Welcome to mindfulness of thoughts and thinking.
Beginning by bringing the body into a posture of alertness,
One that supports an attitude of gentleness,
Curiosity,
And willingness to be with whatever we find present in these next several minutes.
Drawing attention first to the sensations of sitting or lying down.
And then on an inhalation,
Drawing awareness to the movements of the breath in the body.
Attending to the sensations wherever you feel them most clearly.
Now on an exhalation,
Letting go of awareness of the breath.
And on an inhalation,
Bringing awareness to thoughts in much the same way we've previously attended to bodily sensation,
Including the breath and sounds.
There's no need to make thoughts calm or go.
Just as we may observe clouds moving across a vast and spacious sky,
We are practicing letting thoughts to arise and fade away from the field of our awareness.
Becoming aware of any thoughts that arise for you as they arise,
Observing them,
And then allowing them to drift away or dissolve,
Noticing any others that may arise in their place.
From time to time,
You'll find that you've become caught up in thinking just as we get caught up in a movie where we can forget that we're in the audience,
Seated on a chair,
Surrounded by other people.
In mindfulness practice,
This moment,
When you become aware that you've entered into the narrative,
Is in fact a powerful moment.
An opportunity to re-seat oneself in the audience and return to observing whatever is playing out on the screen of the mind.
Remembering that the objective here is not to be perfect,
Or to achieve something in particular.
It's simply to give the mindfulness muscle a bit of a workout,
Practicing becoming aware over and over again,
While also employing attitudes of curiosity and gentleness for whatever we find.
Thank you.
Thank you.
You may find that certain thoughts come with a kind of emotional charge.
You have the option here of letting these be and simply returning to observing thoughts.
Or,
Particularly when these thoughts or feelings that accompany the thoughts seem to boomerang back over and over,
You may wish to explore what's here by turning to the body.
Often when we don't like something,
We can have a sense of contraction or tightness in the face,
Shoulders or torso.
A sense of wanting to push away from some aspect of our experience,
Whether the thoughts,
Emotions,
Or intense or unpleasant bodily sensations.
And so noticing where in the body and how this may be playing out for you.
Then once you've observed this,
Coming back to the breath first and either staying here or returning to observing thoughts,
Repeating this process as needed.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Now as we move towards the end of this practice,
On an exhalation,
Letting go of the focus on thoughts.
And on an inhalation,
Expanding attention to encompass the entire body.
Holding in awareness all that is present for you in this moment.
Sounds,
Movements of the breath,
Other sensations in the body,
And also any thoughts or emotions that may be present.
When you are ready and to end this practice,
Slowly opening the eyes.
