The Thought Observation Meditation

So often our stress levels are compounded by the impact of our thoughts. The point of this weeks practice is that as you develop more capacity to see your thoughts rather than be your thoughts – you slowly develop more capacity to be free from the impact of thoughts. You start to have some choice about how you are going to relate to your thoughts. And that changes everything.

If you are finding this practice a little challenging try this exercise which will help you observe your thoughts, rather than get lost in your own thinking.

• Set an alarm for 5 or 10 minutes or use this 10 minute silent bell.
• Sit in silence and direct your attention to the space of the mind.
• Wait patiently for thoughts to arise
• Observe the thoughts as they come and go over this 5 minute silent period
• Try and keep track of the stream of thoughts, noticing the flow of thoughts and marking the themes silently in your mind.
• Then when the alarm rings see if you can write down the different thoughts that came up in your mind.