Hello and welcome to this meditation on resilience.
Go ahead and find a space where you can be relaxed and quiet for this practice.
Set yourself up away from the noisiest and busiest parts of your home and try your best to make sure that you won't be disturbed.
When you're ready,
Find a comfortable position.
Maybe that's sitting upright,
Lifting your spine towards the sky.
Rolling out your shoulders and resting your hands comfortably in your lap.
Whatever posture makes you feel comfortable.
When you're ready,
Go ahead and close your eyes.
Let's begin by taking a few calming,
Soothing breaths to help you relax.
Breathing in deeply through your nose and releasing the breath out slowly and gently through your mouth.
Inhale through the nose and exhale from the mouth.
Continue to take deep breaths,
Creating a circular breathing pattern.
And as you continue to breathe deeply,
Let everything that's making you feel stressed fall away and disappear.
Release the body and the mind from any concerning thoughts or worries.
And now repeat the following phrases as you continue to breathe.
Breathing in,
My mind is open.
Breathing out,
My heart is resilient.
If you wish,
You can focus on shorter phrases.
So breathing in,
Open.
And breathing out,
Resilient.
Breathing in,
My mind is open.
Breathing out,
My heart is resilient.
Now gently focus your attention away from the breath just for a few moments as we consider today's practice topic of resilience.
We live in a busy world and we are taught that one of the most important things we can do is to be resilient.
When we lack determination and clarity,
We may feel as though we are failing.
We're hard on ourselves and forgetting that resilience does not divine our worth.
It's important that we try to offer ourselves in opposition some compassion.
Being resilient is important and so is acknowledging that distractions are a part of life.
Feeling guilty for not being productive enough often only serves to decrease our focus.
So first,
Offer yourself some loving kindness.
You might find that it's a challenge to stay focused and productive day to day.
Perhaps it's impacting your work and your quality of life.
But be kind to yourself.
Know that it's okay to slow down sometimes.
A pause is necessary when we experience feelings of overwhelm.
So send some loving kindness to yourself.
And if it feels right,
Repeat the following phrase.
May I handle difficult situations with ease.
May I be mindful of my body,
Mind,
And spirit.
May I be peaceful.
Now,
As you continue to rest in this present time awareness,
Bring to mind a time where you stayed calm during a challenging situation.
Think about the skills and the strength it took for you to maintain this calm.
Notice how you trusted your intuition and how you responded to the stressful situation.
Take a moment to appreciate yourself and your ability to handle difficult challenges in your life.
Now bring to mind connections in your life that help you to be resilient.
So maybe this is a family member,
Friend,
Colleague,
Or anyone that helps you feel connected and supported.
Think about a time these connections allowed you to do something difficult.
Allow yourself to feel gratitude for these connections.
And now continue to look inward and bring to mind a time when you felt accomplished.
So maybe think of a project you finished,
A task,
A skill you've completely,
Successfully completed.
And remember that sense of accomplishment and mastery.
Remember this feeling and allow it to be present with you in this moment.
Allow yourself to feel confident,
Accomplished,
And optimistic.
And as this practice draws to a close,
Begin to come back to your surroundings,
Noticing how you feel.
Stretch your body,
Come back to a waking state.
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes.
I want to remind you that you are very resilient.
You're doing a great job.
Be gentle with yourself as you continue to move throughout your day.
And know that this meditation is here whenever you need it.
Sending you lots of love.
