awakened state.
Feel free to stretch if that's your instinct.
Just do whatever feels good.
When the time feels right,
Gently open your eyes and take a moment to adjust to the light in the room.
Then slowly and carefully make your way back into your day and remember that as an observer you can let things go,
You can acknowledge but free yourself by waving it on by.
You are not your thoughts.
Have a great day.
I wish you all the best.
