Welcome everyone to this meditation practice where we invite the mind to take center stage and we explore our thoughts and feelings.
According to Swami Kripalu,
The highest form of spiritual practice is self-observation without judgment.
So today we will practice being a witness to our thoughts and feelings,
Not assigning a label of good or bad,
Just acknowledging that they exist and observing them as they come through our consciousness.
So to begin,
Take a comfortable seat,
Place your hands comfortably on your legs or let them rest in your lap.
Then bring your attention to something that feels steadying and safe to you,
Perhaps an object in the space around you or the feeling of your breath flowing in and out of your body.
Take a few moments to rest your focus here,
Your home base and know that at any point during this meditation,
You can come back to this place and breathe.
When you're ready,
I invite you to lower your gaze or close your eyes and bring your awareness to the various thoughts and feelings in your mind.
Just being curious,
Just observing.
Like waves in the ocean,
Our thoughts are limitless and some days just like the ocean,
Our thoughts are dark,
Stormy and tumultuous.
Other days they're calm,
Gentle and pleasant.
Can you notice what your thoughts are like today?
If a particular thought catches your attention,
Can you begin to examine it?
Is it accompanied by an image,
A memory or perhaps a conversation?
Are there feelings associated with this thought?
Are there sensations in your body?
Do you notice your heart rate,
Your breath?
Is there any tension building?
Can you ask why this thought captivated your attention?
And if this thought begins to feel like a tsunami,
If it begins to feel overwhelming,
Breathe and let it go.
Simply allow the experience to happen.
Become the witness,
The observer.
For the next five minutes,
Observe your thoughts and feelings as they enter your awareness.
Let them come and go just like waves in the ocean.
And any time you feel a thought overshadowing your inquiry,
Return to your home base,
Breathe and start again.
Friends,
Take a deep breath in and exhale.
Let everything go.
I invite you back to your home base and the space around you.
Perhaps take a moment to notice how you feel after this practice.
I hope this meditation has allowed you to accept the thoughts and feelings in your mind,
Embracing them for what they are,
And knowing that any time a thought or feeling starts to overwhelm you,
You can always choose to step back and become the observer.
Namaste.
