‘Mind in the Clouds’ Meditation
published June 12, 2024
Photo by Billy Huynh on Unsplash
by Gabriel Constans, PhD, from his book A B.R.A.V.E. New Year: 52 Weeks of Being Mindful
Our consciousness is like the sky. Clouds, storms, rain, planes, birds, and countless other objects make their way through space, without the sky believing these materials and living things are the sky itself. There is room for everything to come and go. Awareness is like the sky. Our senses, thoughts and experiences are like the weather that comes and goes, neither permanent nor who we are.
Let the body relax and the eyes close.
Sit comfortably.
Feel the touch of the air surrounding the body on the skin.
Be aware of the air as it enters the body.
The air we breathe is the same air that is in the sky.
The air we breathe is the same air that is blown, like clouds, by the wind.
The air we breathe moves, changes, and comes and goes, of its own accord.
Sensations, emotions and thoughts are similar to air and clouds in the sky. They come into being by internal and external factors, conditioning and circumstances, and dissipate, or blow away.
Let the mind be an open sky and thoughts be clouds.
When a thought enters awareness, notice when it is there, what shape it takes, and where it goes.
No need to try to change the thought cloud, or blow it away. It comes and goes at its own pace.
If you find you have been drifting on some thought clouds unaware, than the moment you realize it, you are once again the sky of awareness.
There is no other place to be. There is nothing else to do. Just sit and watch the thoughts come and go.
Slowly, bring attention back to the breath - the same air that is in the sky.
Be aware of the air, as it enters the body.
Feel the touch of the air surrounding the body on the skin.
Open the eyes slowly. Whenever life feels confined, or closed in, remember the sky, the consciousness within which the clouds of thought come and go.
Excerpted from A B.R.A.V.E. New Year: 52 Weeks of Being Mindful © Gabriel Constans, 2021. Used with permission. www.gogabriel.com
A B.R.A.V.E Year: 52 Weeks Being Mindful is available in both print and audio versions. You can listen to a free sample of the book at Audible.com (narrated by Susanna Burney).
About the Author
Gabriel Constans, PhD, has worked in the fields of mindfulness and mental health for 40 years. For the past decade, he’s taught in prisons, jails, and detention centers in California.
Dr. Constans is the author of several books, including Grief Your Way: Living with Loss, Being Mindful: Exercises for Your Health, and A B.R.A.V.E. Year: 52 Weeks of Being Mindful.
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