First Move

Observing Yourself Through Meditation

1:  Prepare to meditate. Find a quiet place to meditate that’s free of noise and other distractions. Designate a time that you can dedicate to meditation without thinking of other tasks or necessities.

Sit comfortably on a cushion or chair. Play soothing music or white noise sounds if it helps you free your mind. Close your eyes or leave them open, depending on whichever better helps you focus.

Control your breathing by counting to four as you breath inward, holding for a count of two, then counting to four again as you exhale.

2:  Ponder your any part of your body. As you put yourself in a meditative state, try to open your mind to objectively. Visualize your actions and thoughts as if you were a detached observer. Open yourself to self truths you might be keeping yourself from discovering.

Ask yourself, “Do I have any unrealistic expectations of myself, or of my thoughts and actions?” As you breath, visualize your self-expectations melted away with each breath.

As each layer of expectations melt away, imagine the self truths left behind with each passing layer of your self-representations. Ask, “What thoughts, values, and experiences are left behind as I peel away the various ways that I show myself to the world?”

3: Become your own inner witness. Focus on an individual thought, emotion, or action. Try letting your mind wander, and as your mind generates random thoughts, follow them rather than react to them. Observe your own stream of consciousness as if you were an outsider looking within your mind, then guide yourself back to your silent meditation.

Ask, “What is this thought or series of thoughts, and why does my mind conjure it? What does it mean that my mind drifts into this stream of consciousness?”