0:00 The average person has over six thousand thoughts each day.0:07 In our last time together, we invited the body to release the tensions of the day.0:17 Tonight, we can offer that same gentle release to the mind.0:25 So find a position that feels like rest.0:30 Whether you are lying down or seated, allow your body to feel supported.0:39 Let your hands rest softly.0:43 Let your eyes drift closed.0:46 Begin by noticing the gentle rhythm of your own breath.0:53 You don't need to change it in any way.0:58 Just feel the quiet rise of the inhale… and the soft release of the exhale.1:08 Each breath is an anchor… bringing you here… to this present moment.1:16 As you settle into this quiet space, you may begin to notice the activity of your mind.1:27 Thoughts may still be arriving from the day that has passed.1:35 Plans for tomorrow might appear.1:39 Memories… worries… little fragments of conversation.1:46 This is completely natural.1:49 The mind thinks, just as the heart beats.1:54 There is no need to stop it, or to judge it.2:00 Instead, we can simply change our relationship to these thoughts.2:08 Imagine you are lying in a soft field of grass, looking up at a vast, clear blue sky.2:19 This sky is your awareness.2:22 It is open… spacious… and calm.2:26 Now, as a thought arises in your mind… see it as a single, soft, white cloud appearing in your sky.2:39 Don't analyze the cloud or try to figure out its meaning.2:46 Just notice it.2:48 Notice its shape… its size.2:51 Is it small and wispy?2:54 Or large and slow-moving?2:57 As you watch this thought-cloud, allow it to just… drift.3:05 Feel a gentle breeze—perhaps the rhythm of your own breath—carrying it across the vastness of your inner sky.3:18 It appears on one side… floats gently through your awareness… and then drifts away… dissolving back into the clear blue expanse.3:35 Another thought arrives.3:38 Another cloud.3:40 Perhaps this one is a worry about tomorrow.3:45 See it take form.3:47 Acknowledge it without judgment.3:51 And then let it go.3:54 Watch it float by.3:56 You are the sky… not the cloud.4:00 You are the stillness that holds everything.4:05 Sometimes the sky might have many clouds.4:11 Other times, only one or two.4:14 Whatever is happening in your mind right now is perfectly okay.4:22 The invitation is simply to watch them pass.4:28 Resisting a thought is like trying to push a cloud away.4:35 It only creates struggle.4:38 Instead, just allow.4:41 Allow it to come… and allow it to go.4:46 Notice the moments of space between the clouds.4:52 In those moments, you can feel the deep peace of the clear blue sky itself.5:01 This quiet, spacious awareness is always here… underneath the activity of your thinking mind.5:13 Rest in that stillness.5:16 Continue this for a few more breaths.5:20 Each thought, a passing cloud.5:24 Each exhale, a gentle breeze helping it on its way.5:31 You are the quiet witness to it all.5:35 Now, let the image of the sky gently fade.5:41 Come back to the feeling of your breath in your body.5:47 The feeling of the surface beneath you.5:52 The quiet of the room around you.5:57 The mind may not be empty… but perhaps it is a little more spacious.6:05 A little more peaceful.6:08 As you drift toward sleep, carry this feeling with you.6:15 The clouds will come and go.6:19 Your peace is the sky.
