Making Time For Relaxation And Creativity

This meditation invites you to spend 20 minutes quietly resting and fishing for ideas. You will allow your mind to relax and to generate what it will. You are fishing for ideas but, just like people fishing for fish, this is a reminder for you to simply be happy to be here, and at one with creation.

Special note: It will be helpful to have a pen and paper nearby, before you begin, as if you catch something you will need somewhere to store it!

Transcript

Dear friends,

I invite you to spend the next number of minutes quietly resting and fishing for ideas.

In this period we are going to allow our minds to relax and to generate whatever they will.

Yes,

We are fishing for ideas,

But like people fishing for fish,

We are in the first place simply happy to be here at one with creation.

So we will not complain if fish fail to appear today,

But we will try to improve the chances of a catch.

We will allow the restless and sometimes turbulent lake of our minds to become calm and still.

I hope you enjoy this different approach.

Let us allow any submerged ideas to float to the surface and reveal themselves.

Before we begin,

We have to take an unusual step.

For this meditation we have to settle ourselves up with some paper and a pen or a pencil.

This is not something we normally do as we sit down to meditate.

But if our fishing expedition is to be successful,

We need to have the means and the place where we can store our catch.

So I will insert a little music at this point while you set yourself up with paper and pen or pencil to hand.

Music Now let us relax.

Realise how good it is just to be here.

Nothing to achieve.

Nowhere to go.

Simply enjoying the peace and the calm of this present moment.

Gently breathing and maybe lightly noticing our breath.

But not placing any stress on the depth of the breath or its speed.

Just letting things be.

Sitting quietly and becoming more and more relaxed.

We want to allow ourselves the opportunity to perhaps drift into that dreamlike state.

That state that you experience when you wake up ahead of time in the morning.

You know the feeling.

You gratefully turn over to allow yourself a few more minutes of semi-wakefulness.

This is before the call of the alarm.

Just relax.

Music If a train of thought comes in,

Don't jump on board and follow it down the track.

If it is an idea that might be useful,

Just jot it down on your sheet of paper.

Nothing more than that,

Just a word or two to remind you later.

That's your first fish of the day.

Now I'll stop talking for a bit to allow you to just be and to see what if anything might arise.

Don't worry at all if there's nothing on the line.

No tug on the line.

You're here and that is the important thing.

Music Welcome back and continue to enjoy being here.

Resting here in gratitude,

Just enjoying some moments of peace.

All is well in the here and the now.

So enjoy this rare gift of calm.

It might cross your mind that you need to see someone,

Help someone.

Just make a note of this on your sheet of paper and let the thought go.

One less thing to remember.

Now it's written down.

The idea is saved.

I will leave you now undisturbed for another short while.

Music Welcome back again.

So no counting,

No body scan,

No particular object of concentration.

Isn't it great to find yourself doing nothing?

What a change that is.

Someone once said,

Do nothing and then have a little rest.

So another minute of quiet for you to enjoy just being here.

Music Welcome back again.

If something occurs to you that is a cause of worry,

That's alright too.

Just take a note,

There will be time to work on that later.

I find it helps if you allocate a specific day and a specific time to work on whatever it is that's troubling you.

Vaguely putting it off as we often do can disturb your peace in the present moment.

You know it needs to be done.

You put it off but without deciding when will you do it.

So it sits in the back of your mind and it burns away there upsetting your peace until you finally get around and you do it.

But if you have noted it and allocated it to a specific date,

A specific time,

Then you can get on with your life until that date comes.

You can move on knowing that something that needs attention will receive attention.

You have allocated the time.

Now you can come back and be happy and productive in the present.

It's important not to forget that many of the worries which trouble us never actually come to pass.

And almost all of our worries will respond to mindful care.

Let's have another break,

Consider this another gift to you.

Time to notice the wonderful time of your life,

The priceless gift of your existence in the here and the now.

So here we are again.

What type of things can come up in these open ended periods of just sitting?

Anything is possible.

Anything is allowable.

You might remember people who need your care.

You might remember something important that would otherwise be missed.

It can be as simple as an idea for painting a room,

A name for a baby,

A place for a future holiday,

A creative idea that will give rise to a new hobby or a new business.

You could even think of something that would change the world.

If that sounds far-fetched,

Just think of this,

All world-changing ideas have to arise somewhere.

In some eureka moment,

Someone somewhere had the idea.

These quiet moments allow you to dream of things that never were and ask why not?

Let's set ourselves a final period for reflection.

And what if nothing bubbles up today?

No ideas.

You have gone fishing and you have come back without a catch.

This is nothing to worry about at all.

We can go into this process thinking that we must come up with ideas every time.

We wreck our brains to think of something new or something original.

But that defeats the poor.

It's the exact opposite of what we are setting out to do.

What we are at is providing a growing space.

Suitable soil and water and sunlight.

The ingredients for the possible emergence of creativity.

A space in our hectic lives which allows something to arise from within.

But even if nothing springs up for days or weeks,

We need that open space.

And we will benefit by allowing that space to have its own freedom.

John Lennon famously paid tribute to rest in these lines in his song Watching the Wheels.

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round.

I really love to watch them roll.

And the Irish singer-songwriter Mick Hanley offers us this advice in his song These Days.

This is a song well worth listening to in full if you feel yourself on a treadmill and you stop to ask yourself why.

These are the lyrics.

It's only taken a lifetime to get round to changing my ways,

But I'm having more fun,

Getting more done,

Taking it easy these days.

I believe that introducing a short period of emptiness into your days will be beneficial in its own right.

I'm also convinced that your best ideas and your best motivation to do good will arise during these precious moments of quiet.

Meister Eckhart said,

There is nothing in the world that resembles God so much as silence.

And on the subject of silence,

John O'Donoghue,

The Irish poet-priest,

Offers us this.

Silence is a great friend of the soul.

It unveils the riches of solitude.

It is very difficult to reach that quality of inner silence.

You must make a space for it so that it may begin to work for you.

In a certain sense,

You do not need the whole armory and vocabulary of therapies,

Psychologies or spiritual programs.

If you have a trust in and an expectation of your own solitude,

Everything that you need to know will be revealed to you.

Words of John O'Donoghue.

So thanks for taking part in this meditation and exploration,

This fishing expedition.

I leave you with this blessing.

May you find space in your life for quietness,

For silence.

May that quietness bring you peace.

May the peace that flows from silence open up wells of creativity for you,

Bringing you ever more contentment and happiness.

May the peace that flows from silence open up wells of creativity for you,

Bringing you ever more contentment and happiness.

Namaste.

Copyright © 2020 Mooji Media Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

No part of this recording may be reproduced without Mooji Media Ltd.

's express consent.

No part of this recording may be reproduced without Mooji Media Ltd.

's express consent.

Reviews

Great way to stop, relax and observe the mind when you are “in the now” with no expectations. Just see what comes up.

Excellent!! Just what I needed on this beautiful sunny morning. A jumpstart to my day and my creativity. One I will revisit frequently. Thank you! Namaste 🙏🏻

Thank you Tony, helpful and much to reflectbon. Only caught a couple of toddlers, but will come fishing again. Namaste,,

Especially helpful meditation during these anxious times. Just stillness and allowing the mind to bring forth ideas without pressure. With patience, perhaps a ”Plan B” will surface!

Fantastic meditation, the 'fish' was biting away! Thank you Tony🌷😊🙏

Thank you Tony - love this ‘sounds of silence ‘ and listening to your soothing voice🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Love meditating to Tony

A creative meditation on creativity and being open. Thank you!

I enjoyed this immensely! Blessed to have soaked it in while sitting on the sand by the Pacific! Namaste

This is just what I needed to focus on doing nothing or something. I will return to this one often. Thank you Tony 🙏

Another wonderful creation from Tony. Loved these opportunities for catching "fish" with him. I appreciate his insights.

Thank you again Tony for the insightful meditation. I did not ‘catch’ anything today, but you reminded me that sometimes the answers are in the silence.....🙏🏻🕉

Catch of the day :-) Thanks again tony.
I love your talks and meditations.

As always...inspiring, loving and helpful meditations - beautifully guided.
Mil gracias 🙏🏽

No fish today but I will certainly try again. Thank you Tony namaste 🙏

Thank you Tony for creating a space to just be.Loved the piano music at the end.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

You are a blessing to us all Tony. Thank you so much

Thank you Tony! I deeply enjoyed this practice. I had moments from my day bubble up to the surface, beautiful memories to cherish and feel grateful for that I jotted down in my notebook. I even wrote some poetry :) all just by simply letting it flow, with no expectation! Thank you again! Namaste 🙏

Motivating. Caught something today! Definitely doing again during those busy overwhelming days

Different and lovely.
I dig your approach.
Many thanks.
Namaste
👃