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Announcer: This is
a Getty podcast.

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[Rising, meditative music]

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Lilit Sadoyan: Today we’re
exploring clouds in Simon Denis’

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Study of Clouds with a Sunset
Near Rome, made between 1786 and

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1801.

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Welcome to Our Museum
Mindfulness Meditation

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podcast, or OMMM.

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Part art history and part
meditation, we use works of

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art from the Getty collection
as inspiration for mindfulness

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and deep reflection.

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Hi, I’m Lily Sadoyan.

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I’m a longtime meditation
practitioner and museum

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educator at Getty.

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Thanks for joining me
as we bring mindfulness

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out of the gallery and
into our daily lives.

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[Music stops]

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Today, we’re bringing
our awareness to our

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thoughts, inspired by a late
18th-century painting by

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Simon Denis, Study of Clouds
with a Sunset near Rome.

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This episode begins with a
breathing exercise to help

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relax your body and mind.

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We’ll then give a bit of
history and context for the

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painting, and we’ll close with
a thought-clouds meditation.

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This series is also available
as an audio podcast.

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If you’d like to step away
from a screen for a few

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minutes, listen on your
favorite podcast app.

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Now, if you’re
ready, let’s jump in.

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[Gong chimes]

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[Slow, meditative music begins]

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Go ahead and find a comfortable
meditation posture, whatever

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that means for you today.

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Maybe you’re sitting or lying
down, something that allows

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you to feel relaxed yet alert.

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And let’s start by taking a
few deep breaths together.

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In through the nose.
[inhales]

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Out through the mouth.
[exhales]

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Take a deep breath in.
[inhales]

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Deep breath out.
[exhales]

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One more inhale.

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Exhale.

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Now let your breathing resume
its natural rhythm as we

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explore our work of art today.

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[Bells chime]

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Why have clouds captured
the imaginations of

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people for so long?

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From childhood through old
age, people around the world

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stare at the sky enraptured
by unusual cloud formations.

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Clouds constantly
transform and shape-shift.

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Here one moment, gone the next.

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Their ever-changing
shapes and forms invite

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wonder and daydreaming.

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Because they’re abstract,
they can become a blank

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canvas for our imaginations.

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Clouds often symbolize
freedom, or the unknown.

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As a kind of boundary between
earth and sky, they are both

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tangible and intangible.

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Clouds have such immense
character, and that is

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precisely what artist Simon
Joseph Alexandre Clement

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Denis captured in his Study of
Clouds with a Sunset near Rome.

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Try to picture it
now in your mind.

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[Music continues]

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The painting is one of
the most luscious in

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the Getty’s collection.

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Although it is small, only
about 13 and a half inches

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tall and 15 and a half inches
wide, this almost abstract

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composition draws my eye when
I walk into the gallery, its

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sense of calm and simplicity
standing out among the other

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paintings of this period.

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Denis’ painting makes
clouds the protagonists.

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They dominate the
composition, covering

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perhaps 98% of the paper.

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Trees and sketchy buildings in
a narrow strip along the bottom

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of the scene seem dwarfed by
these rolling clouds, providing

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a sense of scale and grandeur.

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It reminds me how small we are
in the grand scheme of things.

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As the title suggests, in
this painting, a sunset

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lights stormy clouds.

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Subtle hints of pink and
yellow demonstrate the artist’s

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sensitivity to changes in
color at that time of day.

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The clouds appear to be
moving, shifting, and swirling

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with the wind, ideal for
Denis’ investigation of the

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most fugitive and elusive
of natural phenomena,

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light, wind, and weather.

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The paint texture in
this work is very fresh.

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It almost feels wet
and newly painted.

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The artist’s brushstrokes
are thick and painterly.

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It was painted alla
prima, which in Italian

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means at first attempt.

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That is, layers of paint were
applied to already wet paint.

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Looking at it, I get the feeling
that it was painted on the spot.

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Nature is ephemeral and
awe-inspiring, and Denis

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captures these qualities with
great spontaneity and energy.

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We know from an inscription
on the back of the paper

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that the painting is the
48th in a series of cloud

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paintings that Denis made.

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He would have used the
small work as a way to study

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meteorological phenomena in
preparation for bigger, more

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finished landscape paintings.

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Denis, a Flemish artist,
trained in his native city

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of Antwerp before moving to
Paris in the 1770s, where

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he lived for ten years.

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After that, he moved to
Rome, where he spent the

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majority of his career.

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Study of Clouds was
done during this period.

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Later, he would settle
in Naples and become

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court painter to Joseph
Bonaparte, King of Naples.

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Although this study of clouds
is evocative and emotional,

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it grows out of a desire
to better understand clouds

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as a natural phenomena.

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While painters in the
Roman countryside began

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focusing paintings solely
on clouds as early as 1625,

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in the early 1700s, a more
systematic approach to

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studying clouds took shape.

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By 1800, around when Denis
made this study, teachers and

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treatises on art encouraged
artists to go outside and

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paint, to study nature directly,
and to pay attention to

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fleeting effects of light and
atmosphere, especially clouds.

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Around the same time, in
1802, Luke Howard, an English

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meteorologist, developed the
first systematic classification

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of clouds, defining cumulus,
stratus, and cirrus,

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terms we still use today.

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His framework also influenced
artists, giving them a

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shared vocabulary and new
ways to observe and record

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clouds with greater accuracy.

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With the globular, puffy
masses that stretch from

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low to high in the sky, the
clouds in Denis’ painting

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appear to be cumulonimbus.

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At the pinnacle of the cloud
hierarchy, cumulonimbus

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are the largest and most
potent cloud type of all.

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They form in the lower layers
of the atmosphere and extend

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through all three layers,
low, middle, high, right to

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the top of the atmosphere.

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In this painting, the clouds
have a tempestuous tone to them.

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It feels as if a
storm is imminent.

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Denis beautifully captures
this interaction in the sky.

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Astonishing and powerful, the
drama of nature is evident.

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Clouds, in particular,
are visible expressions

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of nature’s moods.

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As key indicators of atmospheric
conditions, they demonstrate

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the weather, they shape
our understanding of place,

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and they impact our mood.

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Clouds affect our
experience of a landscape.

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In this painting, the forces
of nature are on full display,

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and it’s awe-inspiring.

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For me, it also evokes a
sense of contemplation.

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These clouds, bathed in
the warm hues of a sunset,

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serve as a reminder of the
beauty of fleeting moments.

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The ephemeral nature
of clouds makes them

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perfect for meditation.

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They serve as natural
metaphors for impermanence.

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By observing clouds, we learn
to watch our thoughts and

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emotions without judgment.

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And with this in mind, let’s
float into our mindfulness

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practice for this week, a
thought-clouds meditation.

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[Low, meditative music begins]

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If you feel comfortable,
close your eyes.

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If you would prefer to keep your
eyes open, that’s okay, too.

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Try to lower your gaze
and lower your lids to

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minimize visual distraction.

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Use this time to go inward

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and adopt a meditation
posture that feels

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both relaxed yet alert.

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And let’s begin with a few deep
breaths in through the nose.

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[inhales]

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Out through the mouth.

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[exhales]

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Deep breath in.

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Deep breath out.

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Inhale.

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Exhale.

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And just let your breathing
resume its natural rhythm.

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No need to force or extend
the inhale or exhale.

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Just let your body do what
it does very naturally.

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And begin to cultivate an
awareness of your breath.

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Get curious about how the breath
moves in and out of the body.

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Bring your attention to the
space around your nostrils.

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What’s the temperature like when
I breathe in and breathe out?

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Is it warm or cool on
the inhale and exhale?

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What’s the texture like today?

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And follow that breath
down into your chest.

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Notice the rise and fall
of your chest with each

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in breath and out breath.

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And if you can sense into
your belly too, without

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forcing anything here,

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notice how your belly inflates
and deflates like a balloon.

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And if your mind starts
to wander here, know that

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that’s completely okay.

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The objective of meditation
is never to clear or

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empty the mind—that’s
actually a misconception.

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But instead it’s to cultivate
an awareness of those

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thoughts as they arise.

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Practicing a thought-clouds
meditation allows us to

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observe and accept what’s
going on in our heads.

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So let’s try that now.

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As thoughts arise,
just notice them.

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Often the mind is really
busy thinking about the

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future, worrying, planning.

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Other times it’s
fixed on the past.

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And holding space
for those thoughts is

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important in some contexts.

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But for now, for this present
moment, let’s see if we can

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notice when the mind wanders.

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As you sit here and thoughts
arise, you can imagine

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that you’re attaching those
thoughts to the clouds like

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the ones in this painting.

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Notice how the clouds
move and shift.

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How fast or slow do
the clouds drift by?

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Some clouds are shifting
and moving quickly.

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Other clouds refuse to rush.

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These thoughts may be
positive or negative.

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They may be thoughts
about this exercise.

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These are clouds too.

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Let them pass.

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See the space between
your thoughts as gaps

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between the clouds.

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This is where we see
a patch of blue sky.

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This is where the
light shines through.

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As you notice your thoughts,

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without judgment or a
need to analyze what’s

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coming up for you,

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just notice and be the observer.

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You can even imagine
that you are the sky.

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[Silence]

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Nothing to change,
nothing to control.

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Just notice your clouds
and let them drift by.

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And whenever you’re ready,
if your eyes are closed, I

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invite you to gently open them.

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Gently bring your awareness
back to your body.

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Come back to the
space that you’re in.

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As we return to the world,
let’s carry this sense of

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detachment and presence with us,
and I’d like to see if we can

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find an opportunity to notice
clouds throughout our day.

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Pay attention to their shapes,
the light on them, and how high

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or low they are in the sky.

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Notice what they remind
you of, and attach thoughts

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that arise to these clouds.

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You can learn something about
the nature of your mind.

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If there are no clouds
where you are, focus on the

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clear blue sky itself and
observe how the sky allows

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everything to pass through
it: Sun, birds, airplanes,

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without being affected.

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00:16:20,839 --> 00:16:24,120
Take these opportunities
as reminders to be in

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00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:25,180
the present moment.

250
00:16:27,079 --> 00:16:30,649
Let’s return to our breath and
close our practice by taking a

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00:16:30,650 --> 00:16:34,609
full deep breath together, the
biggest one you’ve taken today.

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00:16:34,879 --> 00:16:35,579
Inhale.

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00:16:39,430 --> 00:16:40,269
Sigh it out.

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00:16:41,489 --> 00:16:41,499
[exhales]

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00:16:43,199 --> 00:16:45,369
Thank you so much
for joining me.

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00:16:45,369 --> 00:17:10,729
[Meditative music
slowly fades out]