Hello and welcome to this meditation where we will bring our awareness to our thoughts and help the mind find peace.
Now before we begin I would like to invite you to find a comfortable and dignified posture,
Whether that is sitting down with your back upright or lying down.
Remember that comfort is everything.
Once you have settled in your position of choice I would also like to invite you to take a few seconds to just wiggle out any excess energy that you may be feeling right now,
Whether it is by just wiggling your toes or stretching your neck,
Your shoulders.
When you are done you can just come back to that posture with a sense of ease.
You can begin by gently closing your eyes or directing your gaze on the floor.
Let's begin by taking a few deep grounding breaths to arrive into this present moment from wherever else we may be.
Take a deep breath in through your nose,
Filling your belly and a deep breath out with your mouth.
You can even let out a little sigh,
Anything that helps you feel more grounded and centered as we get to the starting line.
And so after you have taken a few of those cleansing breaths allow yourself to breathe normally without any sense of control or manipulation,
Just allow your breath to be.
And so naturally as you do chances are that your mind has started wandering.
Remember that it is absolutely fine.
Now try to imagine yourself standing at the edge of an ocean,
Of a sea.
You can see the waves coming and going,
Coming and going.
Now imagine that the same happens with your thoughts.
Each thought comes to the shore as a wave and then leaves again.
Not meant to stay,
Not meant to remain as is.
That's what the mind does,
The mind creates thoughts,
An incredible amount of thoughts.
They're not meant to stay,
They're not meant to stick.
So allow yourself as you stand at the shore of this ocean,
Imagine your thoughts as they arise as these waves.
And allow your heart to be open and soft as the thoughts arise and allow them to also arise.
Chances are you may feel like you want to hold on to some of these thoughts,
They do feel quite sticky.
Chances are there are stories that are brought up by these thoughts,
Narratives.
Allow yourself to hold these temporary thoughts with kind awareness.
They're just thoughts.
And if you feel resistance as you bring kind awareness to your thoughts,
You try to hold them kindly and softly.
Bring awareness to where you feel this resistance in your body.
Is there a particular spot where you feel tense right now?
Bring awareness to the area between your eyes.
Bring awareness to your jaw.
Bring awareness to your shoulders or maybe also your fists,
Your arms.
So wherever you may feel any sort of resistance,
Whether mental resistance or physical resistance,
Take a few deep breaths and direct that breath to that space.
And as you take a breath in,
Imagine you're breathing in lightness and tenderness.
You're breathing it in into that space and as you exhale,
Imagine the tension releasing and the resistance releasing.
And you can do this as many times as you need.
Every time you feel there is some blockage.
And so if your mind has wandered off again and that is completely natural if it did,
Allow yourself some grace.
Allow yourself some self-compassion that this is not your pathology.
Thinking a lot is not your pathology.
It's just what the brain does.
So as your mind wanders,
Maybe because of boredom or impatience,
Just bring it back,
Bring it back to the breath.
Even if you have to do it a thousand times,
That's okay.
We can always start fresh.
And if there's any thought in particular that keeps coming back and any story that keeps coming back,
Allow yourself to welcome it with kindness.
Allow yourself to observe it,
Observe it like those waves arriving to the shore.
It's just a wave and it comes and goes.
It's not the ocean.
Every time that thought lurks in again,
Just observe it,
Welcome it and let it go.
Do it as many times as needed.
Welcome it with kindness,
With softness and let it go.
No need to judge those thoughts,
No need to identify with them.
These thoughts are not you.
You're just the observer at the shore watching these waves come and go,
These thoughts come and go.
There's peace in that.
And before we conclude,
I would love for you to take a moment to repeat three times this mantra.
My thoughts are real,
But not the truth.
My thoughts are real,
But not the truth.
My thoughts are real,
But not the truth.
And as you watch those waves come and go,
These thoughts come and go as an observer.
Invite you to bring your awareness back to your breath,
Taking a very deep breath in through your nose,
Feeling that breath filling your entire body and a deep breath out.
And again,
A very deep breath in,
Filling your entire body with calm and with strength and a deep breath out,
Letting everything go,
Releasing,
Relaxing.
And when you're ready,
You can gently open your eyes and conclude this practice.
Thank you for spending this moment with me.
