Hey,
I'm Cyrus.
Let's be honest,
Being aware of the concept that you're not your thoughts,
And actually being aware on a moment to moment basis that you're not your thoughts and you're the one observing them are two very different things.
Embodying that knowledge and awareness takes practice,
And that's what we're about to do so you can actually live that for real.
Practicing this skill of watching your thoughts and creating space between your awareness and your thoughts regularly will create a momentum that will change your reality noticeably the more you practice.
Let's start off by getting into a comfortable position,
Sitting upright in a chair with your feet on the floor and your hands in your lap,
Your eyes on a spot in front of you,
Or closed,
Whatever your preference is.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through the nose,
Really fill up your body with oxygen,
And slowly release it out through the mouth,
Breathing once again even deeper all the way down into your toes,
And slowly releasing out through the mouth,
Decompressing and releasing stress as you exhale.
Let's slow things down even more by doing two breath holds,
Breathing deeply in through the nose,
Filling up the body,
Holding the breath at the top,
And as you hold the breath in a relaxed way,
Pay attention to the energy in your body,
And slowly exhale out through the mouth.
Last breath,
Deepest breath,
Breathing in through the nose,
Deeply holding at the top,
And as you hold calmly,
Pay attention to the details of sensations in your body,
Head to toe,
And with a calm control,
Breathe out slowly through the mouth,
Allowing all your muscles to release a little deeper.
And now bring your attention to your thoughts.
Imagine your thoughts not as if they're trapped within your mind or your head,
But as though they're arising within a greater field of energy or consciousness.
Simply observe the thoughts arising.
You don't have to make them arise.
You don't have to think them.
Just allow them to arise on their own and observe them non-judgmentally.
Notice how your thoughts might try to pull you in with their magnetic current and power,
But instead,
No matter what the thoughts say,
Keep stepping back and observing them non-judgmentally,
Like you're on the side of a riverbank and just letting the thoughts and the river flow past you.
Start to become curious about any emotions that are driving the thoughts.
Is there an emotion or feeling tone that's behind the thoughts that seems to be driving the thoughts in this particular moment?
Notice that without judgment.
See if you can pay attention to the subtle reactions that the body has to the thoughts.
Notice the little ripples of sensations and energy that occur in real time in a subtle or obvious way with each passing thought,
Observing that connection between the thoughts and the body in real time non-judgmentally.
Now notice what the thoughts are about.
Notice without judgment.
Just observe what the contents of your thoughts are about in this particular moment.
Start to non-judgmentally observe any patterns of your mind.
Notice what your mind does,
What it keeps coming back to.
Be curious and non-judgmental without trying to change anything,
Just observing.
Perhaps even ask yourself the question in your mind now,
What is my next thought going to be?
Ask yourself that and notice what comes up.
And whatever thought did or didn't come up,
Just let it go.
Let it pass by like a cloud floating by in the sky.
And ask yourself again now,
What is my next thought going to be?
Whatever did or didn't come up,
Let it go.
And ask yourself one more time,
Curiously,
What is my next thought going to be?
And now in a relaxed,
Calm,
But intense way,
Turn up the intensity of your watching like it's bubbling up and you're allowing it to wash away.
Watching,
Letting go,
Finding a consistent rhythm.
And now staying calm,
Relaxed,
But turning up the intensity just a little bit more,
Aiming to watch every single thought that arises and letting go without letting a single thought slip past you unwatched as the goal.
Calmly treating it as a challenge and an experiment now.
Watching and letting go of every single thought for a few moments.
And now find a place that feels good to you in your body and shine your spotlight of attention on your body.
Maybe it's your chest or your stomach or your hands.
Anchoring your attention on one particular area of the body now.
Feeling the vibration and sensations in that area in detail.
And now as you keep one spotlight of attention on that area of your body,
Begin to watch and let go of the thoughts that arise while keeping your attention anchored on that part of your body.
Watching,
Letting go,
Keeping some of the attention anchored on the body as you do now.
Aim to maintain that rhythm for a few more moments.
Watching and letting go of thoughts while staying calmly and consistently anchored on the part of your body that you've chosen.
Notice how at this point,
There may be gaps between the thoughts.
Like spaces of awareness between the thoughts instead of a continuous stream of thoughts.
Notice any of those little gaps for a moment.
And whether there are gaps or not,
You may notice that the thoughts have slowed down somewhat.
And perhaps you can feel how the awareness and the thoughts have separated into two layers.
And instead of them being intertwined,
You're able to watch the layer of thoughts consistently from the layer of awareness.
And now that you've opened up this space and separation,
You have the choice to follow your stream of thoughts when you want to.
And you have the choice to pull back and maintain that space,
Giving you the space to lengthen the gap between stimulus and response so you can be more aware and make more conscious choices moment to moment in your life.
Finally,
Now close your eyes if they weren't already and visualize yourself today,
Moving through your day,
Anchoring some of your attention in your body and able to observe the thoughts much more easily and let them go much more easily from that place of being anchored in the body in the way that you've practiced.
See and feel now what that looks and feels like.
And when you feel ready,
Open your eyes,
Move slowly at your own pace,
Allow yourself to warm up.
Feels natural,
Effortless,
And intuitive to you,
Revel in the embodied knowledge that you are not your thoughts,
You're the one observing them and enjoy the internal freedom and space that that affords you throughout your day,
Aiming to maintain that awareness consistently moment to moment to get the most out of your practice today.
Be sure to practice this skill or this session regularly to create momentum in this awareness.
Feel free to share this track with anyone you think it might benefit.
Thank you for taking this time for yourself today and have an awesome day.
