Stilling the mind: Freedom from worry (15 minute meditation)

Stilling the Mind 15-minute guided mindfulness meditation. Philippians 4-6 Do not worry about anything. But sometimes even after we've presented our requests to God in prayer, our minds continue to pick at worrying thoughts. They cycle around and around and we feel trapped in cyclical thinking. Sometimes it's an unpleasant memory, fears for the future, worries about the present. Whatever it is, when the mind continues to pick at thoughts over and over, we can feel trapped inside our head, unable to be fully present. This meditation focuses on developing freedom from overly active thought processes, helping to develop greater ability to be in the present moment. Let's come into stillness. Find a comfortable position. Take a moment to allow your body to find a place of rest and ease. Take a slow, deep breath. Hold for a short time. Then exhale. If you're feeling any tension, imagine that it is leaving your body with the exhale. Inhale again and hold. Then exhale. Once more, feeling tension leave your body. Deeply inhale. Drinking in this fresh new breath of life. Holding it. Then exhaling. Feel your body relax deeply with the exhale. Now return to your normal breath. Take your attention fully to noticing your breath. Not trying to control or force it to be anything other than your gentle resting breath. Notice the way you experience each breath. Perhaps you will notice the feeling of air at your nostrils, the cool rush of the inhale, the warmth of the exhale. Feel the air swirl in your nasal cavity, noticing the change in temperature as you change from inhale to exhale. Notice the rise and fall of your chest and abdomen and the way your ribs expand and contract with each breath. Savor the beautiful stillness of this time of rest and refreshment where your body and mind can simply be. Savor each breath. Savor this moment of stillness. A moment alone with God. Widen your attention to a sense of your whole body sitting or lying in this space. With each inhale, feel your whole body receive this breath of life. Feel your heart beating. The life coursing through your veins. Bring your attention to the surface that you are sitting or lying on and where you feel your body touching that surface. Bring your attention fully to a sense of your whole being simply as you are right in this moment. Reflect on how good it is to be still. Use this time to revel in it and then tune in to that beautiful knowledge that he is with you. You are being still with the Lord. His presence is here. How good it is to simply be in his presence. Continue tuning into your breath and to the awareness with each breath of his presence. And should you find your mind begins to wander, bring your attention fully back to your breath and the sense of your whole body receiving this breath. Bring your attention to the very real physical sensations you can feel in this moment. Then bring your awareness to the knowledge that you are in God's presence. Enjoying every breath. Calmly noticing the sensations you are experiencing. Marveling at minute sensations and changes in the body as each breath flows in and out of your body. Noticing physical sensations and bringing the mind back to the breath and this moment the present, we are going to bring our attention back to our thoughts. Up until this point, at each moment when you have become aware of your mind beginning to wander, you have been encouraged to return your focus back to the breath. This time we are going to try something different. We are going to maintain our focus on simply sitting in the present moment but with an awareness of watching our mind. You are not your thoughts. You are separate to them and we are watching. Gently mastering the activity of the mind rather than being swept along or caught up by the mind. Second Corinthians 10 5 says we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. Sometimes the first part of that scripture is the hardest. Taking captive Sometimes we feel the captive of our thoughts. And so now as you quietly sit in stillness, let's adopt the attitude of a silent watcher sitting in wait for thoughts to arise. And as they do so, we avoid becoming absorbed in these thoughts. Instead, imagine yourself taking that thought gently, lightly in your hands and offering it up to God. Regardless of whether the thoughts are negative or positive, use this time to become simply aware of the chatter of the mind and of your ability to take captive or gain authority over the mind and to offer each thought up to God in exchange for his stillness and resting in awareness. This authority is not harsh but gentle and filled with ease. So let's spend the next minute practicing this skill. When a thought or image arises in your mind, simply observe that it has arisen. Then without judgment or self-criticism, offer it up to God. And with the exhale, let it go and return to a restful state. Resting in awareness and stillness, being fully present in your body and in this space, free from the chatter of your mind. You will undoubtedly have to repeat this process over and over as the mind begins to return to worries, thoughts or plans. Simply and calmly repeat the process for each thought, image or mental event that arises, offering them up to God for now and returning to stillness and calm awareness. Beautiful is a most incredible gift and there is certainly nothing wrong with it but it is equally wonderful to be able to have mastery over the chatter of our minds, to be able to come into a place of mental stillness in God's presence. The music will continue until the end of this meditation. I invite you to continue this process of calm awareness, silently watching as thoughts arise, gently becoming aware of them and then offering them up to God in order to return to stillness, to the breath and to his presence.