🎧 Listening In To Your Thoughts – A Mindfulness Exercise

Watch the video below and the script is below that.

🎧 Listening In To Your Thoughts – Reimagined by Mark Lockyer

Let’s begin by finding a spot where you can settle. Nothing fancy. Just somewhere you feel safe, where you’re unlikely to be interrupted for the next few minutes.

Sit however feels right for you. If you’re in a chair, let your feet gently press into the floor. Allow your spine to lengthen naturally, not forced—just upright enough to feel alert yet comfortable. Let your shoulders soften. Let your hands rest where they fall.

You can close your eyes, or if that doesn’t feel right, just lower your gaze and fix it gently on a spot nearby.

Now—see if you can bring a quiet curiosity into this space.

The kind of curiosity you had as a child. Wondering. Exploring. Open. See if you can invite that energy in, softly.

From that space of curiosity, just begin to notice—starting with your body.

Where are your arms? Your legs? What are your hands touching? What are your feet resting on?

Notice your breath—its pace, its depth. Fast or slow. Shallow or deep. No need to change it. Just notice.

Do a light scan through your body. From head to toe. Where is there tension? Where is there ease?

Notice the play of emotions. Pleasant, unpleasant, or a mix of both.

And now… shift your attention to your thoughts.

There’s a part of you—quiet, steady—that can observe it all. A part that watches. A part that notices. We might call it the noticing self, or the observing self. But you can call it whatever feels right. It’s just that quiet space within you that sees, hears, and senses.

From this place, begin to listen in to your mind.

What’s it saying?

Even if it’s quiet right now, just notice the silence. It won’t stay that way for long—thoughts are like little clouds. They drift in, form shapes, and float off again.

When a thought comes, really listen to it.

Can you hear the voice of your mind? Does it sound like you? Is it fast or slow? Loud or soft?

Where in your head do these thoughts seem to be coming from? Front? Back? All over?

If it helps, you might imagine your thoughts are coming from a little radio in your head—always broadcasting, sometimes loudly, sometimes barely audible.

No need to change what’s playing—just listen.

Notice the pitch, the volume, the emotion wrapped up in those words. Notice how the stories unfold, shift, fade.

This is what minds do—they narrate, interpret, evaluate, commentate. Over and over.

And from time to time, you’ll get pulled into the story. That’s okay. It’s normal.

When you notice you’ve gotten hooked, just gently say to yourself, “Ah, I’ve been caught up again.” No judgment. Just come back to noticing.

Let the thoughts come and go. Hear the words. Notice where they seem to be coming from. How fast they arrive. How emotional or flat they feel.

And if your mind goes quiet again, just notice that too.

As you keep listening in, you might also notice how your body feels. Emotions may come. Calm. Frustration. Boredom. Anxiety.

Whatever shows up—let it.

This isn’t about feeling good. It’s about noticing whatever’s here, without needing to fix or change it.

If it helps, quietly name the feeling:
“I’m noticing frustration.”
“I’m having a feeling of boredom.”
“Here is anxiety.”

Let those words pass through, too. Just more thoughts, more stories in the stream.

And now, as we gently near the end of this moment together…

Notice that there are two parts of you at play:
There’s the thinking part—the busy mind, the narrator, the one that talks and talks and talks.
And there’s the noticing part—the part of you that simply sees it all happening.

They’re not separate, really. But it can be helpful to name them this way.

So for the last few seconds, really rest into that noticing self. Let it take a gentle step back and watch your mind doing what it does—talking, weaving stories, narrating life.

Notice the space between the words.

And now, when you’re ready, open your eyes or lift your gaze.

Look around the room.
Notice what you can see.
Listen for sounds near or far.
Take a deep breath and see what you can smell or taste.

Move your body a little—your arms, your legs. Stretch if it feels good.

Notice what’s happening now.
Notice your breath.
Notice your thoughts.
Notice how you’re feeling.

And remember—there’s a part of you that can notice everything.