Hey guys,
Welcome.
This meditation is all about letting go and finding a practice where we can visualize,
We can feel what that's actually like.
So find your comfortable seat.
Remember this isn't something you can get wrong.
As long as you're comfortable.
So if you need to sit on a pillow or a block,
Any kind of prop you're more than welcome to,
Just find that space where you can be still.
Once you've found that gentle stillness,
Start to find your anchor.
Whether that's your breath moving past the tip of your nose,
Whether it's your belly rising and falling,
Whether it's the weight of your sitting bones in the earth.
Know that wherever your mind takes you,
You can always return here.
Once you've found that stillness,
Start to picture yourself sitting on the edge of a stream.
It's a sunny day,
But you're sitting in the shade.
The water is gently flowing past.
As you're sitting,
This warm blanket of air covering you,
Something arises.
It's a thought.
Instead of judging,
Instead of immediately thinking,
Why is this arisen,
Allow whatever thought has come to have its time.
Allow it to have its say.
But don't get carried away.
Once this thought has served its purpose,
I want you to picture you taking it,
Placing it in the stream and watching it get carried away.
And then you go back to your comfortable seat and there's stillness.
And then of course,
Another thought arises.
But again,
There's no judgment.
You don't lay blame.
You just allow this thought to have its time.
You allow it to be there without getting carried away.
And then you take it and you place that thought in the stream.
Watch that beautiful flow carry the thought away.
And without fail,
This happens again.
Thought arises.
It has its time.
No judgment.
When you're ready,
You place the thought in the stream and watch it leave.
This becomes the practice.
Thoughts arise.
You don't get angry.
That's just what they do.
They come and then once they've served their purpose,
You let them go.
But every time you let it go,
You see yourself placing it into the stream.
You see it be carried away.
Teal As you're allowing these thoughts to come and go,
With the same rhythm and flow of the stream,
Something catches the corner of your eye.
Something you noticed before.
You look upstream and you see these thoughts coming before they ever get to you.
So now instead of allowing every thought to come into your head,
You see them coming,
You know which thoughts aren't going to serve you and you let them go.
You let the stream carry them away.
And of course some thoughts still arise and that's perfect.
You allow these thoughts to serve their purpose and then just as before you let them go,
You place them back in the stream,
You watch them flow away.
So now the practice continues but you notice thoughts coming.
You see them before they ever get to you and you know if they're not going to serve you,
You can just let them go.
Let them continue on down the stream.
The thoughts that do come into your mind,
Allow them to be there,
Allow them to serve their purpose,
Let them go.
There's no judgment in this practice,
There's only awareness.
None of these thoughts are inherently good or bad,
They just are.
So the ones you see coming from upstream and you know they're not going to serve you,
Just watch them flow past.
But don't get upset when a thought does come in,
Just allow it to be there and then let it go.
As you become more comfortable with this practice,
The space between the thoughts gets longer and longer.
As you get ready to move off with the rest of your day,
You're going to feel more comfortable the rest of your day.
Know that this practice and this tool is always available for you.
We can't stop the thoughts from coming just like we can't stop the stream from flowing.
But you're always able to let go,
You're always able to place the thought back into the stream and watch it flow away.
So stay as long as you need,
But when you're ready to head off,
Take a gentle bow of your head.
When you're ready,
Start to open your eyes and let the outside world back in.
Thank you guys,
We'll see you next time.
