SIMPLE MEDITATION - double CD set

Those who meditate regularly seldom have difficulty in drifting off to sleep. And why? Because the basic building block of meditation is practice in letting go of one irrelevant thought after another: “not this, not this, not this.’ Each time we assert our will and let go of those thoughts which take us away from observing the breath, or the flame of a candle, or from repeating an affirmation, we have gained in mastery over the mind.

The ‘Simple Meditation’ CDs guide you into practising a range of easy techniques so you can find the one that suits you best. As you slip into meditating for 5, 10 or perhaps 20 minutes each day, sometimes more than once a day, the mind gradually learns to be the obedient servant. The more we assert this control over what thoughts we attend to, and which ones we let go of, the easier it is to relax into sleep.

What seems to happen is that meditation gives us practice in standing back from our thoughts. Each time we use our discrimination and decide, 'No. This thought I will let go of. And this one too. And this and this,’ we are distancing ourselves from our thoughts. That is, we are reminding ourselves that we are not our thoughts.

                                                       

Each time we ignore an itch or decide not to move we are awakening to the fact that we are not our bodies. And we are not our emotions. Each time we simply watch them disappear into the distance like waves on a pond. So we are not our bodies, thoughts and feelings. Who are we then? We are the ever-present Witness, the one who observes the bodily sensations, the passing thoughts and varying waves of emotion.

The more we identify with being the Witness, the less we are at the mercy of our body, mind and emotions. They become no more than images that appear for a moment on the screen of our consciousness. We get used to letting them go, even ignoring them. Sleep will then come when we turn ourselves towards that door.