Peace for your Overactive Mind

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Welcome to a little piece for an overactive mind.

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So we'll begin just by finding a comfortable position and

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just allowing your body to settle in.

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Just feel the support beneath you.

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And you may want to take a deep breath just to connect the mind and the body together.

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Then simply allow your breath to be what it is.

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You don't have to get involved in your breath. Your body's been breathing for a long time. Without you getting

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involved.

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Just become aware.

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And we just give our muscles permission to relax as well.

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Similarly to your breath, you don't have to force them, you don't have to do anything. Each

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muscle knows how to relax, they're just waiting for you to give them permission. So

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starting from the top of your head, working all the way down for your body. Just allowing the muscles to

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relax.

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Allowing the face and the ears.

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Your chin, your neck and your arms. Your

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shoulders down your back.

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And your bum and your legs.

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Allowing each muscle as they go down just to relax a little bit more each time. Breathing in calm. Breathing

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out relax

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And we don't have to do anything.

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We just have to be aware.

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And that's simply enough.

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And as you're settling in, just let's reflect on a little bit of wisdom.

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The mind is like water.

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When it's turbulent,

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it's difficult to see.

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When it's calm, everything becomes clear.

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This simple yet profound statement reminds us of the power of a nice calm mind.

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Often our minds are like a stormy sea,

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with thoughts crashing around each other,

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creating noise and confusion.

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It's very much like a pond with muddy water.

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But beneath the surface there's always this depth of stillness and clarity. If we just allow it to settle

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in.

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And in our busy lives, especially nowadays, we often mistake mental activity for productivity

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and intelligence. It's

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just thinking. It's just overactive minds.

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True wisdom often emerges from this stillness. You

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cannot very often think yourself out of problems or... Think your way into trying to remember something

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or do something. It's when we take a step back and relax and allow the mind to have space. That's

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when the wisdom and clarity appears.

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Now let's explore a way that we can have this peace amidst all the mental activity. So

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imagine your mind is a vast sky

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And your thoughts are like clouds passing through the sky. I know this is a very common meditation, but it

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really does work. And it's simple. And we can all imagine this huge, vast sky. And we've all seen

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clouds. And

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all the clouds are different. There's never two the same clouds. Just the same as we think we have relentless,

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the same thought. They're not. Every time you have a similar thought, they're subtly different.

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You know, some of the thoughts like light and fluffy clouds and others a little more dark and heavy and

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don't leave any room for light. But

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regardless of their nature, they're all temporary. They're passing. Some of them travelling a little slower than others.

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And as you just sit here, just begin to notice the thoughts as they arrive.

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Don't try to change them or do anything with them.

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Don't even try to push them away. Just observe them.

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No different than just being aware of your breath. You're just aware of your thoughts.

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Just like you're watching clouds drift away in the sky.

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Very often at this point we notice how particularly active our mind is and how much it jumps from one

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thought to another. From one story, one narrative to another.

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It doesn't seem to stay on a single thought. As soon as you notice the thought, the mind's like, ah,

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you've got me. And it brings up another a thought to try to trick you.

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It's like a game of cat and mouse. Of awareness and thought. Ah, I'm aware of

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you. And the thought goes, are you? And it changes it and it morphs into something different. And

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you can almost do this as playing a game.

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Just being aware of you doing it. Being aware of the games that the thoughts play.

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And when you notice the thought takes your attention a little too much. And you start to go down in

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the thought process and Following the thought. Just be aware, smile and thank you. I'm just coming back

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and gonna watch you carry on

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because often we become that thought when

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we're never really that thought. We're just the witness of it but it sometimes feels so real and so true

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that we almost think that thought's us.

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You can say that mantra in your mind or a little affirmation. I have thoughts but I'm not those thoughts.

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I have thoughts. But I'm not those thoughts.

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And your mind really is like the big vast cloud. It

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can hold everything. It's

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as big as the sky as big as the universe. It's

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as big as you want it to be.

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And your mind isn't hurt by any of the thoughts. Your body isn't hurt. Just no different than the sky

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is affected with a cloud going through it.

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The sky is still there. The universe is still there.

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It's just a cloud. It's just passing through.

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And your true nature underneath all this just remains at peace. Awareness is almost always at peace. I

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say almost always because I've never known it not to be at peace. But

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maybe one day I'll find where awareness isn't just, ah, just sitting in this moment.

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Just little spaces between thoughts.

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Just little

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gaps between my words. Just give you a moment of quiet.

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And if you leave it too long, a thought jumps in.

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Almost like the thoughts like my turn. I'm ready.

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And in these moments a little clarity, you can repeat silently to yourself. I am not my

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thoughts. I am the peaceful awareness behind my thoughts.

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I am not my thoughts. I am the peaceful awareness behind my thoughts.

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And stillness is always available to me. Even when the mind is feeling overactive and thinking a lot.

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Stillness is always available to me. Even when the mind is being overactive.

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So now gradually expand your awareness to beyond your thoughts. And notice the sounds around you, the sensations

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in your body. And

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the space in the room.

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And as we prepare to end this meditation, let's take a moment to cultivate a loving kindness. I

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always like to end the meditations on this because it sets us up for the compassion, caring and open-hearted people

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that we are. But

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it's always wonderful to remind ourselves.

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Place your hand on your heart and say, May I be peaceful. May

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I be at ease. May

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I be kind to myself.

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May I be peaceful. May I be at ease. May I be kind to myself.

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Now we turn that around and we reflect it on the world. May we all be peaceful.

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May we all be at ease.

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May we all be kind to ourselves.

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And when you see them and feel them really sink in, it

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makes a profound difference. May we all be peaceful. May we all be at ease. And

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may we all be kind to ourselves.

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And now let's come back from five and with each number you'll become more alert and more aware of your

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surroundings. So five, begin to wiggle your arms and wiggle your toes. Four, take a deeper breath.

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Three, become aware of the space around you.

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Gently open your eyes and

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take a moment to stretch and move in any way that feels good.

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Welcome back. Remember the peace that you've experienced is always available to you. Just gotta

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step back and see it. Step back and feel it.

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Beneath the surface of your thoughts, your presence and willingness to explore the inner world is deeply appreciated.

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I hope with these feelings and this openness you can carry them throughout the day and just realise that there

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is peace available to you. Just step back and watch the thoughts. Watch the chaos happen

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and it'll just make a huge difference.

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Thank you. I'm Steven Webb and... I've also got another podcast, Stillness in the Storms, that I bring them both

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free to help you through difficult times. Open your heart and open your mind and just find a little

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piece You

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can see different ways to support the podcast and keep it free in the comments. Take care. Bye.