CST - Thanks Flow

Gratitude and openness to the changing nature of all things.

Hi friend!

Purpose

The Thanks Flow meditation technique is designed to help you move down the continuum of the Central Story Model through the following axes:

The instructions provided here, like all CST instructions, are not meant to guide or influence any decisions you make in your life. Please refrain from using what you learn here to make or justify any life choices. The sole purpose of this meditation technique is to help you experience more spaciousness, lightness, unification, peace, fulfillment, defusion from the Central Story (“I am …….. and I need …….. to be happy”), freedom, flow, acceptance, silence, and presence¹.

Active Ingredients

The active ingredient in this meditation is:

• Gratitude and openness to the changing nature of all things.

Explore how you can best bring about and maintain this active ingredient. I will describe a few ways of doing this but please consider the following description as a set of suggestions and not a rigid protocol. As long as you generate and maintain gratitude and openness to the changing nature of all things, you will be successful with this Thanks Flow CST technique. You got this! 💪

Description

Sit in a quiet place with your back straight, your whole body relaxed, your mouth closed, and a gentle smile on your lips and eyes².

Keep your mind spacious and light throughout the meditation³.

Then, calmly say to yourself, “Thanks flow”⁴.

Open yourself to feel gratitude for the flowing nature of all things.

From time to time, quietly tell yourself again, “Thanks flow”, and sink deeper into this space.

You could also experiment with saying,

• “Fortunately, everything changes”, or,

• “Fortunately, everything important changes”, or,

• “Fortunately, [this important thing for me] changes”, or,

• “Fortunately, my [mom / dad / partner / family / friends] change(s)”.

You don't need a good reason to be grateful for the changing nature of things other than when you resist change you suffer, and when you open up to change you are at peace and in flow. Be grateful for all forms of change — not only change from unpleasant to pleasant, but also from pleasant to unpleasant — and find a deeper sense of peace and fulfillment in the open acceptance of the changing nature of all things.

You could also experiment with the following sentences,

• “I don’t need to change [X] — the universe is doing it for me.”

• “Thanks flow. You have always won and you will always win.”

• “Thanks flow. No more need for resistance.”

• “Making peace with change is making peace with life.”

You can also practice Thanks Flow toward everything you take to be yourself, for instance by calmly saying,

• “Fortunately, the body is changing.”

• “Fortunately, sensations are changing.”

• “Fortunately, thoughts are changing.”

• “Fortunately, states of consciousness are changing.”⁵

Troubleshooting

If practicing this Thanks Flow meditation technique is not helping you move down the continuum of the Central Story Model, read the instructions again carefully, and try practicing it again.

Then, if you are still having difficulties, try any of the following (in no particular order):

• Focus less on the instructions as words in your head and more on the experience to which the instructions are pointing.

• Feel everything you’re feeling in your body and see thoughts as unimportant.

• Combine this technique with any other CST technique that works for you. If you’re unsure which one to start with, I would recommend trying the Three Magic Breaths before Thanks Flow.

• Describe your problem in the comments section at the bottom of this page so I can try to help.

If, after experimenting with all of these tips, this Thanks Flow technique still does not help you move down the continuum of the Central Story Model, put this technique aside for a while (knowing you can always give it another try later) and practice another technique that works.

🙏💛

1. For more information on what these mean, read my introduction to the Central Story Model.

2. Stretch the corner of your lips and eyes softly so that your smile is almost imperceptible from the outside but you can still feel it, and maintain it throughout the meditation.

3. Do not contract your attention and try to control the content of your experience, as this would prove counterproductive. Instead, maintain an open, free-flowing attention throughout the meditation.

4. If the word “flow” does not resonate with you, you can replace it with “change” or “circulation”.

5. Progress slowly from coarse (body) to subtle (consciousness).