For this session of mindfulness,
I want you to observe your thoughts,
But I also want you to go deeper than merely looking at the content.
So take a seat,
Get yourself comfortable,
And take a few slow and deep breaths.
In through the nose and out through the mouth.
And draw your attention to the breath,
Or to whichever meditation anchor you usually use.
If you find your mind wandering into thoughts,
Into moods,
Emotions,
Planning,
Or any other mental phenomena,
Just observe it.
Look at what you see.
How big is it?
What does it feel like?
Does it stay?
What does it go?
And if it goes,
What are you left with?
And then gently return your focus back to the breath.
The next time you find yourself lost in thought,
Consider the nature of the thought.
Look beyond the content.
We're not really going to focus on what you're thinking about,
But rather what the thought is like itself.
Look at the thought disappearing.
Look at how you associate yourself with the thought.
Look at what's left when the thought goes.
Then gently and calmly return your focus back to the breath.
Great work.
So in this little practice,
I wanted to go a touch deeper,
Not just looking at the contents of our consciousness,
But also looking at the nature of that content.
We think a whole variety of things.
We feel a variety of things.
But let's go deeper into the idea of what is it like to think?
What is it like to feel?
What are thoughts like as an entity themselves?
Going beyond what the thoughts are showing us,
Going beyond their sort of entrapment,
The way that they sort of pull us and control us and make us associate with,
But rather looking at their nature.
I know that when I start looking at thoughts in this way,
I see them come,
I see myself associating with them,
And then I see the thoughts disappearing.
And then I see another thought appearing,
And I associate with that thought.
And then I see it disappearing.
And in the gaps between the thoughts,
Before my mind latches onto the next thing,
It might be a sound,
It might be a physical sensation,
It might be a memory,
It might be another thought.
There's this sort of emptiness.
It's almost like whatever I am becomes filled by mental phenomena or physical sensation.
But if I can observe the thoughts,
Observe the mental phenomena,
And observe their nature,
Not just the content,
But like the deeper level of them,
I can recognize that I am that space.
I am the space that's being filled.
I'm the emptiness.
And that's free,
Because we start to realize that we're not the contents of consciousness,
No matter what they are.
We're not the contents of consciousness.
We're not the contents of consciousness.
No matter what they are.
It's a way to look at the thoughts that arise from a more detached perspective.
And from that detached perspective,
We'll become a bit more free.
So for the rest of the day,
I want to encourage you to take this practice off the meditation mat.
It's no use meditating here to have no benefit later on in life,
Later on in your day.
We meditate so we can get better throughout the rest of the day,
In the same way that we exercise,
Not to get better at exercising,
But to just be happy and healthy and functional in our daily life.
So for the rest of the day,
When you find yourself trapped in thought,
When you recognize a strong emotion,
When you find yourself ruminating on the past or anxiously planning the future,
Just take a step back and look beyond the content of that mental phenomena and just observe it.
Observe it like you're looking at it as a whole,
Like the thoughts over there,
Whatever it is,
And you're seeing it.
You're seeing it come,
You're seeing it go,
You're seeing it dissipate.
And then,
You know,
Watch it dissipate and watch your mind refill it.
Now that same thought might come back,
But you'll notice it's getting stronger and falling away.
And you might also notice that,
From this detached perspective,
Your entire being isn't made up by that thought.
You are more than that thought.
There are other things there present too.
And hopefully,
Over time,
You can establish this practice,
Potentially re-listen to this session,
Or just practice it on your own,
And just realize that whilst the thoughts can be trapping,
Whilst they can be quite,
You know,
Enticing,
Appealing,
Convincing,
You're the thing that's having the thoughts,
You're the thing that's being filled,
You're the space for those thoughts.
And let's try and sit with that and embrace that reality,
Because that's a deeper truth than whatever transient thought's going to come along next.
So if you like,
I'm going to leave a couple of minutes more of silence so you can investigate this a little bit longer,
Or you can end the session now.
So if you're choosing to continue the meditation,
Take another calm,
Deep breath,
Enjoy your attention to the sensations of the breath entering the nose.
And when your mind wanders,
Observe the nature of the thoughts,
And then return your focus back to the breath.
Let's begin.
Great work.
So how'd you go?
So as our session comes to an end,
I still want you to be mindful.
Observe the thoughts and other mental phenomena rushing in.
Observe how you are planning your day,
Getting up and moving,
And potentially how those things are happening with less mindfulness than would be ideal.
And now just take a pledge or a resolution to just be a bit more mindful for the rest of the day.
I'll see you next time.
