Our guest this week is Thaddaeus Washington, Mindful’s featured Teacher of the Month for October.
He brings a new experience to our meditation lineup: a music-based meditation entitled “Vapour,” where sound is the anchor for our attention. Music is the main experience in this practice, with exposition only in the first few minutes. You’re invited to simply rest, bring your whole self, and allow the music to unwind the worries of the day.
Learn more about Thaddaeus, his music, his work, and his journey with mindfulness in his featured essay here.
Thaddaeus Washington: A Music-Based Meditation for Rest & Relaxation
Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.
- Go ahead and get comfortable wherever you are. There’s an old saying that life is but a vapor, here for a moment and then gone. And if that’s true, I believe it is, then why not make the most of the time we’ve been given? Why not smile a little more? Why not practice gratitude for who we are, for who we have, what we have, right where we are?
- Some days we’re up, some days we’re down, and that’s okay. No matter where you are in life right now, no matter what you may be facing, I want to invite you to a place of peace.
- Take a slow, deep breath in. As you breathe, let go of any negative thoughts, any anxiety, any fear. You don’t need to carry them here.
- Gently scan your body. Start at the top of your head and slowly move down. Notice where you feel tension or pressure. Don’t fight it. Lean into it. Breathe into it. Let it go. Release it and yourself to focus on the good. Let good thoughts and good memories fill this space and this time.
- And if your mind starts to wander, and it will, that’s okay. Our minds are kind of built to wander. When it happens, gently come back. Come back to your breath and let the music guide you, too. Let the notes and the sounds be like a hand on your shoulder, bringing you back to this moment. Be patient with yourself, kind to yourself, because there’s so much to be thankful for. Live every day like it’s your last. Every moment like it’s your last. Love and live because life is but a vapor.
- Now just breathe and let the music take you.
