Welcome to this session,
Before we begin take a moment to arrive.
You don't need to fix anything,
You don't even need to achieve anything,
Just be here.
My name is Jason Wild and I've spent decades working in mental health and exploring meditation and consciousness.
Now what I've learned is simple,
Most of us are carrying more attention than we realize,
And the nervous system rarely gets a true break.
The space is that break.
There's no right way to do this.
If your mind wanders,
Well that's okay,
And if you relax deeply,
Well that's okay too.
Just follow my voice and let whatever happens happen.
So take one slow breath in and just let it go gently.
Now before we begin,
Understand something clearly.
Having a thought does not mean you agree with it.
Having a thought does not mean you will act on it.
Having a thought does not mean it says anything about who you are.
Thoughts are events,
They're not intentions,
Not predictions,
Not even identity.
So take another slow breath in and exhale even longer this time.
Let the shoulders soften,
Let the jaw loosen.
Intrusive thoughts feel loud because your nervous system flags them as important.
The brain is wired to notice what feels threatening,
Shocking,
Or even out of character.
The more you react to a thought,
The more the brain highlights it.
Now not because it's true,
Because it got your attention.
So right now we're going to practice letting attention relax.
So bring your awareness to your breath.
Feel the inhale.
Feel the exhale.
There's no need to control it.
Just notice.
Now imagine your mind as a sky,
Wide open and expansive.
Now thoughts are clouds moving across it.
Some clouds are soft,
Some are dark,
Some are even strange shapes.
Some are fast,
Some linger,
But the sky it doesn't chase the clouds.
The sky does not argue with the clouds.
The sky does not panic because a storm cloud passed through.
You are the sky,
Not the cloud.
Now notice the next thought that arises.
Don't analyze it.
Simply label it gently,
Like thinking.
That's all.
Not good thinking and not bad thinking,
Just thinking.
Now another thought arises and label it.
Label it thinking.
That label creates a distance and distance reduces fusion.
Fusion is why you become the thought.
Distance is when you observe it.
Intrusive thoughts often feel sticky because you try to push them away and pushing is engagement.
Imagine holding a beach ball underwater.
The harder you push,
The stronger it pops back up.
Now imagine simply letting it float.
It drifts,
It moves,
It loses intensity.
Notice if an uncomfortable thought arises now and instead of bracing against it,
Let it sit.
Feel the discomfort in your body and where does it show up?
Your chest,
Your belly,
Your throat.
Just notice.
Don't solve it.
Don't even neutralize it.
Don't argue with it.
Just allow it.
Now thoughts gain power when you treat them as an emergency.
When you treat them as background noise,
They lose fuel.
So imagine sitting in a cafe.
People are talking all around you.
You hear fragments of a conversation.
Now you don't analyze every sentence.
You let it pass.
Your mind is similar.
It produces commentary constantly.
Your commentary is useful.
Some is random.
Some are bizarre.
Random thoughts are a feature of the creative brain,
Not a flaw.
So take a slow breath in and a long exhale.
Now bring your awareness to the space behind your eyes.
The place from which you observe.
Notice that there's something watching the thoughts.
The watcher is steady,
Unmoving.
It doesn't change when the thought changes.
It doesn't panic when the thought is strange.
It simply observes.
So rest there for a moment.
If a thought arises,
Say thinking and return to the breath.
Thoughts arise,
Say thinking and return to the breath.
You need to eliminate thoughts.
You only need to stop fighting them.
Intrusive thoughts often target what you care about most,
Because your brain knows that it will get your attention.
And if you value safety,
It creates danger thoughts.
And if you value morality,
It creates moral violations.
If you value control,
It creates chaos.
It's not revealing your desire.
It's revealing your fear.
Fear-based thoughts are not confessions.
They are noise amplified by concern.
Now imagine placing each thought on a leaf floating down a stream.
You're sitting on the bank.
The leaf carries the thought away.
You don't jump into the water.
You watch.
Another leaf.
Another thought.
And it drifts.
And you,
You remain seated.
The mind will continue to produce content.
That's its job.
Your job is to not control production.
Your job is to choose engagement.
So notice it right now.
Are you trying to monitor whether the thoughts are gone?
The monitoring is another thought.
So label it gently.
Thinking.
And then return to the breath.
Now you're not trying to be empty.
You're practicing being unaffected.
The sky remains even when the clouds move.
The stream remains even when the leaves pass.
You remain even when thoughts fluctuate.
So take another slow breath in.
Now feel your body in the chair or bed.
Feel the ground or the bed supporting you.
Weight supported.
Presence is physical.
Thought is mental.
When thoughts pull you upward into analysis,
Return to the body.
Breath moving in the ribs.
Air in the nostrils.
Pressure of clothing on the skin.
The body anchors you.
The mind drifts.
And this is normal.
Now let yourself sit for a few moments without trying to control anything.
And if a thought comes,
Well,
Let it come.
If discomfort comes,
Well,
Let it be there.
And if the urge to fix appears,
Notice it.
And then label it.
Thinking.
And return to the breath.
There's nothing wrong with you for having intrusive thoughts.
They are common.
They are automatic.
They are not instructions.
They are not predictions.
They are passing electrical patterns in a very active brain.
You are bigger than any pattern.
So take one more slow breath in.
Rest as the sky.
Clouds moving.
Sky unchanged.
And in this moment you don't need to chase a single thought.
Sit quietly for a few seconds now.
And when you're ready,
Open your eyes slowly.
Good work today and namaste.
