Mind Space Witnessing For Inner Peace

This guided session leads you through the full Mind Space Witnessing process. Combining mindfulness with deep inner observation and parts work, you will move through for full spectrum of awareness, from the most overt and explicit, like sensations, thoughts, and emotions, to the more subtle and hidden layers of memories, imagination, impulses, and metacognitions. By the end, you’ll feel reconnected to your highest self, with greater capacity to integrate and heal.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Mindspace Witnessing for inner peace.

I invite you to lay down or take a seat and get yourself comfortable.

You can close down the eyes if you wish and begin taking some slow calm breaths in through the nose.

Our intention for this session is to approach and accept everything that arises with an attitude of compassionate curiosity and calm confidence.

We are going to be going into the Mindspace,

Witnessing what is arising from the most obvious and overt all the way down to the most subtle.

And during this process things are going to arise and we're going to accept them,

We're going to be curious about them,

Compassionate to the parts of us that are holding on to them,

All with an attitude of calm confidence.

We will be sitting in the place of the self,

The inner parent,

The guide,

Just watching,

Just witnessing and just accepting what comes.

This practice will involve you working through different states of the Mindspace,

Through the senses coming in,

To your thoughts,

To your emotions,

Memories,

Imagination and future plannings,

Impulses and drives,

Metacognitions,

And to your states of consciousness.

All with the goal of helping you discover,

Embody and embrace the deepest sense of self,

The soul,

The highest point of wisdom,

The you at the core,

The observer.

To ensure that we maintain a space of calm confidence and compassionate curiosity,

We're going to use the anchor of the breath.

So allow your breath to return to normal and begin paying attention to the sensations of the air entering and leaving your nose.

If,

At any point during the session,

You find your mind wandering,

You find yourself lost,

You just gently,

Lovingly,

Return your focus back to the breath.

And then,

When you're ready,

Back to the part of the Mindspace we are witnessing.

For the duration of the session,

We'll be using our broad focus to maintain a touch of awareness upon the anchor of the breath.

It's always there,

Entering and leaving the body and from that anchor we can explore.

And we'll also be maintaining a touch of an awareness on our body,

On the physical sensations,

The tensions,

And the energies flowing.

And finally,

As we go through each part of the Mindspace,

We'll maintain a little bit of an awareness on the whole,

On all of the things that are arising.

And in this way,

And in this way,

We will begin the process of self-study,

Of witnessing the Mindspace,

And of embodying the self.

So with all that said,

Maintaining your anchor upon the breath,

And awareness of the body,

And the Mindspace,

Let's turn our attention to the most overt information our mind takes in,

Our sensory phenomena.

What can you hear right now?

What can you see behind your closed eyes?

Is it pitch blackness,

Or is there some light and movement?

Are there any lingering tastes or smells?

Turn your attention to what you can feel.

Notice the temperature of the room,

The clothes upon your skin,

The feeling of the ground or the seat beneath you.

Become aware of any muscular tension,

And the position of your body in space.

If you can,

Noticing the beat of your heart,

Along with any internal needs or feelings,

Like hunger or thirst.

Just taking a moment to notice all of the different sensations.

That your mind is picking up.

Okay,

I'm going a little bit deeper.

Maintaining your anchor upon the breath,

And your awareness of the body,

And the entire Mindspace.

Turning your attention towards your thoughts.

This is your inner language,

The logic,

And narrative content.

It consists of conceptual thought,

Of plans,

Of sounds,

Of music,

Of an inner monologue or dialogue,

Or the voice of an inner critic.

Maintaining your anchor upon the breath,

Just listen and be curious.

What is the nature of the thoughts?

Where are they arising from?

And where do they go to?

Without falling into those thoughts,

Simply witness them.

Listen to them.

Watch them.

Pay close attention to your thoughts.

Okay,

So once again,

Maintaining the anchor upon the breath.

Knowing the feelings of air coming and going.

As well as the entirety of the Mindspace and the body.

Going deeper still,

And becoming aware of your emotions.

These are shifts in mood,

Feelings,

And affect.

Our moods are like our long-lasting background emotional tone.

There's no clear cause,

But are likely shaped by our nature and nurture.

By our health,

And by the things,

And by the events that are arising.

It could be cheerful,

Or irritable,

Or gloomy.

Or calm.

To use a weather analogy,

This is the climate.

In this space,

We also observe our emotions.

These are shorter bursts.

They're temporary,

But are a bit more intense.

And often come along with physiological changes.

Like muscle tension,

Differences in breathing,

And heart rate changes.

This could be like anger at an insult.

To use the weather analogy,

It's a storm.

And the final part of this phase to observe,

Are our feelings.

These are the subjective experiences.

I feel this way.

Almost.

To continue with our analogy,

The weather report.

To maintaining our awareness on the breath,

The body,

And the entirety of the mind space.

Just taking note of any emotions,

Moods,

And feelings present.

Okay,

So going deeper still.

Going to be looking at our memories.

These are recollections and reconstructions of past experiences.

What memories are arising in your mind space?

In staying grounded,

We're observing these memories,

Witnessing them with an attitude of compassionate curiosity and calm confidence.

And if we find ourself falling into the memory,

Getting lost in it,

We return to it.

Turn our focus back to the breath,

And then gently return to the memories.

Get curious about the way these memories are presenting themselves.

Who are they about?

What is the emotional content?

Are they clear,

Or are they hazy?

Are you seeing these memories through your own eyes,

Or like you're watching it from the external?

Just sitting with the memories that are arising.

Now,

Going a little bit deeper still.

Turning your attention to the imagination.

This consists of visualizations,

Scenario building,

Metaphor,

Analogy,

And fantasy.

They may manifest as thoughts,

Sounds,

Feelings,

Physical or mental visualizations.

Just maintaining the anchor for the breath.

Just allowing our imagination to express.

Okay,

Once again,

Maintaining the anchor upon the breath,

The awareness of the body,

Of the entire mind space,

We go deeper still into impulses and drives.

These are our instinctive urges.

These are the responses we learnt over time.

To pull from an analogy,

It would be like the code of the computer we are running from,

That builds up our responses and how we interact with the world.

It consists of our flight,

Flight,

Freeze,

And fawn.

Our desires,

Cravings,

And addictions,

And our aversions to things we don't want to be around.

The urges we have to move,

To speak,

To eat,

And to flee.

It's our base tendencies,

Or perhaps our personality.

So let's just sit,

And witness,

And watch as our base tendencies,

The impulses,

Manifest both directly and through other aspects of the mind space.

So maintaining the awareness and anchor upon the breath,

And the body,

And the entirety of the mind space,

We're now going to be going even deeper into metacognitions.

This is our awareness of awareness,

Our self-reflection.

The part of us that is performing this process.

Can you turn the lens of attention back upon itself?

What is the part of you that is witnessing?

And what are they witnessing?

Can you observe the observer?

Maintaining the anchor upon the breath,

Can you sit and simply watch as your mind space offers different things up?

Watch as they come,

And as they go.

Become aware of awareness itself.

Okay,

Going deeper once more.

Turning your attention to the overall state of consciousness.

Just noting down the mode of your mind.

Your broad affect.

Feelings of alertness.

Or wandering.

Or flow.

Perhaps profound inner peace.

Or chaos.

An agitation.

Just observing the general state of your mind space.

And finally,

The most profound and subtle sense of the mind space.

The sense of self,

Or soul.

This is a place of inner silence.

The witness.

The mindful observer.

Or highest consciousness.

It's characterized by the attitude evoked from our intention.

Compassionate curiosity.

And calm confidence.

And it feels like peace.

Truth.

And clarity.

It's a knowing,

Or a grace beyond words.

So once again,

Just taking a moment to witness the entirety of the mind space.

The physical sensations.

The thoughts.

Emotions.

Memories.

Imagination.

Impulses.

Metacognitions.

And state of consciousness.

And just sitting and witnessing it all arising.

And if you find yourself lost.

Or falling in.

Just gently return back to the sensation of the breath.

Entering and leaving the nose.

And then back.

Back to witnessing.

And into this space of sacred stillness.

Of observation from the self.

We're going to invite a part of us to speak.

Part of our past.

Or our present.

Or perhaps our future.

That would like to share something with us.

Whatever part is calling to express.

We're just going to be there for it.

And witness it.

Sitting with the attitude of compassionate curiosity.

And calm confidence.

With an anchor to the breath.

With awareness on the body.

And the entirety on the mind space.

We just allow this part of us.

Our past.

Our present.

Perhaps our future.

To express itself.

And we just listen.

And accept.

With the attitude of an inner parent.

Or guide.

Witness.

Or counsellor.

We sit and witness.

We sit and watch.

And connect to this deep part.

And accept its truth.

If we feel compelled.

We can ask this part.

Where are you located?

In the body.

What do you need from me?

And what do you need me to know?

What do you need me to feel?

And understand?

And then we offer this part.

And the entire mind space.

Compassion.

Love.

And healing.

On the in-breath.

We visualise.

Our entire being.

Including all of the inner space.

And the part we've been working with.

But we just offer all of it.

Love.

Acceptance.

Compassion.

And connection.

As well as the offer to release.

If there's any aspect of the mind space.

That's holding on to something.

Or the part that we invited to speak.

Needs to put something down.

We offer it.

With the in-breath we offer love.

With the out-breath we offer release.

All the while we're just observing.

And witnessing.

The mind space.

And the body.

It is okay.

I accept you.

You are safe.

I invite you to release.

It is okay.

I accept you.

You are safe.

I invite you to release.

It is safe.

You are okay.

I accept you.

I invite you to release.

Once again.

For a final time.

Maintaining the anchor upon the breath.

And witnessing the entirety.

Of the mind space.

And the body.

And the part we've been working with.

The sensations.

Thoughts.

Emotions.

Imaginations.

Impulses.

Metacognitions.

State of consciousness.

And the deep sense of self.

Offering love.

And compassion.

And release.

We simply sit.

And witness.

And approach.

And accept.

Whatever is arising.

With compassionate curiosity.

And calm confidence.

So now gently.

As we come to the end of the session.

We return our focus back.

To the present moment.

To what we can feel.

Right now.

In our bodies.

The sounds coming from the environment.

We gently open our eyes.

Gently move our fingers and our toes.

We just settle back into.

Our day.

But as we do so.

We make a commitment to.

Return to the practice.

To come back and.

Witness the mind space.

And perhaps to connect to the part.

That we connected to in the session.

Once more.

The process of self study.

Of mind space witnessing.

And of building trust.

With your inner space.

Takes time.

So we commit to the practice.

By returning to it.

Either by repeating this session.

Or on our own.

But either way.

We make sure to.

Work.

Over time.

With our inner space.

With our inner parts.

And as we develop trust.

And as we develop the ability.

To connect with them.

They develop the ability.

To trust us.

And together.

We.

Move closer to a state.

Of inner peace.

Integration.

And acceptance.

Okay so if you haven't already.

Really settling back into your day.

Perhaps getting yourself some water.

Or some food.

Perhaps moving your body a bit more.

Really returning back.

To the present moment.

Thank you for joining me.

And I'll see you in the next session.