Welcome here.
In this meditation we will be exploring how to name or label thoughts.
We can begin by settling into the sense of gravity.
Feeling the touch of our body on the surfaces below us.
Melting into gravity.
And then letting a few conscious deep breaths move through.
Finding an uprightness of spine on the inhale.
A total relaxation of your system on the exhale.
And in a very gentle and easeful way,
You can direct your attention to whatever method is most helpful for you to ground.
Whether that's sound,
Breath,
Or body.
And then we can drop away the specific focus and come into a more natural,
Open awareness that is present for the whole flow of experience.
And in opening to the whole flow,
You can have a sensitivity to how thoughts move in and out of the mind.
Noticing how they're just like clouds passing through the sky of awareness.
Sometimes they linger like big stormy rain clouds.
And other times they pass through as quickly as they arise.
Without any controlling,
Or pushing,
Or pulling.
Just observing thoughts coming and going.
With our forehead,
Jaw,
And tummy fully relaxed,
We can then begin to name or label thoughts.
And here will be a specific naming the type of thought,
Like planning.
Worrying.
Remembering.
Fantasizing.
Analyzing.
Or if you're not sure the type of thought,
Just say thinking.
So here we're putting a single word to the type of thought that arises.
And the point isn't to get it just right.
It's to de-stick the thought a little bit.
It's to de-stick the thought a little bit.
So the first label that occurs to you,
We go with that one.
Labeling thoughts.
The purpose of labeling is not to make the thoughts go away.
It's just to bring in a little more mindfulness.
A little more space around the thinking.
So a gentle label is enough.
Thoughts are just like clouds passing through the sky of awareness.
And now we're going to simplify our labeling.
So rather than labeling the specific type of thought,
We'll just work with the single label thinking.
So whenever you notice your mind caught in thoughts,
Just say thinking.
No need to analyze them or investigate them.
Just label thinking and let them be.
Like clouds in the sky,
They pass on their own time.
Thinking.
We're going to take one final minute in this meditation,
And you're welcome to do whatever style of labeling is most interesting to you.
Whether that's the more specific word,
Just saying thinking.
Or if you'd prefer to let go of the labels and just wordlessly observe thoughts move through like clouds,
That can work too.
The one final minute prioritizing a relaxed,
Interested awareness.
Interested awareness.
