Words of Others

Just like our own thoughts, the words of others come and go. Awareness allows us to distinguish that which is helpful and that which is not, and to set the latter free. So as we train the mind, we start to get a better sense of which thoughts are helpful which ones to engage with and which thoughts are unhelpful, which thoughts we let go of. But we're not always so good at doing this with the words, the thoughts of others. So we normally take these very personally. If somebody says something nice about us then we probably will like that person, will probably try to hold on to those words, those ideas. They feel quite sort of precious to us, At the same time, if someone says something unpleasant to us we may well dislike that person, and we'll probably struggle with those words. The blame might sort of be outward and we focus our attention and our dislike on the person, or we take those words away with us and we spend a lot of time thinking them over and over, perhaps feeling again sense of resistance towards that other person or even towards ourself in some cases. But the words are just that, in the same way that thoughts appear in the mind they come and go, words just come and go. It's hard to believe that we can simply hear them, and if they're not helpful, let them go. But with practice over time, we can get to a point where we no longer taking those thoughts so personally, those words, so personally and we're able to let them go. So making sure you're not gonna be disturbed for the next couple of minutes, just getting yourself comfortable, eyes open. And when you're ready, just starting with a big deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. And as you exhale, noticing how the body softens gently closing the eyes, and just feeling the weight of the body pressing down. Noticing the different sounds around you, allowing thoughts to come and go, allowing sounds to come and go, just settling into the space. And as you bring the attention back to the body, just noticing how the body feels right now, any sense of movement, stillness. And just beginning to notice the movement of breath in the body, noticing whether you fit it more in the chest or the stomach, perhaps around the diaphragm. And just following that movement without changing the breath in any way at all, just following that natural movement, noticing when the mind wanders. And then gently bringing the attention back again. And then letting go of that focus as you bring the attention back once again to that feeling of weight, of contact, starting to notice the space around you, any sounds, any smells. And when you feel ready, you can open your eyes again....