Hello and welcome to this meditation.
The goal of this meditation is to develop the ability to let go of problematic thoughts through a visualization exercise.
You will practice separating yourself from your thoughts,
Allow them to pass with no judgement and attachments.
By creating a distance with your thoughts,
You learn to step back from them and view them as mental events passing through the mind rather than absolute truths.
This provides a powerful way to deal effectively with painful,
Unhelpful or self-defeating thoughts and beliefs.
We'll start by getting into a comfortable sitting position.
Allow your shoulders to drop and relax.
Plant your feet firmly on the ground or if you're sitting cross-legged,
Feel the sense of contact between your feet,
The seat and the floor beneath you.
Gently close your eyes and for the next few breaths,
Bring your full focus of attention to your breathing.
We'll take three breaths together.
One.
Inhale,
Notice the feeling of air flowing in through the nostrils.
And as you exhale,
Feel the release of any tension as you let the air out slowly.
Again,
Inhale,
Feel the air going down into the lungs,
Down into the belly.
And then relax on your exhale.
One more time,
Inhale,
Allowing the air flowing in through the nostrils.
And then on the exhale,
Release any tension.
Now imagine that you are sitting by the side of a gently flowing stream.
This might be a stream that you know or it might be something you create in your mind using your imagination.
There might be a light breeze blowing as you sit here.
See the light glistening on the water.
Feel the soft green grass beneath you.
Imagine the stream however you like.
Now imagine that there are leaves floating on the surface of the stream and these leaves are gently flowing past you down the stream.
For the next few minutes,
See if you can take every thought that pops into your head and place it on a leaf.
Your thoughts may show up in your mind in the form of words or pictures or something else.
However a thought arises,
Simply place it on a leaf and let it float by.
Do this regardless of whether the thoughts are positive and enjoyable or negative and challenging.
Simply place each on a leaf and let it float down the stream.
If you notice that your thoughts stop momentarily,
Just continue to watch the stream.
Sooner or later,
Your thoughts will start up again.
Allow the stream to flow at its own rate.
There is no need to try and speed it up.
The aim here is not to wash the leaves away.
The aim is to allow them to come and go in their own time.
Just sit and watch.
If your mind says something along the lines of,
I can't do it or this is stupid,
Place those thoughts on some leaves and let them float by.
If a leaf gets stuck,
Let it hang around.
There is no need to force it to float away.
Simply sit and watch.
Sooner or later,
Another leaf will come along and give it the nudge it needs.
If a difficult feeling arises such as boredom,
Impatience or anxiety,
Simply acknowledge it.
Say to yourself,
Here is a feeling of boredom.
Here is a feeling of impatience.
Here is a feeling of anxiety.
And place those words on a leaf.
From time to time,
Your thoughts will hook you and you will lose track of the exercise.
This is normal as our attention naturally wanders and it will happen time and time again.
As soon as you realize this has happened,
Simply come back to your stream.
You are going to place each thought that pops into your mind on a leaf and watching it slip by.
If your thoughts have hooked you again,
Remember this is normal.
As soon as you notice this has happened,
Simply come back to your stream.
As the exercise comes to an end,
Begin to let go of your imagined stream and bring your attention back to where you are.
Maybe wiggle your toes and your fingers.
Get back into your body.
Take another inhale.
Hold at the top and then relax as you exhale.
When you are ready,
Open your eyes.
Have a wonderful day.
Namaste.
