When you feel overwhelmed by anxious thoughts, it can be helpful to practice a mindfulness meditation to help ground yourself in the present moment. Mindfulness encourages awareness of the present moment that is free from judgement, expectations, and attachment. One technique that some people find helpful is to imagine your thoughts as clouds that are passing by…always shifting and moving.
Cloud Meditation
Have you ever sat, looked up at the sky, and watched as clouds drifted by? The wind sometimes fast and sometimes slow in it’s movements? The shifting shapes that are sometimes fluffy and other times dispersed into nothingness? Clouds offer us a moment to connect with the ever shifting and changing movements of nature, and of ourselves. Emotions and thoughts, like clouds, are ever evolving, ever shifting, and never quite the same. By observing clouds and wind, we can begin to connect with ourselves. Our breath, like the wind, holds the power to shift and move our clouds of thoughts and emotions.
Tara Brach offers a variety of mindfulness meditations that can be helpful during difficult moments. I recommend trying them and practicing them in moments of calm as well as moments of stress. The more you follow guided meditations, the more you will gain experience and begin to be able to create mindful moments for yourself.
The following link is a meditation by Tara Brach.
https://www.tarabrach.com/meditation-thought-clouds/
After listening to and participating in the meditation, I encourage you to take a journal and jot down your experience and reflections. What do you notice? Has anything shifted within you? What do you notice about your breath and your thoughts? Your emotions?
Mindfulness provides an opportunity to find space to observe, listen, watch, and reflect. Whether through a podcast or cloud watching, I encourage you today to allow yourself a moment to breathe, to notice, and to expand your awareness and self compassion free from attachment.