Welcome in this thought notifications meditation.
So take a moment to get comfortable.
Sit or lie down,
Whatever feels natural.
Let your hands rest.
Soften your gaze or close your eyes.
And settle in and arrive in the here and now at your own pace.
There is nowhere else you need to be for this moment.
Nothing you have to prove,
Fix or achieve.
Just notice that you are here.
You might feel the contact of your body with the chair or the ground beneath you.
And then you can experience the subtle movement of your breath.
Inhale arriving,
Exhale softening,
The quiet rhythm of being alive.
And think of your mind like a phone.
Notifications pop up constantly,
Messages,
Reminders,
Apps buzzing for attention.
And your brain works in a similar way.
Thoughts appear automatically too.
Planning,
Remembering,
Worrying,
Imagining.
This is your default mode network in action.
It helps you organize experiences,
Make sense of the past and plan for the future.
Thoughts are very essential and part of our human experience.
They help you navigate life.
But in today's world,
Full of constant pings,
Alerts and social media,
We need more time to process and at the same time it's an invitation to spend some more time noticing what's happening right now.
So this meditation is a chance to step back from the notifications.
So imagine each thought as a notification on your phone.
A memory buzzes in,
A worry pops up,
A plan flashes.
You don't have to open every notification.
You can just notice it,
Oh there's a memory,
Oh there's a worry,
Oh there's a plan.
So no need to dive automatically in.
So let's get curious first.
Nothing to fix.
Nothing you have to do in this very moment.
And as you get more comfortable in observing,
Practice to give each thought a gentle label.
So when you're thinking about the future,
You can label it as planning.
When you're noticing anxious thoughts,
You can use the word worrying.
If there are thoughts of the past,
You can use the word remembering.
Or when there is a thought about self-criticism or comparison,
You can use the label judging.
Label it silently,
Then let it rest.
And return gently to your next breath or the space of awareness.
Each label is a tiny pause,
A reminder that you are not your thoughts,
You are the one noticing them.
Now imagine lacing the phone down,
Letting it rest.
Notifications may still appear,
But you don't have to engage with each one.
So you can settle into the space around the notifications,
The calm awareness that notices thoughts without being pulled in.
And if you need an anchor,
You can always follow the rhythm of your breath,
The in-breath and this out-breath.
Notice how your body moves with every breath you take.
And if you catch yourself getting pulled into a thought,
Give yourself a little smile,
Because this is your reminder that you are human.
And some thoughts are just part of being you,
And your brain's default network is doing its job perfectly,
Organizing,
Planning and making sense of your world.
So no need to fight it.
You just acknowledge it and then gently come back to awareness and label it thinking.
Then return to your body,
Your breath and the open space around your thoughts and you are safe.
You are not your thoughts.
You are the witness,
Noticing them.
Take a few slow,
Grounding breaths.
Feel your body supported,
Notice the space around your thoughts and when ready,
Wiggle your fingers and toes and open your eyes at your own pace and see if you can carry this with you.
Thoughts come and go,
Like notifications on a phone.
You don't have to open everyone.
You are the calm space noticing the buzz.
You are bigger than any notification in your mind.
