Relax Your Brain (With Waves)

A great mindfulness meditation experience to release mental tension, stress, and anxiety. Learn how to approach your thoughts so they don’t disturb your meditation practice. Simple, effective, liberating. (Vocals boosted and background of waves added - March 2021.)

Transcript

Relax your brain meditation.

We're actually going to start off with the breath and then move on to the thoughts,

The mind and the brain a little later.

Become more aware of your breath.

And as this is a mindfulness based meditation,

The idea isn't to breathe in any particular way,

There's no breathing technique.

Simply become more aware of your breath as it's happening in your body in this moment.

That doesn't mean your breath won't change when we add awareness to an activity,

It does affect and influence that activity including the breath.

So be aware of the breath and be aware if the breath does change in any way.

But we're not going to aim to breathe or try and breathe in any particular way.

So becoming familiar with the rhythm of your breath,

It doesn't matter how fast or how fast you breathe,

It doesn't matter how fast or slow,

How deep or shallow,

It's about tuning in to the breath in your body.

See if you can really feel the physical sensations that arise in the body as you breathe.

So noticing the particular sensations that arise as you breathe in through the nose or mouth.

The expansion,

The movement in the chest and stomach as the air enters into the lungs,

Feel that movement,

Feel that sensation.

And for the out breath,

Feel the contraction in the body,

The release,

And feel the air leave through the nose or mouth.

How does that feel for you in your body right now?

Right now.

Now.

So we may often,

Without realising,

Be restricting our breath,

Tension,

Discomfort,

Fear,

Anxiety can restrict the breath.

So I find it useful to just have an intention,

A thought,

An approach or attitude towards the in breath of allowing.

So I just have that thought to really allow the breath in each time I take that in breath.

So it's certainly different to making an effort to breathe in more.

It's really about allowing the breath in as much as the breath wants to.

So I'm not restricting the breath with tension,

But freely and fully allowing the breath in just as much as it wants to enter the body.

So I try that for a few breaths,

Having that thought of allowing the breath in freely and fully.

Just see how that feels in the body to allow the oxygen into the body without restraint.

So we're not trying to change the breath,

But we're taking an approach towards the breath,

Noting how that feels,

Allowing change to happen to the breath if that happens,

But not expecting anything.

Feeling the breath as we allow the breath into the body.

Remember,

We're going to be using these simple techniques with the thoughts in a few moments.

So with the out breath,

Having that thought to really let go of the breath,

Not holding onto the breath at all,

Allowing the breath to leave the body as fully and as freely as the breath wants to.

How does that feel in the body when you release and let go of the breath?

The idea is to not get in the way of the breath,

To let go of any tension that might be restricting the breath.

So allowing the breath in,

Letting go as we breathe out,

Not getting in the way of the breath,

Allowing the breath to flow freely through the body,

Rise and fall in and out,

Welcoming the breath in and letting the breath flow out freely.

So if we do this for a while,

We can begin to really get a sense of the breath flowing freely on its own,

Without any effort from us and without any restriction from us.

The breath can breathe itself.

So rather than it feeling like I am breathing,

It can begin to feel more like I am being breathed.

The body is being breathed by the element of air.

I am allowing my body to be breathed and I am feeling all the sensations that come along with the breath.

Okay,

So just allowing the breath to continue flowing freely.

Let's see if we can apply this same approach to our thoughts.

So the first step was we simply became aware of the breath.

So let's now just become aware of our own thoughts.

So we will have been thinking all this time,

Just as we were breathing before we drew our awareness towards our breath.

So now feel what it's like to think while you are being aware that you are thinking.

Just adding awareness to those thoughts,

Being conscious that you are thinking.

Try and keep the attention very light and free of tension.

So it's more of an open,

Light,

Gentle awareness rather than any idea of focusing or concentrating.

So keep the awareness open.

I am still aware of my body,

The breath,

Sounds around me,

How I am feeling.

I am just choosing for a few moments to just hold lightly my thoughts in the centre or the foreground of my awareness,

While still aware of everything else happening in this moment.

Simply noticing that in this moment I am thinking.

The first step.

Now remember that we said we weren't going to try and change the breath in any way.

We weren't going to try and breathe in any particular technique or pattern.

Also that bringing awareness to the breath may bring some changes naturally and we would just allow those to happen.

So exactly the same thing is true with the thoughts.

You are not going to try and think in any particular way.

You are not going to try and think more positively.

You are not going to try and think more peacefully.

You are certainly not going to try and think more slowly or any less.

We are going to allow our thoughts to think just as they are,

Just as we allowed the breath.

Simply noticing if any change does occur through adding this awareness to our thoughts.

So it doesn't matter how fast or slow your thoughts are,

How deep or shallow your thoughts are.

The content of your thoughts is completely irrelevant to this exercise.

We are being more aware of whatever the thoughts happen to be.

That's all.

So the next thing we did with the breath was to break it down into the in-breath and out-breath and just adopt an attitude to that breath,

An approach of a thought.

So let's try the same with our thoughts.

I'm going to have the thought,

The attitude of really allowing my thoughts to arise in my mind,

Just as I allowed the breath into the body.

I'm going to consciously allow and welcome each and every thought to arrive into my mind.

So I need to be attentive and aware to catch the arrival of each thought,

But keeping that awareness light and open.

Just as a relaxed body welcomes the breath more easily,

So a relaxed attention,

An open awareness,

Welcomes the thoughts into the mind more easily.

And as we decided we would just release and let go of the breath without holding onto the breath at all,

Let's do the same for the thoughts.

So for each thought we notice,

We welcome and allow it into our mind,

Into our awareness,

And then we freely release and let go of the thought.

Let it pass through the mind just as the breath passes through the body,

Setting each thought free just to float away in its own time,

Not forcing it out,

Just giving it space to go whenever it chooses.

Not holding onto the thought.

So allowing the thoughts to arrive in the mind,

Now letting them go freely so you're ready for the next thought to arrive.

Always welcoming the next thought,

Letting it go and being ready for the next.

So in this way,

In time,

We can begin to get a sense of the thoughts flowing freely through the mind,

Just as we can allow the breath to flow freely through the body.

One thought following the next,

Flowing freely like water in a stream or a river.

Again,

Just getting out of the way of the thoughts,

Allowing the mind to be open,

Allowing the thoughts to pass through the mind freely,

Not attaching ourselves or identifying or holding onto any particular thought.

The content is completely irrelevant,

Just allowing the flow of thoughts to come and go fully and freely through the mind.

Always being open to wondering what the next thought is going to be,

Being attentive to catch the new thought that is going to arrive in the mind,

Being open to that.

If we welcome in the next thought,

Then the previous thought will just naturally drift away,

Again without any effort.

So the final stage of this approach to the thoughts is to do the same as what we did with the breath,

And maybe begin to get a sense that it's not that I am thinking,

But that thought is occurring within me.

Just as I could begin to feel that I am not breathing,

Because I wasn't making any effort to breathe,

I wasn't having to remember or choose each breath.

The breath was happening to the body.

So too,

I don't have to remember to think,

I don't have to choose my next thought.

The thoughts happen to the mind,

The thoughts pass through my mind.

So I am not thinking,

But thoughts are occurring.

This can actually be a really significant shift,

Where we can dis-identify with our thoughts.

It can lead to a real sense of mental freedom,

Liberation,

Without making a single effort to stop or change a single thought.

My thoughts are flowing freely and I don't have to do anything whatsoever.

I am not thinking,

Thoughts are occurring to me.

Okay,

So for the last part of the meditation,

We are going to practice one more small thing with the body,

And then apply it to the brain specifically.

So pick a part of the body from the shoulders down,

It could be your shoulders,

Your arms or hands,

Or a foot or a leg.

And then in a moment I am going to ask you to relax that part of your body,

And all I want you to do is just notice that process of what you do,

What happens and how it feels.

If you want to tense that part of the body first,

So for example if you wanted to clench the fist first,

Tense the hand,

And then relax it,

Just to exaggerate that sensation.

Okay,

So choose a part of the body,

And then pay real attention as you choose to relax that part of your body.

You can repeat that a few times with the same part of the body or a different part,

With or without tensing before.

Notice what you have to do to relax a part of the body and notice how it feels.

So I am not going to provide any instructions on relaxation,

Something I think we all naturally know how to do,

Have a sense of.

I am just inviting you to really become familiar with the simplicity of that process.

Okay,

So let's move our attention to the head,

And become aware of your face.

Become aware of all the muscles in the face,

Around the jaw and mouth,

Maybe around the eyes and forehead.

And allow your face to relax right now,

And notice how that feels.

And bringing our attention to the top,

Back and sides of the head and the scalp.

And allow this part of your body to relax.

How does that feel?

And moving your attention to the skull,

And allow your skull to relax.

And bringing the awareness to the brain,

How does it feel to allow your brain to relax right now?

Just treating your brain just like you would any other part of the body,

Just as if it was another muscle.

And just allow your brain to relax,

And feel that relaxation response occurring right now in your brain.

So,

Aware of the whole of your head,

Allow your whole head,

Brain,

Skull,

Face,

The whole of your head,

Allow that to relax.

How does that feel?

Allowing your head and your whole body to relax.

Allow your breath to flow freely through your relaxed body.

Allow your thoughts to flow freely through your relaxed brain.

Thoughts and breath flowing freely as you relax.

So as we bring meditation to a close now,

Just notice how you are feeling.

Notice any difference to how you felt at the beginning.

And remembering that we didn't make any effort to change anything.

We didn't direct or expect or guide our experience.

We just simply became more aware of the breath.

We allowed the breath to do what the breath wanted to do.

We simply became more aware of our thoughts,

Didn't try and change them in any way,

Just allowed our thoughts to do what they wanted to do.

Then we relaxed the body,

Relaxed the brain to allow those thoughts and breath to flow freely,

Just keeping out of the way.

OK,

So we'll finish the meditation.

Thank you.

Reviews

Brilliant 😊

A peaceful and very relaxing meditation where I experienced how to feel being ‘ME’ in the present and conscious state. Loved this from moment to moment as my natural breathing helped my body and mind sensations to allow them to come and go - the ocean waves washed away the tension and emotions. Stephen's guidance was exceptional as it adds that special quality to this stunning meditation where I am now ready to begin a mindful and peaceful day.
Stephen, thank you 🙏🏻💫🧘‍♂️🤗

One of the best meditations ...