Create Space Around Your Thoughts

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Hi, I'm Steven Webb and welcome to Inner Peace Meditations. The podcast that brings meditations to you free to

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help you through the most difficult times.

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Today we are practicing giving space. No forcing calm. No pushing thoughts away.

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No trying to fix everything.

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Just giving space to notice what is actually here.

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Find a position that works for your body today. Sitting, lying down or however you need to be.

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You do not need to make the mind quiet. You do not need to arrive as a better version of

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yourself. Just arrive as you are

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and just become aware of your breath.

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Breathing in calm. Breathing out relax

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And just while you're settling in and relaxing, remember that your body knows how to breathe and Your body knows

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how to relax. We're just allowing these things to happen. Let's have a little Dharma talk, I guess. So in

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Zen practice, there's a very ordinary kind of wisdom. Not a wisdom that floats above life. Not a wisdom that

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escapes the body. A wisdom that sits still long enough to just see clearly. A

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thought appears. A feeling appears. A pain appears. A memory appears. Even a worry appears.

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And

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the habit is often to do something with it immediately. Follow it, argue with it, fix it, explain it, turn

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it into some story, turn it into a problem. But

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not everything that arises needs our immediate attention.

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Sometimes a thought is just a thought. You

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have thoughts but you're not those thoughts. Sometimes a feeling is just a feeling. You

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have feelings being not those feelings.

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Sometimes a sensation in the body is simply asking to be noticed.

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You have sensations, but you're not those sensations.

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And sometimes if we give it space, we realise it is not the whole truth.

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It is just something passing through that we don't need to do anything with.

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And space matters because without space, everything feels... Every thought feels true.

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Every feeling feels urgent. Every body sensation feels like a command.

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But when there's space, we

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can begin to see this is a thought. This is a story. This is a fear. This is

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a pain. This is a memory. This

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is the body asking for care. And the list goes on.

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If your mind is anything like me, the list is literally endless.

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This is just something that's arising in any given moment.

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And seeing clearly is already the kind of peace we need.

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So today we're not trying to get rid of anything. We are practicing space. Space in the head,

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space in the body, space around the feelings, space to be who we are without needing to manage

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every part for ourselves.

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That intro kind of needed to be there to set the ground of where we are. So

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let's begin.

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So as we bring our awareness back to our bodies, Just breathing in calm. Breathing out relax

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And you may notice the points of contact. There

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may be a weight or a temperature. The places that feel comfortable and the places that feel a little more

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tense or sore. Maybe restless or numb. No

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need to solve any of the body right now. Just notice the body as it is.

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And now just imagine you're sitting inside of a shed.

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A comfortable shed. A quiet shed. It is your Space

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You are sitting there, maybe on a chair, maybe on a little bench. Maybe

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you have a blanket with You

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But the windows are closed and the door is closed. There is not much room for anything to move.

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You're surrounded by the things that keep you comfortable and

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nothing to worry about in this shed.

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It's your shed.

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Now imagine a thought appears in the shed It may be a worry or a memory or a plan, a

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judgement of yourself.

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And notice what happens when the thought appears in a closed space

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and Does it feel loud? Does

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it feel close? Does

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it feel like you need to deal with it

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you need to change it, just notice it.

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Now imagine a feeling that appears in this shed.

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Whether it's a sadness or a frustration. Maybe a fear or a tenderness. Maybe

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something you cannot quite name.

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And you may feel slightly uncomfortable with this. And it's okay, we're going to open up in a moment.

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But does it feel like there's a pressure?

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Does it feel like it fills the whole space?

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Does it feel more like you and

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you're crammed in here?

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Again, no judgement. The shed is not wrong. It's just small

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as your shed.

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And sometimes our mind feels like this. Sometimes our bodies feel like this. A closed space where every thought

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and feeling has to sit right inside of us. Right beside us with nowhere to go.

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Now gently imagining opening the door.

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Let some light come in, maybe some air come in. And

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imagine yourself stepping out of the shed. Slowly and gently, no rush. And

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now you're outside. Imagine you're in an open field or an open space. It could be a meadow. The wide

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sky, the fresh air.

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Loads of space and room in every direction. You can even stretch your arms out if you wanted to. And

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there's a bench there that you can simply sit on if you choose to.

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And now let the same thought arise, if you remember it, or another thought.

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And this time just feel the difference between how it feels when it arises from all this space.

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Do you notice the difference?

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The thought. is still there,

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But there is sky around it. There's air around it. There's a distance. There's a space that makes you feel

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like you don't have to immediately deal with it.

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You may be able to see it more clearly. There's

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a distance between you and the thought.

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I'm here and I can see the thought.

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I'm here and I can be aware of the thought.

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And let it just go on like maybe a cloud.

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No need to push it away, it just has room to disappear by itself.

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And now imagine a feeling arising in this open space. It's

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almost so much easier to deal with a feeling sat on a bench in open field than it is sat

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in a Tightly crammed shed.

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The space for some wisdom to step in.

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Space for us to be able to go, ah, that's what I'm feeling.

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Space to be able to wisely deal with it.

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Is it a thought? Is it a story? Is it a feeling? Is it a fear?

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Almost like as if there's room for it.

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Just like when we give a friend space, we

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can see their feelings clearly. Giving ourselves space. We can see our feelings and thoughts. A lot more clearly.

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And just briefly imagine being back in that shed now with those same thoughts. And that

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shed could mean a busy household

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or a place at work where you don't really have much room to think.

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And then imagine being in those places with more room or space. And

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of course, when we're talking about space, we're talking about time space as well. That space after the thought

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when we become aware.

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Sometimes we feel these thoughts and feelings fill up all of the space we have, all the feelings we have.

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There's no room for wisdom. There's no room for genuine thoughts.

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There's no room for caring and loving and openness.

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And I'm going to quietly offer these words and they may feel useful. May there be space for you.

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May there be space for me.

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May we see clearly what is arising.

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May we trust the wisdom that comes with space.

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Now let the image gently fade and no need to hold on to the shed or no need to hold

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on to the field.

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They're just feelings.

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Space does not mean distance from life. Space means just enough room to see things clearly. That gap at the

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end of the sentence. That space between the next thought.

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Enough room to know what the thought was. What the story is. What the feeling is.

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So I'm going to count back from five. So five, feeling your body, what it is right now.

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Four, noticing the room around you. Three,

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taking a slightly deeper breath. Two, moving your fingers and your hands and your toes. And number one, just

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opening your eyes and if they were closed. And thank you for sitting with me today. Thank you for creating

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space in your life for wisdom to be there when you need it. Thank you for your support on Inner

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Peace Meditations and thank you to all the supporters that support this podcast. You can find out more about how

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you can support or the other podcast by going to StevenWebb.uk. Take care and thank you.