Hello,
My name is Stephen Proctor.
During this mindfulness exercise we will be setting up conditions to observe thinking patterns within the mind.
If you just start out by taking a meditation posture,
Holding one hand gently within the other.
Now close your eyes over lightly.
And start to be aware of the feeling of your body sitting or lying down.
Start to be aware of the feeling of heaviness within your body.
Also be aware of the place where your body touches the chair or the floor.
Hold this experience of heaviness in touch in mind continuously to allow some mindfulness and concentration to start to grow.
Your awareness can be vegetated,
Being aware that your body is on the ground for several seconds togentle something.
Make splints on your body.
Keep your hands responsible in the movement.
Now gently bring your awareness down to the touch of your hands.
Bring one hand touching the other.
Notice any sensations within the touch of the hands like pressure,
Softness,
Warmth or coolness.
Now hold that touch of the hands in mind to allow some mindfulness and concentration to continue to grow.
Soon we're going to create some conditions to observe,
Thinking patterns as they arise within the mind.
Whenever a thought arises within your mind,
I want you to identify the emotional charge behind the thought,
What is driving that thinking process,
By using a simple label such as planning,
Remembering,
Fantasizing,
Fearing,
Arguing,
Discussing.
Once you've identified what's driving that thought,
Take a few slow gentle breaths deep into your belly and with a slow breath out relax your relationship to that thought.
When the thought dissolves,
Come back again to the touch of your hands.
Now holding your hands and gently in mind at this point stop thinking,
Relax and see if you can observe the moment that thinking arises.
Now hold that touch of the hands in mind and relax your relationship to that thought.
Is there thinking present?
If so,
Acknowledge it with a simple label such as planning,
Fantasizing,
Remembering.
Use some slow gentle breaths to soften relaxing to it,
Slowly breathing in,
Slowly breathing out relax into the thought.
Slowly breathing in,
Slowly out relax.
Now bring your awareness back to the touch of the hands.
Anchoring your awareness within that touch,
The pressure,
The warmth,
The coolness.
Now stop thinking,
Relax and notice the moment a thought arises.
Is there thinking present?
Is there thinking present?
What's driving that thought?
Identify it with a simple label such as planning,
Remembering,
Regretting.
Use some slow gentle breaths to soften relaxing to it.
Come back again to the touch of your hands,
To the pressure,
The warmth,
The coolness.
Repeat the conditions again to observe thinking when it arises.
I want you to see if you can experience that thought within your body,
Does your body respond to that thinking?
Anchoring your awareness within the feeling of touch,
The touch of your hands.
And now stop thinking,
Relax and see if you can observe thinking when it arises.
Is there a thought present?
Is there a thought present?
What's driving that thought?
Name it,
Label it.
Can you experience that thought within your body?
Can you experience a response in your body aligned with that thought?
If you can experience some sensations or alignment with that thought within your body,
Be aware of it and use slow gentle breaths to soften relax into that response.
Gently breathing in deep into your belly.
With a slow gentle breath out,
Allow that area to relax.
Now bring your awareness back into your body,
Into the feeling of just sitting or lying down.
Start to be aware of any sounds around you,
Allow the sounds to come to you.
And now when you're ready,
You can gently open your eyes and be aware of seeing,
Be aware of being in the room.
Thank you for spending this time meditating with me.
Take care of yourself and goodbye.
