Piazetzner meditation

I had referenced a meditation by the Piazetzner rebbe in another post and wanted to just spell out the meditation as I learned it.

This is a quieting meditation. The goal is to quiet the chatter of the mind and let the stillness fill the space.

Sit quietly and pay attention to your thoughts. Every time you think of something, say to yourself: I'm thinking of [Whatever it is you are thinking]. Try to be specific. An example would be: I'm thinking of doing the dishes, I'm thinking of cracks on the dishes, I'm thinking about cooking food for dinner tomorrow, etc... Every time you name what you are thinking about, you are decreasing it's power over you and your thoughts and drawing the power back to yourself.

The analogy that always comes to mind is of my children who are always coming up to show me things. If I try to push them away, they get annoyed and talk louder, but if I acknowledge what they are saying and pay a moments attention to them, they go back to playing and don't bother me anymore. In this meditation, we are doing the same thing to our thoughts.

Once your mind is clear. Recite the Shema silently. As you say each word, visualize it and allow it to drop into the still water of your mind. I always visualized this as watching the words slowly fall into a still pool of water.

As the last word drops into the water, ask for a gift or ask a question. Then wait and see what comes.

It's quite a wonderful meditation and especially good for finding insight in stressful times.