For chaotic times.
Welcome to time for healing.
This time is just for you.
As you relax,
Allow your body to become heavy and if you'd like,
Let your eyes close gently.
Listen only when you are able to completely focus on yourself.
Part one,
Noticing and naming.
Make yourself comfortable either by sitting or lying down and close your eyes.
Let your attention gently scan your body for physical sensations like cold or heat or tightness or relaxation.
Then start to notice any thoughts or emotions that may be passing through.
Whenever you notice a thought or an emotion,
You've already started the practice.
You noticed and once you notice,
Name what you noticed with one word,
Thinking or feeling or sensations.
It's really important to notice any judgment or criticism of your efforts.
Just add one of the labels,
Congratulate yourself for noticing and then watch for whatever comes next.
This seemingly simple step of naming and noticing creates just a bit of space between you and your experiences.
You notice that thoughts and emotions begin and if you let them,
They end and you create a place where you can choose to follow them or not.
Part two,
All thoughts are just thoughts.
The next part is to do your best to notice and name all thoughts as just thoughts and all emotions as just emotions.
A thought about forgetting to pick up dinner on the way home and a thought about your loss of income during a difficult time are just noticed and named.
They're both just thoughts that come from somewhere and then disappear again.
Or if you remember the irritation at your partner not letting you know they'd be home late is treated just the same as feeling lonely because you can't see your family.
They're both just emotions that come from somewhere and then disappear again.
So what good does this practice do?
It will help you notice the acts of thinking and feeling themselves instead of the content of individual thoughts and feelings.
Thoughts and feelings of all sizes and shapes from mild to overwhelming come and go.
Try it.
Come and go.
Try it.
You may find it a relief to see that hundreds of thoughts you have each day are just one thing,
Thinking,
And you're thinking isn't you.
Part three,
Noticing the one who notices.
This step is hidden in the first two.
When you notice and name and do your best to treat all your thoughts and emotions as the same,
You begin to sense a part of you that is not in the thought.
It is aware of your experiences,
Able to witness them,
But not get caught up in them.
There is a place of clear,
Compassionate witnessing of everything that's happening.
If you're someone who is sometimes overcome by troubling thoughts and emotions,
This is really a relief.
With a bit of practice,
This witnessing awareness becomes more familiar and has a kind of draw to it.
There's a calm and peace to this place that is aware of your thoughts and feelings,
But isn't part of them.
So the two wings of this practice can help you in challenging times.
The first wing will show you how to have a lighter touch on your thoughts and feelings,
To let them move rather than holding on too tightly.
And the second wing brings you into connection with a quiet,
Always present space of calm inside you that can be your oasis in hard times.
And the more you practice,
The more accessible that space will become.
As you return to the outer world,
You will remain relaxed and your inner mind will process what you heard.
You are feeling more alert.
You are now ready to resume your day.
You are feeling good about taking this time for healing.
This time just for you.
Reflections.
Did you notice a particular thought or feeling that was hard to label and move on from?
Were you able to sense the witnessing space in you that noticed and named what was happening?
And if so,
What was it?
Let us know in the comments.
