"Peace" Guided Meditation 3
Welcome to Meditations for Anxiety - this is our third session. We have developed a bit of a system to the flow of the meditation. So today there will be less cuing and more silence. If you find you can’t remember what to do it might be best to go back to the first meditation and have a go at the basic form before moving on to this one. These meditations build on each other and one aim of this course is for you to be able meditate independently without guidance if you so choose by the end of this course, so if you have missed the first 2 it will be more effective if you go back and do the first two.
Remember as you notice the thoughts, feelings and body sensations that come and go in the mind you don’t have to concentrate hard or catch every one. We are getting a general idea of what’s going on in our inner world by applying a soft kind of attention. The first week we noted whether we became distracted from the breath focus by a thought, feeling or body sensation. Last week we added an extra level of observation - was the thought/feeling/sensation grounded in the past, future or present. Of course its OK to think about the past and the future. We can savor memories, reflect and learn from failures, plan for the future and sidestep potential problems. We have the wonderful capacity to do this - imagine ourselves in the past or future and role play what we could have done better, or what we would like to do. But I do think, if most of your thoughts are obsessing about past injuries or feeling anxious about something that might happen in the future to the extent that you have lost the capacity to siphon the joy of the present, and the capacity to do what needs to be done well now - the one moment in time you do have control over - then something needs to change if you want a measure of contentment and peace in life. Observe your thoughts lightly, without becoming immersed in them, and then train yourself to lead the mind’s focus back to the breath. There is no need to judge if you find yourself distracted. Each time we wander off and refocus on the breath is like a bicep curl for the brain. Encourage yourself instead. “Oh there I go, thinking again. Wait where’s that breath - good job.”
Every time we practice the simple skill of noticing the mind has wandered off, noting and bringing attention back to breath we change neural networks in the brain. We step out of the loop that creates the repetitive thoughts that fuel emotions. We are able to focus better, feel happier and more content and this has a positive impact on our relationships.
With time you may realize that when you come to meditation you are not feeling anxious. Take the time to acknowledge this. It can start to challenge the idea that you are an anxious person.
I am posting a guided meditation every week. Each is about 10 mins long. That gives us a week to practice everyday before a new skill is introduced. You can follow my blog or press the “meditation” button at the top of my website. I hope you find meditating as helpful as I have.
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