Hello and welcome to this guided meditation on letting go of negative thoughts.
Let's take a moment to arrive wherever we are and now let the body settle into whatever position you've chosen without trying to improve it to correct it or make it look like anything at all.
Simply allow the weight of your body to be felt and allow yourself to let go of any negative thoughts that you may be experiencing.
Feeling it through the chair or the floor or the bed.
Letting gravity do the work for you.
Before we talk about thoughts,
Notice that you're already aware.
Awareness is present before you do anything,
Before you try to calm down,
Before you attempt to even let go.
There is already something in you that knows what is happening and from that place of awareness gently notice what thoughts are here now.
Not what should be here or what you wish would go away,
Just what is actually present right now.
You may notice a stream of thoughts that comment,
Judge,
Plan,
Replay or worry and some of them may feel familiar,
Some of them may feel repetitive or heavy,
Some may also feel convincing as though they are telling the truth about you or your life.
For now there is no need to label them as positive or negative,
Just notice that they are appearing.
And now see if you can recognize something subtle but important.
The thought is appearing in awareness but it is not the same as awareness itself.
The thought has a beginning,
A middle and an end.
Whereas awareness doesn't rush,
It doesn't argue and it doesn't try to resolve.
Now let yourself rest in that noticing.
When we talk about letting go of negative thoughts we're not talking about pushing them away or replacing them with better ones.
We are talking about no longer holding them so tightly,
No longer giving them the authority to define the moment.
Notice what happens when a thought appears and you do not immediately follow it.
You don't suppress it,
You don't analyze it,
You simply allow it to be there as you remain here.
If a thought feels particularly sticky or emotionally charged,
See if you can notice where the body responds.
Perhaps there is tension in the jaw,
The chest,
The belly or the shoulders.
Let your attention rest there for a moment.
Try to do so in a way that acknowledges that the body is a part of this experience too.
You might notice that when the body is allowed to soften,
Even if it's slightly,
The thought often loses some of its intensity.
And it doesn't lose intensity because it has disappeared but because it no longer has as much resistance feeding it.
This is not a technique,
It's a way of relating.
Now gently return to the breath.
Try not to control it but notice it happening.
Simply notice the breath moving in and out,
Quietly marking time.
The breath does not rush to finish a thought,
It doesn't argue with what is here,
It simply continues.
Let the breath be your reference point.
And when you do this,
You'll realize that you can stay grounded while the thoughts morph.
As thoughts continue to arise,
And they will,
See if you can recognize them as mental events rather than personal instructions.
A thought can say many things,
It can predict,
It can criticize,
It can replay.
But it does not require your agreement.
So notice what it feels like to hear a thought without responding to it.
There may be moments where the mind becomes quieter.
And there might also be moments when it does not.
Both are equally part of the practice.
Letting go does not mean the absence of thoughts,
It means the absence of struggle with them.
If you notice yourself pulled into a story again,
That's not a mistake.
The noticing itself is the practice.
Each time you recognize that you were carried away,
And you gently return,
Something is being learned at a deeper level than thought.
Now take a moment to sense the quality of awareness itself.
Notice that it is steady,
Present,
And unaffected by the content passing through it.
Thoughts may come and go,
But awareness remains.
Now rest here for a few moments.
As we begin to close,
Allow yourself to recognize that negative thoughts are not a personal failure or a problem to solve.
They are a conditioned habit of the mind,
And habits change,
Not through force,
But through understanding and patience.
You are learning to relate differently.
Whenever you're ready,
Feel the body again,
The points of contact with the space around you.
Let the breath deepen naturally.
And when it feels right,
Allow the eyes to open,
Or the attention to shift back into the room.
Carry this quality of noticing with you today,
And see it as something that is available to you whenever you remember.
Thank you so much for trusting me to guide you through this meditation today.
Have a beautiful day.
Namaste.
