When you feel stuck being the person you have always been
Position
Sitting, eyes closed or gaze softened
Style
Watching the breath in detail, then one question. Music underneath
Who is doing the observing? There is no answer, and the more confused you get, the closer you probably are.
About 13 minutes with Steven Webb's calm voice.
We watch the breath in real detail. The start of it, the speeding up, the pause where it changes direction. Then I ask who is watching, and you go looking, and there is nobody there to find. From that place there is no wanting, no pushing and no fear. Everything else comes out of it, which means you are not stuck being who you have always been.
Treat me to a coffee, keep the podcast free, and get my Weekly Calm every Sunday. It is all on stevenwebb.uk
Thank you for sitting with me.
Steven
Who this is for
You have decided you are a certain sort of person and it has started to feel like a sentence.
This is the deepest one on the feed and the least decorated. No garden, no forest. Just the breath, and then a question with no answer.
What happens in this meditation
First, move your sense of yourself from behind your eyes down into your chest.
Then watch the breath in real detail, which is more interesting than it sounds. Not just in and out. The start of it, the way it speeds up and then slows, the pause where it changes direction, and the fact that no two are identical.
Notice that breathing in is something the body does, and breathing out is something it allows.
Then the question. You are watching your breath, so who is doing the watching?
You go looking, and there is nobody to find.
That is not a failure. The confusion is the answer, and the more lost you feel the closer you probably are.
How to get the most from it
Thirteen minutes, and it rewards being done more than once.
Do not try to answer the question. Sitting in the not knowing is the practice, and reaching for a clever answer is how you leave it.
Notice what is absent while you are down there. No wanting. No pushing anything away. No fear. That absence is the point.
Questions people ask
What am I supposed to find?
Nothing, and that is not a trick. You cannot see the observer because you are the observer. What you get instead is a few seconds of noticing you are not the contents of your head.
Why does that matter?
Because everything you take to be you, the opinions and habits and reactions, arises from that place rather than being it. Which means you are not stuck with any of them, and that is where the infinite possibilities in the title come from.
Is this too advanced if I am new to meditating?
It is plainer than most and stranger than most. If it does nothing for you today, use the breath watching on its own, which is worth the thirteen minutes by itself, and come back to the question another time.
Read along
The transcript
It follows the audio. Press any line to jump there.
self-worth · breath · mindfulness · purpose
Read the transcript
Just while you're making yourself comfortable and getting settled in, I just want to tell you about another podcast I
have. It's called Stillness in the Storms Podcast.
And it's a podcast that helps you to get a little inner peace when you need it most and you
probably have it least.
And it's just... Seeing life from a different perspective. And I'm also choosing not to have any
sponsors for either of these podcasts. So if you would like to treat me to a coffee, you can head
over to StevenWebb.uk or if you'd like to download the five simple practices for inner peace, also head
over to StevenWebb.uk. You are awesome. Settle in and enjoy the meditation. I won't disturb you
after the meditation.
Discover the infinite possibilities of your true self meditation. This meditation will help you to find
some clarity between your awareness and your ego. By bringing clarity to the difference it will enable you to become
less attached to your ego, the desires and aversions, the suffering and enjoy being more of what you want to
be as opposed to what you become accustomed to thinking you are.
First we'll sit back and relax and become grounded. Then, when we become still open and curious, I will ask
you a few questions. This will help you to see and discover your true self. The awareness beyond this um
false self, really. It will seem a little confusing, certainly at first. And there won't be any clear answers.
And the more confused you are means you're probably closer to the realisation of the true self than
you really realise. So let's begin. Let's become comfortable. You can choose to
close your eyes or soften your focus to a few feet in front of you
and just become aware of a sense of where you are in
the upper part of your mind, in the area just behind your eyes.
And as you soften this sense of self, imagine it moving down through your body, going down through
your mind, down through your neck, and finally resting in your spiritual centre. It's probably around
your chest and your heart area. It may be a little lower.
And from this sense of awareness, just observe your breathing.
Don't do anything with your breath. Just become aware of all the individual parts of each breath.
Notice the start of the breath. Just after you started, it speeds up and then slows down. And then it
pauses and changes direction. And then speeds up again and then slows down. And pauses again.
And your breath seems to repeat again and again. But really, every single breath is slightly minutely different.
Just watching for those real minute differences in each breath.
Just observing.
You may notice the air going into your nose. You may feel it in the back of your mouth or
your throat somewhere. You
may notice the chest rising slightly and your diaphragm moves, pulling the air into your lungs.
And on the out breath, the opposite happens. But instead of something you do, it is more something your body
just allows to happen.
As you breathe in, something the body has to do. And as you breathe out is something the body just
allows to relax and happen.
And as we sit observing the breath for the next couple of minutes, breathing in calm, breathing out relaxed.
If you notice your mind's wandering, if it goes into story or thought you know just smile and thank you
for the thought and bring it back to your breath you know This is what the mind does. This is
what it evolved to do. It's important that we don't get frustrated or hung up on the mind getting
distracted. Just allow the mind to do what it does and bring it and bring your awareness back to your
breath.
Breathing in calm, breathing out relax
And now get a sense that you're watching your breath. Observing not has been part of the breath but simply
you're aware watching your breath like a silent observer of your breath.
Who is doing the observing?
Who is the one aware?
Who are you at this depth of awareness?
Who is aware of the breath?
It might seem confusing and there's really no real answer here
might feel like you're looking for an answer and nothing's there.
That's perfect. That's exactly the answer. There is really not knowing you You cannot know who
the observer is, who the awareness is. Because
you are this awareness.
From this depth, from this pure awareness, there is just awareness.
There's nowhere else for you to go. You're just watching.
You may notice there's no desires or wanting. There's no pushing or grasping from this step
There's no feelings of emotions arising. There's no fear.
When you're just purely awareness, there's no desires, wanting, there's no pushing or grabbing. There's
no feelings of emotions arising. There's no fear.
Even when you ask the question, who am I at this step? There's just awareness.
And deep within us, deep within you, there's this pure awareness that
just observes and watches, untouched, completely calm. Like a stillness beyond the
normal stillness.
And it's from this place that everything arises.
It's from this place of pure awareness. That all the feelings, emotions and thoughts. Everything you
believe you are arises from this pure oneness. This pure awareness.
Sometimes we wonder where the thoughts come from or when the emotions arise. We wonder where they come from. They
come from this pure awareness.
With this understanding and separating this from all your stories and thoughts, feelings and opinions and
beliefs,
we often think we are those things. But really we are this pure awareness below all of that.
And those are things that just come up.
With this understanding you can choose which of those. Which parts of your opinions and beliefs and
feelings and emotions that you want to go with. That you want to show the world and how you want
to show up.
You're not limited by what you think you are. You're not limited by what you've always been. From your
habitable, normal reactions and responses. From this pure awareness. You can be whatever you want.
There's infinite possibilities.
The true self is pure awareness. It holds nothing. There is nothing there apart from
awareness. Yet it has every possibility. It is infinite possibilities of whom and
how and the person you want to be in any given moment. You are these infinite possibilities
in
each and every moment.
Bring your awareness back to your breath and just become aware of what you can hear in the room. Become
aware of your physical surroundings.
And I'm going to come back from five. And as we do so, become aware of everything in this moment,
including the physical surroundings in the room.
Five. Gently move your arms or Gently open your eyes. Three. Move your body a little
more of a little more energy to take a deep breath and breathe out of a big smile on your
face. And thank yourself for taking this little time out. And have gratitude for this moment and
your pure awareness that allowed you to be open and curious. And remember,
you are pure awareness.
And from that pure awareness there's infinite possibilities. And who are you going to show up as today? Namaste.
