I'm Sam,
And this is a meditation for dealing with recurring memories.
One of the seemingly certain aspects in life is reliving certain memories or past situations that routinely come up and affect us in different ways.
These memories can dominate the experience of our day.
How long do we spend pushing these thoughts away?
Or worse,
Reliving them over and over as we try to get over them in some way.
We cannot change the past,
And we know this,
Yet we try to change the tune of the story.
Embellish this detail,
Minimize that detail,
All the while knowing that we are utterly incapable of going back in time.
Even if we could,
There's very little we could do anyway.
So what can we do?
Using this technique,
We can develop and hone our ability to let memories be memories,
Focus on the present,
And ultimately heal from our wounds.
The first step is to assume a comfortable position.
Maybe sitting up with a straight spine,
Maybe laying down,
Maybe leaning back in your chair,
Whatever is comfortable.
Now let's do a quick body scan.
Let's start by relaxing your scalp,
Your forehead,
Your ears,
Nose,
Eyes.
Relax your jaw,
Relax your neck,
Your shoulders,
Down your arms,
To your wrists and fingers.
Anywhere where there's tension,
Just let it go.
Now relax your chest,
Remember to calmly breathe,
Now your upper back,
Your sides,
Your solar plexus,
Your belly button,
Your lower back,
Hips,
Pelvis.
Relax your thighs and your knees,
All the way down to your legs,
To your ankles and feet.
And finally,
Down to your toes.
Let's just sit in this relaxed state,
With all the tension and stress flowing off of our sphere of influence,
Like water down the window pane.
Now I want you to imagine that you are floating in the middle of a wide river.
The temperature is perfect.
The shore is far away,
But you know you could easily get back to it whenever you want to.
You're floating easily in this river,
With your chest slightly pointed upwards,
Your hands and face catching the radiant sunlight coming from above.
The water is just deep enough to keep you fairly upright without dragging,
But you know you could stand at any time.
The river is moving,
But not urgently.
There are no rapids or bends.
There are no rocks below,
With only smooth,
Soft pebbles and sand.
When you're floating in this river,
Gently carried along with the sands of time,
You are the river.
I want you to muse on this for a few moments.
Every single moment is its own entity.
Every single entity exists for just a split second.
And every single event you have ever been part of is just one moment.
This river we are floating in is never the same.
The water that we drift in is constantly changing,
Mixing,
Moving downstream.
Sometimes a cloud will come and pick up some of the water and pour it somewhere else.
We may turn and eddy or fall head first off of waterfalls,
But the river is never duplicated.
Therefore,
Grabbing a single wave of this river is fruitless.
Not only can we not tangibly hold a wave or a certain drop of water,
But we can't dictate where it will go next.
With this in mind,
Let's practice.
I want you to try to clear your head and just float downstream.
I want you to let some of these memories,
Or just one,
Or recurring thoughts into your head.
See these thoughts as waves or branches floating along the waves.
See them come.
See them go.
Let them in.
Feel them swirl around your body.
You are just the river.
You are floating along,
One moment at a time,
Feeling the sunshine on your face and the smooth currents underneath your limbs.
Let the thoughts or memories drift away.
Maybe they come closer for a while,
But eventually they drift away.
Maybe they're a twig.
Maybe they're a waterbug.
Maybe they're a bird taking off over the nearest horizon.
Whatever they are to you,
Watch it go.
Stay in this place for a few minutes.
I'll watch the time.
And don't forget to breathe.
Remember,
You are the river.
Coming onto one wave is frivolous.
Be the water.
Let it go.
Let it drift a little bit longer.
Remember though,
You can always come back to this place anytime you desire.
Have a great day.
