The Mind-Is-Full (Full of Sh🤫it Most of the Time)
In this episode with Joe Clements shares reflections on his own experiences with mindfulness and meditation, acknowledging the ups and downs of the practice. He emphasizes the importance of cultivating awareness and compassion for oneself, especially during times of difficulty or uncertainty.
Drawing from Buddhist teachings, Joe explores the nature of the mind and offers practical techniques for finding inner peace amidst the chaos of daily life. He encourages listeners to approach their thoughts and emotions with curiosity and kindness, recognizing that true healing comes from accepting oneself fully, flaws and all; mindfulness is not about achieving perfection, but about embracing the messy, beautiful reality of being human.
A transcript of this podcast can be found below.
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The Mind-Is-Full (Full of Sh🤫it Most of the Time)
[00:00:00] Welcome to the hella meditated podcast: Welcome to the hella meditated podcast with Joe Clements.
[00:00:18] Joe Clements: How y'all doing? How y'all being? That's the question. Are you like a bee? Yeah, just being. Yeah, please. Flying like a butterfly, stinging like a bee. Nice to see you. Yeah. Yes. Cool. Alright y'all, welcome to the Thursday night Santa Cruz meditation group. My name's Joe. Glad you're here.
[00:00:53] Joe Clements: Before we get started, we, I like to start with an arriving meditation. If this is your first time, um, do a little [00:01:00] arriving meditation and then a little bit of a topic I'll get into, and we'll do a little bit longer of a meditation, usually like 25 minutes guided, and then there's time before the meditation, there's time to stretch and move, use a restroom.
[00:01:16] Joe Clements: If you ever need to use a restroom at any time, it's down the end of the hall and to the right. And then, um, there's always time for questions and reflection. So I know I'm up here. This is like the archetype, right? I'm here. You're there, but there's no bear kids here. You know, this is our group. It's not just my group.
[00:01:39] Joe Clements: So hearing your experience is super helpful, not only for yourself to express it sometimes, but for others to hear for me to hear, you know, it helps. I think it helps the group. I know it helps the group. So please share your experience, at least share your hallucination, whatever comes up in your, uh, [00:02:00] wherever you go in your wild ass mind.
[00:02:06] Joe Clements: All right. So just taking a moment to settle into your seat. You arrived, feeling the feet, temperature on the skin, hearing the sounds, looking around about your, your surroundings. Look at the room. Above you, behind you, if you accidentally make contact with your neighbor, the eyes, you can, you don't have to play look away, you can say hi.
[00:02:38] Joe Clements: In finding a place to rest your eyes if you want to leave your eyes open, or gently close your eyes,
[00:02:53] Joe Clements: and we're just noticing,
[00:02:57] Joe Clements: here we are, [00:03:00] noticing what's present,
[00:03:05] Joe Clements: where is the mind kind of stuck, or? In loop. Is it a thought? Is it a feeling that we're bringing in from the day? From the week?
[00:03:22] Joe Clements: There's nothing you need to get rid of right now.
[00:03:28] Joe Clements: We can acknowledge, of course, this feeling, this thought, the busyness of the mind itself. It's here.
[00:03:40] Joe Clements: Validated. But it's not all that's here.
[00:03:48] Joe Clements: We allow it to be here and shift our awareness to our senses. Just checking into body being here. The feet on the floor, [00:04:00] sit bones pressed into the seat, cushion,
[00:04:10] Joe Clements: the spine, these points of contact, connection, the way the air, the room is contacting your skin right now, clothes resting on the skin,
[00:04:31] Joe Clements: you notice that this breath, this dear friend, the breath, is just doing its thing, just breathing, all on its own,
[00:04:48] Joe Clements: notice it entering and exiting the body, the nose, top of the lip or the belly, the You might notice some tension in the body,[00:05:00]
[00:05:02] Joe Clements: shoulders, face, belly. See if you can invite these places to soften and arrive.
[00:05:18] Joe Clements: Expanding awareness of sounds, the different sounds in the room, outside the room. Taste and smell
[00:05:31] Joe Clements: and seeing, even with your eyes closed, shapes, colors.
[00:05:44] Joe Clements: There's a lot of causes and conditions that flavor this mind.
[00:05:59] Joe Clements: [00:06:00] Creates a mood sometimes.
[00:06:06] Joe Clements: If you remember, I don't know, I might be dating myself a little bit here, but these mood rings show the color of your mood. What's the color of your mood right now?
[00:06:26] Joe Clements: It doesn't have to be meaning, just whatever color comes to mind.
[00:06:37] Joe Clements: Letting that go and shifting the awareness back to the breath, and just end this little arriving meditation with a few deep breaths together, in through the nose, out through the mouth. And on the count of three, I invite you, so one, two, three in [00:07:00] and let it go
[00:07:06] Joe Clements: again, slowly in,
[00:07:11] Joe Clements: let it go
[00:07:15] Joe Clements: this time, really in big, expand the whole body and hold it at the top and make some noise in the out breath.
[00:07:29] Joe Clements: Nice. Just letting the breath breathe all on its own. Once again, check in with the feet, the seat, the sound.
[00:07:40] Joe Clements: I[00:08:00]
[00:08:00] Joe Clements: was just reflecting and
[00:08:06] Joe Clements: a friend, friend of the group was, uh, we kind of connected real fast out there. It's like, man, so many things within a week that happened. I was just reflecting. I'm like, you know, and it's such a blip. It's like, I feel like I was just in this seat and then just reflecting on this week. I'm like, Holy shit.
[00:08:30] Joe Clements: You know, last Friday, I thought I was on my deathbed. I thought I had a vice on my head. I didn't really think I was on my deathbed, but you know, I'm a, I'm a baby when I don't feel good. But that allergy thing turned into the sinus thing. And then I just was out this whole week, just everything draining.
[00:08:48] Joe Clements: And I finally can breathe, still got a little cough, but anyway, the things, the causes and [00:09:00] conditions, what's our relationship to it. You know, I always like to hear your voices first. So before I get into my spiel, check in question, that mood that you're coming in with today, you know, if you remember the mood rings, the colors, the mood, but just, if you could have a descriptive word for your mood right now, what would it be?
[00:09:27] Joe Clements: Go for it. Turquoise.
[00:09:36] Joe Clements: Anybody else? Just say it out loud. I don't need to pick anybody. Just Popcorn it. Blue. Turquoise and blue. Purple. Gold? Nice. Opalescence.
[00:09:57] Joe Clements: Fancy. I like it. [00:10:00] You're one of my fancy friends over there. Opalescence.
[00:10:12] Joe Clements: Black. Yeah. Hell yeah. One more time. Magenta. Green.
[00:10:32] Joe Clements: You know, it's just a playful way, playful way to describe our mood because when we're describing it, we're not in it just for a moment, right? It's just a color. It doesn't dismiss it, but it's a way of working with the mind.
[00:10:53] Joe Clements: And I feel like, you know, that's what this practice is, is retraining the mind, [00:11:00] this mind that isn't who we are, isn't our thoughts, isn't our emotions. But it can feel really fucking personal. Yeah. I feel really personal, but we got to tend to it. Can't just let this mind go. So we know where it goes. Right.
[00:11:31] Joe Clements: And, uh, side out, uh, right. You know, I was speaking with another friend about this quote and there, you know, there's some Buddhist words in here. I'm like, God, you know, it's like, I don't know if I resonate with that totally. And he's like, then don't read a Buddhist monks quote, but I'm going to. He writes, one thing you need to remember and understand, or they, they say, is that [00:12:00] you cannot leave the mind alone.
[00:12:05] Joe Clements: One thing you need to remember and understand is that you cannot leave the mind alone. It needs to be watched constantly. It's kind of hectic. If you do not look after your garden, it will overgrow with weeds. If you do not watch your mind, defilements will grow and multiply. Now, defilements, this is that word, right?
[00:12:34] Joe Clements: It's this, it's a big, heady word. The filaments are, uh, greed, hatred, delusion, dot, dot, dot. There's a whole list. So
[00:12:53] Joe Clements: how do we watch the mind instead of getting stuck in the sock of the mind? It's the hard part, right?[00:13:00]
[00:13:05] Joe Clements: And I think, and I know, I feel, I know, my experience is it begins with awareness, begins with awareness. So, you know, we call this practice mindfulness, but it's just really just awareness. I feel like it's awareness that is really the key here and where are we pointing, pointing our focus. Where we bring in our focus to, so that's why I, I really love the Buddhist tradition and these foundational tools of the first foundation of breath and body gives us these tools to bring focus to, uh, you know, like what we just did, bringing our awareness to the senses.
[00:13:49] Joe Clements: What else is here? Of course, there's thoughts, there's emotions for sure, but there's also taste, smell, seeing, touch, all the other ones, [00:14:00] there's the breath. This is what's happening. And there's a great book and I think it was up there. Somebody might have, hopefully they're still reading it, but it's called Buddha's brain.
[00:14:11] Joe Clements: And I like the way they break it down where the mind, you know, you know, I think this to be true. And I like to, cause I mean, does, does anybody have a definition for the mind that really makes sense in here? I don't know. And there might be, people could probably tell you what the mind is, but how they describe the mind.
[00:14:35] Joe Clements: And what I really resonated with with is, so our awareness. It's guides the mind. So that's why I like going to my feet a lot. I check out the feet, especially if I'm tripping, if I'm in a thought, if the mind is just kind of stuck up here, I'll check in to the furthest, furthest place in my direct experience from where the thoughts are and that are my, [00:15:00] that's my feet and I'll ask the question, are my feet tripping?
[00:15:04] Joe Clements: No, feet aren't tripping. And when I bring that awareness. To the feet. And I know some people, you know, we've had some surgery on the feet. So it might be different, but, uh, usually they're okay. Or the big toe or whatever that sends information. The mind will grab that the mind goes, okay, it's okay down there.
[00:15:25] Joe Clements: And then the mind sends information to the brain. Creates new pathways, a sense of okayness. So if the mind is on the fritz and a thought and an emotion, we're just stuck. It's just sending information to the brain. Those same stories of the past that were unsafe or big, or we're reliving it. We're stuck in the cycle.
[00:15:50] Joe Clements: So the basic awareness of bringing our awareness to the feet, the seat, the sounds of breath, it expands and it sends information. [00:16:00] And I, I think this is why the breath is focused on a lot is because it's pretty neutral for the most part, not always, not everybody's experience, but when we bring our awareness to sound, to taste, to seeing, to smell, there's a lot of opinions, right?
[00:16:22] Joe Clements: So there's another practice of letting go of those preferences, pref preferences and opinions. And that gets more into the second foundation of mindfulness. But if we can just be with the basic, just sound and notice the coming and going of sound,
[00:16:44] Joe Clements: you know, the coming and going of everything, just a direct knowing that really calms the nervous system because the awareness is guiding the mind to send information that right now it's [00:17:00] okay. And we're not living in that situation, situation circumstance that happened or may or may not happen. Cause that's usually where the thoughts are, right?
[00:17:10] Joe Clements: Past, future, past, future.
[00:17:24] Joe Clements: So in a skillful way, we can use the tools. You can use these tools that y'all have been practicing, just the basic awareness to explore the mind itself, to explore the feelings, to explore the emotions that are arising. The emotions, the big emotions that are created from the stories of our day, of our week, of our life.
[00:17:51] Joe Clements: The stories that we come in here with all the causes and conditions, you know, and that's why I like that question of what's the color of your mood [00:18:00] because it's the causes and conditions that create this mood, right?
[00:18:10] Joe Clements: And this is where a transformative piece for me is getting to know my emotions in a different way, getting to know the thoughts and feelings in a different way, not getting rid of. It was a huge wake up call for me about this practice. I'm like, shit, I thought I'd get rid of all this shit that I don't want to be with.
[00:18:34] Joe Clements: But we can use these tools, the awareness first, to find what else is here to calm the nervous system, expand our awareness, get the mind unstuck a little bit.
[00:18:51] Joe Clements: And kindness ,and generosity is what arises. Compassion. It's a huge act of kindness to do that for yourself. [00:19:00] It's a huge, generous act. Me and Matt, we're talking about the topic. Matt does all our social media and on Monday we'll go, what's our topic this week? And I'm like, fuck, I don't even know what I barely know an hour before.
[00:19:18] Joe Clements: Sometimes I'm like generosity because you're so generous. It's just like popped in my mind, generosity, but this practice is a very generous practice towards yourself, giving yourself this time and space just to be, and it's a radical act of kindness. So you're practicing that by just coming, just being here.
[00:19:42] Joe Clements: So coming back to this, this mind itself, like, you know, I'm, I'm visual. I'm like, I need to picture this stuff to really like embody it. And for me, maybe this will work for you. But I picture the mind of more of like a scanner or even like a lighthouse. The light, [00:20:00] you know, just kind of should be in flow. It should just be noticing and sending information.
[00:20:05] Joe Clements: Okay. There's shipping out there, you know, whatever the cliffs are close, you know, but we come into these, uh, these groups or, you know, the things we do to want to feel better. The mind just kind of the, the scanner or the, the lighthouse just kind of. On the fritz, glitching, glitching, glitching here, feelings, glitching here, thoughts.
[00:20:35] Joe Clements: You know, painfully aware.
[00:20:43] Joe Clements: So when we shift our awareness to our senses and what's here in this moment, it greases the gears a little bit. Even if just for a moment, you check in with the seat, the sounds, okay. And then I'll go, yeah, but remember, but yeah, we got to do [00:21:00] like, okay, yes, totally. But not right now. We got to constantly remind ourself that right now it's like this, nowhere to go, nothing to do.
[00:21:08] Joe Clements: No one we need to be or become right now. It's hard. It's a training.
[00:21:16] Joe Clements: When we can do this, when we begin to do this, when the mind calms, because it will on its own, you know, then we can turn towards, this is this contemplative part of the practice. You can turn towards like, or just not even turn towards, just, just notice if that repetitive thoughts here, cause you'll notice probably, and you probably have noticed that most of the thoughts are just thought they're just random, but then there's those ones that have a hook.
[00:21:46] Joe Clements: It's like, Oh, you know, and then we're ruminating on it, chewing on it.
[00:21:56] Joe Clements: But when I say turn towards, [00:22:00] we just notice where it's stuck, where it's, where is it hooked? No. Is it a unpleasant memory?
[00:22:11] Joe Clements: Is it something that is big to come that you don't just uncertainty, just know, even if it's a, you know, a hopeful thing that may or may not happen, like just notice what that feels like, or a joyful memory, bring it back to your experience.
[00:22:34] Joe Clements: And what I found really helpful is to let go of the story of why I feel this way. And get into what am I feeling? Where do I feel it?
[00:22:47] Joe Clements: This whole learning how to feel better. By learning how to feel.
[00:22:58] Joe Clements: It's like, for me, and [00:23:00] it's hard because I still get caught up in thoughts. I still get caught up in the why. But I know when I practice, like, Oh, there's, here's that pit. Okay. You know, and I can either sometimes just be with it or just see the edges of it. There it is. Okay. I'm not, I don't have the capacity to be totally with it right now.
[00:23:22] Joe Clements: So I'll bring my awareness to the feet. Something I see maybe a movement. You don't have to bear down on it and get rid of it because that's not what it's asking for. But just for a moment, can you touch into the felt sense? Of that thought, that emotion, the felt sense is we know it, right? There's a tightening.
[00:23:44] Joe Clements: There's a swirling. There's some kind of energy going on the chest, the belly, the throat, this whole emotional stem that runs from our brain. It's down into our throat, [00:24:00] chest or belly.
[00:24:04] Joe Clements: And if you can, if you have the capacity to explore, just be with the texture. What is it? What is the texture? Is it tight? Is it tingly? Is there a weight to it? Just sometimes just naming it will tame it sometimes just name it, but the key is to be curious, just curious and kind, curious and kind, not trying to get rid of.
[00:24:28] Joe Clements: And if it's just too much, you don't need to get stuck in it. You know, I like to think of it like a yoga pose. Anybody do yoga. Cool. So my experience with yoga is I just thought it was a stretch and I kept fucking up my back. Every time until I had a very. Kind yoga teacher goes, yo, you're very limber, but what are you doing?
[00:24:52] Joe Clements: I'm like, I'm just, I can, I can do this, you know, like now go right to where the tension is. Yeah. Is that right? [00:25:00] And just hold it for a moment and then come out and the next time maybe a little bit deeper if you can. Yeah. Is that right? That was super. Yeah. That was super helpful for me. It didn't hurt my back anymore.
[00:25:14] Joe Clements: So think of that when you're dealing, doing, not doing, but just exploring these emotions. Touch the edges. See if you can be with it for a moment. Cool. If not, turn your awareness to something else. Even gratitude is a great place to go to. Something that brings you joy. If you want. If nothing in your direct experience is feeling settled.
[00:25:39] Joe Clements: So we learned that this mind can be an ally as well. It's a great thing to have. It's where imagination comes from. It's where everything comes. It's where experiencing joy comes from the mind, right? The mind knows that, you know, when I hug my kid Echo, you know, the mind goes, Oh, this is awesome. [00:26:00] They don't wanna hold on.
[00:26:02] Joe Clements: And they're 13. They're like, what Dad? What the
[00:26:13] Joe Clements: So this can be done in your formal practice. You know, I like a formal practice. 'cause we, we can create, we can create a container for ourself. Give us ourselves some time. It's hard to do in the , the practical world sometimes, you know, it's just like so overwhelming. But it can be practiced. Not in the practical world or in the relative world out there, you know, it can be done, but just by throughout your day, just checking in, notice, notice if I'm kind of swirling, can you feel into your feet, feel the temperature on your skin, take a breath, check in with yourself.
[00:26:54] Joe Clements: Ooh, something going on right here. Big heaviness or [00:27:00] super light and floaty and airy today. What was your, your color of your mood? Yeah, it's opalescence right now. Beautiful. Let yourself experience that.
[00:27:18] Joe Clements: And remember, it's a huge, I refer to this as a practice, it's a practice. A training, a retraining of the mind. Not,
[00:27:31] Joe Clements: not to get good at, right? But to get more curious with.
[00:27:41] Joe Clements: Nick, a yoga teacher posted something that said, uh, practice makes progress like that. And that's what I found with this. It's just a practice. We're going to find ourselves stuck a lot, but the more we know that we're stuck, that's the moment of awakening. Oh, I'm stuck. [00:28:00] That's the moment to shift the awareness.
[00:28:02] Joe Clements: We can shift our awareness.
[00:28:09] Joe Clements: So pausing the story of why just for a moment, we know why, right? We know the why. And it's good to know the why. But we don't need to get into the context of it. What am I feeling? Where do I feel it?
[00:28:32] Joe Clements: You know, we can, we can see that these emotions, these feelings aren't who we are. But we identify with them. And some of these feelings and these emotions and these, These kind of archetypes that kind of show up a lot of times, these parts of ourselves that we think are unskillful, or we just don't want to have anymore, maybe served a purpose at one time.
[00:28:56] Joe Clements: You know, maybe they, they served a purpose [00:29:00] at one time. The worry of what you think about me served a purpose at one time. So I don't need to hate it. I can deep bow. Thank you.
[00:29:16] Joe Clements: Because it's still going to be here. It's an imprint. You can just think about how many different, different mind worlds do we, uh, do we experience from one hour to the next, really? So why would we take it so personal? We're happy, we're sad, we're bored, fearful, calm.
[00:29:38] Joe Clements: But as we contemplate these, these sensations, as they rise and pass,
[00:29:48] Joe Clements: we begin to free ourselves from identifying as them. We're not free of them or free, free or from them. And [00:30:00] the reactions that stem from them. Yeah. The behaviors that stem from them more board. I don't want to be bored when I'm in fear. I don't want to feel fear,
[00:30:13] Joe Clements: but I feel like the more we get to know him, we could get to know that that's not who I am. I am not that, and to really know who we are underneath all of it, we got to know who we're not first. I am not fear. I'm not anger. I am not bored. I experienced those things. It's huge. It's a huge difference.
[00:30:36] Joe Clements: Doesn't mean that we don't get to experience. These feelings, these emotions,
[00:30:44] Joe Clements: but we personalize them so much. I am, I am, I am.
[00:30:57] Joe Clements: We can, we can start to notice it's [00:31:00] contemplating piece of this practice is this mindfulness of the mind. Third foundation.
[00:31:12] Joe Clements: Be curious. The mind is like this right now. The mind is stirred up. Mind is stuck. This emotion is here.
[00:31:27] Joe Clements: And, you know,
[00:31:30] Joe Clements: truly believe that, that y'all deserve. This attention, you deserve your own attention because I know, I know, I know everybody in here. I know a lot of people in here, but I've seen your kindness and it's probably very easy to be kind to others. Yeah. That maybe even are going through something similar that you might be feeling, but when it comes to ourselves, it's, it's really hard.
[00:31:58] Joe Clements: We're not deserving, I guess, for [00:32:00] our attention, our kindness, our love, but you totally are worthy. Totally.
[00:32:13] Joe Clements: Love this quote. And I'm just going to say it every time, my boy, Jeff Foster, your pain, your sorrow, your doubts, your deepest longings, your fearful thoughts are not mistakes and they aren't asking to be healed. That's a huge thing. They're not asking to be healed. They're asking to be held, here, now, lightly, in the loving arms of present awareness.
[00:32:53] Joe Clements: You know, in the loving arms of present awareness. Maybe. [00:33:00] Ideally.
[00:33:07] Joe Clements: But you know, you all are doing great. I hope you believe that doing better definitely doing better than what your mind's telling you're doing You know how many killer netflix series are on right now That you could be watching but you are here at the vets hall upstairs listening to tango music And some dude with a beanie and a weird sweatshirt on Talk about the mind didn't know what the hell he's talking about
[00:33:45] Joe Clements: My experience y'all my experience And this is, practice is your experience. So whatever comes up for you tonight is something just to work with, to be with, to [00:34:00] notice. Maybe you can tap into it a little bit and rest in that yoga pose and then just bring the awareness away. But be curious, watch it move.
[00:34:11] Joe Clements: See if you notice the swirling, the tightening. Maybe it moves if we give it room, might not go away. Maybe it doesn't need to go away. Maybe it just wants to move, wants some space. That's
[00:34:31] Joe Clements: my inspirational talk for our practice. And we'll practice this tonight a little bit. And again, everything I offer is not a demand. You know? So you don't even have to, I hope you don't demand it on yourself. You need to totally follow along.
[00:34:56] Joe Clements: We'll practice a little bit of this mindfulness mind. I'll offer this practice. [00:35:00] Um, and if that works for you, cool. If not, you know, the first foundation, feet, seat, sounds, breath, open your eyes, look around, walk around. If you need to take care of yourself. Cool. Right. So we're going to take a little, like a couple minutes stretch break.
[00:35:23] Joe Clements: I would invite you to introduce yourself maybe to someone you don't know in the room and then use the restroom if you need to and get some tea, if you want, get comfortable, get some more cushions. If you want to lay down, you can do that. And I'll ring the bell in about a minute here. All
[00:35:39] Joe Clements: right,
[00:35:50] Joe Clements: let's see. What's up with this squirrely little mind, this little rascal, the mind just[00:36:00]
[00:36:04] Joe Clements: to normalize. Maybe your experience, the practice is called mind full mess. Not mind less ness, you know, there might be a reason for that mind is usually full. You're anything like me. It's full of shit. Most of the time, thoughts, emotions, feelings, sensations. Okay.
[00:36:34] Joe Clements: So again, just shifting your awareness from outer to inner awareness gently.
[00:36:48] Joe Clements: The invitation is
[00:36:55] Joe Clements: to shift your awareness to what feels [00:37:00] Okay. Right now are good enough, uh, leaving your eyes open feels the most supportive right now, leave your eyes open, find something to rest your eyes, rest your gaze.
[00:37:28] Joe Clements: We're letting go right now. Letting go, trying,
[00:37:38] Joe Clements: right? Don't need to try. We just need to see, taste, smell,
[00:37:54] Joe Clements: just notice.[00:38:00]
[00:38:01] Joe Clements: You could be gentle. If there's some trying, of course, get this right, the shit to work,
[00:38:14] Joe Clements: but also, I don't know about you, but I've never been, I've never mellowed out by being told I need to mellow out.
[00:38:26] Joe Clements: So remember that with the mind.
[00:38:34] Joe Clements: Treat it like a small child right now that has a lot of energy, maybe. It's a little scared,
[00:38:49] Joe Clements: worried.[00:39:00]
[00:39:02] Joe Clements: Just shifting your awareness to a place in your direct experience that just feels good enough to rest. Could be the breath, could be the sounds, could be the way the body is sitting or laying down.
[00:39:26] Joe Clements: This is your place to come home to. Just return to, if only for a moment. And you notice the mind getting caught in a story, right now, you can just let that go and maybe just return to your anchor. The feet, the seat, the sounds, something you see,
[00:39:57] Joe Clements: you have choice in the matter.[00:40:00]
[00:40:20] Joe Clements: And if and when you get caught up in that story, you find yourself drifting off.
[00:40:30] Joe Clements: It's not a mistake. It doesn't mean that you're doing this practice wrong. It's actually an opportunity. It's the practice itself, to be aware that, oh, this thought, plan, memory, and then gently return. Feed, seed, the sounds, breath, and
[00:40:57] Joe Clements: rest.[00:41:00]
[00:41:01] Joe Clements: Nowhere to go. Nothing
[00:41:06] Joe Clements: you need to do. No
[00:41:10] Joe Clements: one you need to be or become. Not
[00:41:16] Joe Clements: in this moment.
[00:41:23] Joe Clements: Right now, it's like this. Sounds are like this,
[00:41:33] Joe Clements: the breath is like this,
[00:41:41] Joe Clements: sensations in the body feel like this,
[00:41:51] Joe Clements: thoughts, emotions are like this.
[00:41:57] Joe Clements: It all comes and goes if we allow it.[00:42:00]
[00:42:07] Joe Clements: Every distraction is only a distraction if we put a story to why it's a distraction.
[00:42:18] Joe Clements: Sound comes and goes.
[00:42:24] Joe Clements: Breath comes in, goes out. Feelings rise and pass. Emotions,
[00:42:34] Joe Clements: thoughts come and go.
[00:42:41] Joe Clements: We get to rest.[00:43:00] [00:44:00]
[00:44:24] Joe Clements: You can notice these flavors in the mind, or
[00:44:31] Joe Clements: experience. Some sensations are pleasant, some are unpleasant. Some are neutral.
[00:44:44] Joe Clements: Parts of our experience,
[00:44:50] Joe Clements: like, dislike, some are in between.[00:45:00]
[00:45:00] Joe Clements: We notice when the pushing away or trying to grasp to one experience or another, you release the grip.
[00:45:25] Joe Clements: Pushing, trying, just be.[00:46:00]
[00:46:09] Joe Clements: Remembering your place to come home to. Feed, the seed, the sounds, the breath.
[00:46:20] Joe Clements: Allowing the mind to rest.
[00:46:25] Joe Clements: Just for a moment, if only for a moment, before the next thought takes you somewhere else, the next opportunity to wake up, return.[00:47:00]
[00:47:04] Joe Clements: Notice that these thoughts, they have that same flavor, wanting, not wanting, or just random. Same with the feelings, name it.
[00:47:24] Joe Clements: Take note and let it go, let it be.[00:48:00]
[00:48:03] Joe Clements: If there is a reoccurring thought or feeling that keeps arising that is attached to a story, you can even practice this mindfulness of the mind, this curiosity of letting go of the story for a moment, pausing, just asking yourself what you're feeling right now. Maybe, where you're feeling this, is this a sensation somewhere?
[00:48:35] Joe Clements: Is there a tightening, a swirling?
[00:48:40] Joe Clements: Is it okay to be with it right now? If it's not, that's okay. Shift your awareness to what feels okay. There's nothing to figure out or do, just noticing, being curious. [00:49:00] Be kind.
[00:49:10] Joe Clements: Does the sensation need some attention? What is it asking? Does it just need a hand to rest wherever you feel that sensation? Maybe putting a hand there. The heart, the chest, the belly.
[00:49:35] Joe Clements: Be curious. Does it move? Sensations change.
[00:49:43] Joe Clements: You keep getting caught up in the story. That's okay. Letting go. Coming back.
[00:49:57] Joe Clements: You have choice.[00:50:00]
[00:50:01] Joe Clements: Rest with this as much as you can, that yoga pose, and just come out of it whenever you need. Maybe next time you can go a little deeper, but meet yourself right where you're at.
[00:50:17] Joe Clements: When I use the word embrace, I
[00:50:22] Joe Clements: mean a warm embrace, not a headlock, a bearing down. It's too much. Look to see what else is here. The feet, the seat, the sounds, the breath.
[00:50:55] Joe Clements: Remembering that this feeling, this sensation, [00:51:00] isn't asking to be healed or fixed, just asking to be seen and held gently.
[00:51:56] Joe Clements: Meet yourself right at the level of experience that you're at right [00:52:00] now,
[00:52:04] Joe Clements: and if you don't notice anything, that's okay too.
[00:52:11] Joe Clements: If it's all just story, of course, this is a new practice maybe.
[00:52:20] Joe Clements: Just being curious
[00:52:27] Joe Clements: to see your truth. Beyond all this story,
[00:52:34] Joe Clements: I guarantee you that this truth is already cultivating this kindness, this kindness of your heart, just by walking through the door today, tonight, showing up for yourself in a new way, even if you don't feel this kindness, this compassion. It's here.[00:53:00]
[00:53:04] Joe Clements: You just need to pay attention a little bit.
[00:53:17] Joe Clements: Thought is a thought. Nothing more than that.
[00:53:25] Joe Clements: Feeling is a sensation. It's rising, passing.
[00:53:36] Joe Clements: It's an experience.[00:54:00]
[00:54:16] Joe Clements: And if there's joy, we're rising. If there's a sense of well being, we're rising. Even let go of that story of why you may be experiencing this and just feel into the experience. What does that feel like? That has a sensation. You
[00:54:40] Joe Clements: can learn to appreciate the joy, the happiness as it arises without clinging.
[00:54:51] Joe Clements: It's an experience. All these experiences are fleeting. The joys, the sorrows.[00:55:00]
[00:55:18] Joe Clements: And it's not to dismiss the way you feel,
[00:55:30] Joe Clements: but it's to greet the way you feel with Kindness, compassion, wisdom, the attention that you deserve to
[00:55:48] Joe Clements: hold yourself right now, gently, lightly, let go of any doing,
[00:55:58] Joe Clements: just allow yourself [00:56:00] to rest,[00:57:00]
[00:57:58] Joe Clements: softening deeper [00:58:00] to the goodness, the goodness that is you,
[00:58:08] Joe Clements: beyond the stories, beyond the sensations. There's a truth waiting.
[00:58:23] Joe Clements: There's a goodness that is here.[00:59:00]
[00:59:12] Joe Clements: There's a breath. Breathe. The body rests all on its own.
[00:59:32] Joe Clements: Your awareness is the guide. The mind will follow.
[00:59:43] Joe Clements: In these last few moments of our practice, our formal practice together,
[00:59:52] Joe Clements: I invite you to the final letting go, trying, [01:00:00] getting it right, and just allow for the body needs to move.
[01:00:09] Joe Clements: The eyes want to open.
[01:00:15] Joe Clements: If you just want to rest in these last few moments before the bell rings, The spell doesn't need to be an indication of the end of something, but maybe just the beginning of something,
[01:00:31] Joe Clements: the beginning of a shift, an experience, the beginning of a relationship,
[01:00:42] Joe Clements: your deepest [01:01:00] [01:02:00] truth.
[01:02:00] Joe Clements: All right, so we'll end with the offering of merit which in the buddhist tradition is that we Practice not only for our well being but for the the well being of all beings.
[01:02:15] Joe Clements: I always well being being being Being there's a lot of bing bings in there. So just taking a moment I like to take a moment to just reflect on our practice tonight reflect on coming into the door Reflect on what you're coming in with the
[01:02:37] Joe Clements: connection the talk your practice reflect on any goodness that you may be leaving with
[01:02:51] Joe Clements: Let this goodness sink in to the marrow of your being. It's well deserved. You're doing the work. But then also let it ripple [01:03:00] out.
[01:03:04] Joe Clements: Let this goodness be for the benefit of all beings.
[01:03:11] Joe Clements: May all beings be at peace. May all beings be at ease.
[01:03:21] Joe Clements: May all beings be free from suffering.
[01:03:38] Joe Clements: Thanks, y'all. See you in another dream.
[01:03:44] Thanks for listening to the Hella Meditated Podcast. Please subscribe, rate, and review. Stay up, stay true, be you.