A Mindful Moment: "Leaves On A Stream"

Begin by sitting in a comfortable position and either close your eyes or rest them gently on a fixed spot in the room.

Begin to bring your awareness to your breath,

Just noticing the natural inhale and exhale.

Noticing the feeling of air flowing in and out of your nose,

Your abdomen expanding and contracting with every breath.

Now visualize yourself sitting beside a gently flowing stream with leaves floating along the surface of the water.

For the next few minutes take each thought that enters your mind and place it on a leaf and let it float by.

Do this with each thought,

Happy,

Painful,

Or neutral.

Even if you have joyous or enthusiastic thoughts,

Place them on a leaf and let them float by.

If your thoughts momentarily stop,

Continue to watch the stream.

Sooner or later your thoughts will start up again.

Allow the stream to flow at its own pace.

Don't try to speed it up and rush your thoughts along.

You're not trying to rush the leaves along or get rid of your thoughts.

You are allowing them to come and go at their own pace.

If your mind says,

This is dumb,

I'm bored,

Or I'm not doing this right,

Place those thoughts on leaves too and let them pass.

If a leaf gets stuck,

Allow it to hang around until it's ready to float by.

If the thought comes up again,

Watch it float by another time.

If a difficult or painful feeling arises,

Simply acknowledge it.

Say to yourself,

I noticed myself having a feeling of boredom,

Impatience,

Or frustration,

And place those thoughts on leaves and allow them to float along.

From time to time your thoughts may hook you and distract you from being fully present in this exercise.

This is normal.

As soon as you realize that you've become sidetracked,

Gently bring your attention back to the visualization exercise.

Continue this process for a few more breaths and then whenever you're ready you can gently open your eyes and bring this deep sense of peace to everything that you touch today.