Module 14: Episode 5 - Air Element #3 - Observing Thoughts as Sensations
Module 14: Episode 5 - Air Element #3 - Observing Thoughts as Sensations
Embodied Mindfulness Meditation
Module 14: Episode 5 - Air Element #3 - Observing Thoughts as Sensations
Dina Asher Kusnir
The central guidance is to observe thoughts arising in the mind without judgment, criticism, or engagement — and instead of following a thought's content, to notice how it feels in the body. Key points:
· Thinking is not "you" — it can be witnessed with compassionate equanimity
· Each thought carries an energy that produces a bodily response: contraction, expansion, trembling, ease, or pleasure
· The practice is to anchor in body/breath sensation and let thoughts arise and pass, simply noting their physical effect (e.g., faster breath, tension, warmth) without interpretation or story
· This applies equally to "positive," "negative," neutral, angry, or sad thoughts — all are simply observed as energy/vibration in the body
Applied Exercise — Choosing a Soothing Thought:
As an experiment, you are invited to intentionally generate a calming thought (e.g., "may you be free of suffering, “may I know joy today") and notice the felt sensation — breath softening, tension releasing — illustrating that we can consciously use thought to shift from a stress response into relaxation.
Theme: Treating thoughts as energetic events to be felt in the body rather than analyzed or judged — using present-moment bodily awareness as the bridge between mental activity and nervous-system regulation, and demonstrating that consciously chosen thoughts can be used as tools for self-soothing.
Click here to support the show.
Visit Dina's website, oliveoasis.com, to learn more about her work and her sanctuary in upstate New York.
Click Here to Sign up for Dina's newsletter to receive meditations in your inbox every Wednesday.