Week 3 Thought Observation Meditation Welcome,
I'm Dr Ed.
This is a thought observation practice to learn the difference between thinking and being lost in thought.
This week isn't about stopping your thoughts,
That's impossible.
Your mind generates thousands of thoughts every day,
That's what minds do.
This practice is about noticing when thinking has taken over and gently coming back.
So,
Find a comfortable position,
However you feel most comfortable,
Sitting,
Lying,
But aware,
Dignified,
Here,
Now.
So,
Let's begin with 3 deeper breaths,
In and out through your nose.
Breathe in and out.
In and out.
In and out.
In and out.
Now,
Just let your breath return to its natural rhythm.
Find a place where you can feel your breath most clearly,
Your nostrils,
Chest or belly.
That's your anchor.
When your mind wanders,
And it will,
You can always come back to this anchor.
Now,
For the next couple of minutes,
Rest your attention on your breath.
Not controlling it,
Not making it deeper or slower,
Just notice it as it is.
Each in breath and each out breath.
In and out.
Your mind will wander,
That's guaranteed.
You might have noticed it already,
Wandering.
When you notice it's wandered,
That's good,
That's the practice,
The moment of noticing,
That's self-awareness.
Just bring your attention gently back to your breath.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Each time your mind wanders,
And you bring it back,
You're strengthening your awareness,
You're practicing the skill of noticing.
Now,
I want you to get curious about your thoughts,
Keep your anchor on the breath,
But start to notice what thoughts are showing up for you.
You don't need to follow them,
You don't need to solve them,
You don't need to do anything with them,
Just notice them coming up.
Maybe it's a thought about something you need to do later,
Or something that happened earlier this day.
Maybe it's,
This is stupid,
I'm not doing this right.
Whatever shows up,
That's fine,
Just notice.
It can help to label the thoughts,
Planning,
Worrying,
Judging,
Remembering.
Not to make the thought go away,
But just to see it clearly as a thought.
You might notice your mind gets pulled into a thought,
You have thoughts about the thought,
Following it down the path,
That's normal,
That's what minds do.
They think.
When you realize you've been lost in your thoughts,
Just acknowledge it.
Thinking thoughts,
You might say,
And then come back to that breath,
That anchor,
Always there.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Now,
Let's continue this practice for the next few minutes.
Anchor on your breath,
Notice the thoughts rising,
Label them if you wish,
And let them pass.
Return to the breath when you followed one.
Thicker thoughts,
Like clouds passing across the sky on a sunny day.
You are the sky,
The awareness,
Thoughts are just weather passing through.
Some clouds are dark and heavy,
Some are light,
But they all pass.
The sky remains,
You remain.
You might notice some thoughts are the same over and over and over again,
And that is normal too,
Some thoughts are persistent.
But we don't need to fight them or make them stop.
Just notice that thought again,
And then back to your anchor.
Maybe you hear,
I'm not good enough,
I should be doing more.
Maybe it's something special about your life,
Whatever it is,
Just notice it's there.
You don't have to believe it,
You don't have to act on it,
You can just watch it rise and pass.
If there are a lot of thoughts,
If your mind feels very busy,
That's okay,
It's normal.
We're not trying to create a quiet mind,
We're just practicing noticing when the mind has wandered off.
The wandering is not failure,
The noticing is the practice.
Each time you notice,
You're waking up from the autopilot.
Each time you come back,
You're choosing where to put your attention.
Return to your breath.
Sometimes a thought comes up that's very compelling,
Very true,
Very urgent,
A worry,
A judgment,
A fear.
When this happens,
You may notice your body respond,
Your chest tighten,
Your breathing change,
Your shoulders tense.
If you notice,
Take a moment,
This is a strong thought,
I feel it in my body.
Then ask yourself,
Is this helpful now?
Not,
Is it true?
Just,
Is it helpful?
The answer is no,
The thought is not helping you now,
You don't have to follow it.
Just acknowledge it's there,
You can feel whatever is springing up and you can choose to return to your breath.
Now,
For the last couple of minutes,
Let go of what we've been doing,
Just sit here,
Breathe.
Thoughts will come and go,
That's fine,
Let them.
You don't need to label or manage,
Just be aware.
Aware of breathing,
Of sitting,
Of thoughts moving through.
You are the observer,
Not the thinker,
The one who notices,
Not the one who is lost in the story.
Now,
Let's bring this to a close.
Take a moment to notice how you feel now,
Compared to when you started.
Karma,
Restless,
The same,
Always fine.
For practice is not about achieving or winning a particular state,
It's about learning to observe your thoughts without being controlled by them.
And you've just spent these minutes practicing that skill.
In the end,
Shortly,
You'll return to your day.
Your thoughts will keep coming and that's what they do.
But now you know,
You don't have to believe every thought or follow every thought.
You can choose to watch them rise and let them pass.
And you can choose which ones to act on.
Now,
Just coming back into the world with all the fingers,
Toes,
See what senses you can pick up on,
Sounds,
Smells.
And when you're ready,
Gently open your eyes.
Thank you for practicing today.
