Mind Space Witnessing

In this session, we practiced "Mind Space Witnessing".

Focus your attention on the sensations of the breath at the nose. Then scan each aspect of the Mindspace in turn: Sensations, Thoughts, Emotions, Memories, Imagination, Impulses, Meta cognitions, States of consciousness, Sense of self/soul.

Approach and accept everything that arises with an attitude of compassionate curiosity and calm confidence.

This practice is akin to a mindful body scan, but for the components of the mind. Beginning with the most obvious, then shifting to the more subtle. Explore your own mind and make changes to this practice if you discover differences.

The mnemonic to remember the order is “Sometimes The Elephant Makes Imaginary Ice-cream Meringues Super Salty.”

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the session. I invite you to lay down or take a seat and get yourself comfortable. You can close down the eyes if you wish and just begin by focusing your attention on the sensations at the breath feeling the air entering and leaving the nose Today's session we're going to be practicing something that I call a mind space witness This is analogous to a body scan but for the mind. In a body scan you scan each part, Part by part, Piece by piece, Just feeling the sensations that are arising without judgment, Without filter, Just a mindful observation We can do so with the components of our mind getting deeper, Getting more subtle, But exploring the aspects that make up the mind space mindfully Just taking a slow deep breath Going to turn our focus to the most obvious thing that our mind picks up Information from the senses Noticing what we can hear Noticing what we can feel in our body Noticing what we can see behind closed eyes or open Noticing what we can taste and smell Noting any internal feelings that are arising These are the sensations that are arising in this moment If at any point during this meditation we find ourself lost in thought, Return our focus back to the breath and then on to the object that we're focusing on currently Noting the sensations that are arising in this moment Noticing what we can see, Hear, Feel, Taste, Smell, Or perceive internally Taking a slow, Calm, Deep breath I'm going to move into the mind space a little bit deeper by becoming aware of any thoughts that are arising The internal volume The voice of which is speaking, Is it ours or is it another? Is it speaking to, From, Or about us? Just observing and accepting any thoughts that are arising and taking a moment to consider where these thoughts are coming from and where they're going We're not choosing which thoughts arise, They sort of just do We observe them and then we watch them go somewhere We can choose to make a thought appear But thoughts just seem to appear on their own as well, Just witness them Taking another slow, Deep breath in through the nose I'm going to go a little bit deeper still into emotions, Feelings Noting if there are any emotions or feelings or moods present in the mind And really focusing in deep on how we know that those moods are present Maybe it's just a general sense or you're picking up upon the collection of bodily sensations Perhaps an internal mental feeling like an overlay looking through cellophane Maybe there's more than one present Just taking a moment to note the moods, Emotions and feelings that are arising The parts of the mind that they take up, The parts of the mind that they don't Just witnessing it all I'm taking another slow, Deep breath as we go a little bit deeper still into the mind space into memory What memories are present in the mind? And how are those memories presenting to you? Are you witnessing them from the first person? As in you in those memories? Or are they appearing like a television show where you're watching it externally? How vivid are the memories? How clear? Or maybe it's just a general knowing of something that has happened Getting curious about the memories Why are those memories present and not others? What aspect of them are you holding on to or focusing upon? How old were you at the time? We're just observing, We're just witnessing We're just accepting that these are the memories that are arising right now Taking another slow, Deep breath in through the nose Return our attention deeper still to imagination, To future focused thought To hopes, To anxieties Noticing where our mind is drifting towards thoughts of the future Feelings about the future Witnessing it create things out of nothing Why these thoughts of the future, These anxieties, These hopes? Why these creations, Visualizations and not others? Just witnessing it all Going a little bit deeper still into the mind space with another slow, Deep breath Taking a look at our impulses These are, By way of analogy, Almost looking at the programming of the computer, The part of us that causes us to act Our desires, Our aversions, Our addictions, Our base tendencies, Our gut reactions The impulse to move or to do Doing our best to witness any impulses that are arising and their immediate consequences Once again, We're not judging We're approaching and accepting whatever arises with compassionate curiosity and calm confidence These are the impulses that are arising in your mind in this moment That's okay, It is what it is We're just mindfully witnessing Going a little bit deeper still into metacognition, Your awareness of awareness The part of you that is aware that you are doing the meditation in this moment The part that is aware that it is thinking The observation of the observer And the part that is observing that The infinite regress It is us attempting to turn the lens of attention in upon itself, Witnessing the witness Notice all of that arising Notice your mind's pull towards the earlier focus, The sensations, The thoughts, The emotions But then notice you noticing that And noticing the noticing of the noticing of that This is like breaking our own fourth wall Now going a little bit deeper still into states of consciousness What's the overall state of your mind in this moment? No judgments, Just it is what it is Are you focused? Mindful? Distracted? Sleepy? Confused? Just noticing the overall mode of your mind Just noticing the overall mode of your mind And what's arising in this moment The final aspect, One more slow deep breath Is the sense of self or soul The heart space The part of you that is connected to the divine The emptiness The spiritual side If you have access to such a space Feeling and witnessing the resulting sensations, Thoughts, Emotions, Memories, Moods Everything that arises From mind's full observation of the mind space And from our connection to the self or to the divine beyond Now taking a moment to let it all go Returning our focus back to the sensations of the breath at the nose But being aware of all of the different aspects of the mind space Sensations, Thoughts, Emotions, Moods, Feelings, Memories, Imaginations, Anxieties Hopes, Impulses, Metacognitions, States of consciousness And the sense of the self or the soul, All of it Being aware of it all arising But returning our focus back to the breath Just witnessing it all Okay So today we practice mind space witnessing A mental version of a body scan I have a little bit of a mnemonic to help you remember the order You say these words and the first word is the same as the thing you scan Sometimes the elephant makes imaginary ice cream meringues super salty Sometimes for sensations, The for thoughts, Elephant for emotions, Makes for memories Imaginary for imagination, Ice cream for impulses, Meringues for metacognitions Super for states of consciousness and salty for the sense of soul So if you'd like to practice this mind space witnessing on your own You remember the mnemonic? Sometimes the elephant makes imaginary ice cream meringues super salty And you can take yourself through each step as you go But this is just an order that I created Going from the most overt and obvious down to the most subtle I encourage you to explore your own inner space Find the component parts of your own mind And perhaps find a way to explore your own mind space in an order that works for you Just remember that whatever is arising is arising We accept it with an attitude of compassionate curiosity and calm confidence Thank you for joining me today And I'll see you in the next session