Welcome to this 10-minute urge surfing meditation.
My name is Lana Heintjes.
The music in this recording is by Mark Reynolds.
This meditation is inspired by Marsha Lucas,
Neuropsychologist and psychotherapist.
This meditation is designed to help you become in charge of your urges to have explosive reactions in response to your thoughts.
To be able to feel the urge to be in charge of your urges,
You need to be in charge of your urges.
This is a way to help you become in charge of your urges.
For example,
If you have an itch and don't scratch it,
Eventually you'll stop feeling itchy,
Even though it might be uncomfortable for a little while.
So let's begin.
Find a comfortable seat.
Lengthen your spine.
And softly close your eyes.
Become aware of your body.
Notice if you're tempted to shift your position or adjust your clothing or scratch an itch.
Without acting on this urge,
Just pay attention to it and see what happens.
See what thoughts arise.
If your mind ever starts to wander,
That's absolutely okay.
Then bring your attention right back to whatever urge you were just focusing on.
Whether there's an itch that you really want to scratch,
Maybe a part of your clothing that's uncomfortable.
See if you can stay with that discomfort.
Just ride the wave of that discomfort until it subsides.
If you accidentally and mindlessly act on your urge,
See if you can be completely okay with that.
Try not to be disappointed in yourself.
But rather,
Just lovingly bring your awareness back to that urge or that feeling of discomfort without acting on it.
Notice where your thoughts are right this moment.
And bring your awareness right back to any sensations in your body.
Notice if you have any urge to adjust your position or to make yourself more comfortable.
If you do find an urge too unbearable to not act on it,
See if you can pause for just a moment before you act on it and then really mindfully choose to act on it.
Not any sense of disappointment in yourself,
But rather just respecting any decision that you choose to make for your body.
So continue this for the next couple minutes,
Noticing any urge and seeing if you can choose not to act on it,
And then if you do want to act on it,
Do it mindfully.
Notice where your thoughts are.
And bring your awareness right back to any sensation that you were just focusing on.
You may notice that an urge that you were originally focusing on may no longer even be there.
It may have subsided or changed.
Take a moment to just check in with whatever you happen to be experiencing right this moment,
Whether it's comfortable or uncomfortable,
Whether your mind is clear or whether your mind is busy.
Either experience is absolutely okay.
There is no right or wrong experience.
The point of this meditation is to train yourself to integrate your brain so that you are better able to handle tough feelings or experiences without having mindless or irrational reactions.
You are learning to bring your full attention to your experiences so that you can handle them consciously instead of overreacting.
Start to bring your awareness to your breath.
Take five more relaxing breaths here as we start to ease out of this meditation.
After your fifth breath,
Start to roll your head around in a circle,
Just loosening up your neck for a moment.
And when your head comes back to center,
Just roll your shoulders back and down.
And then bring your awareness to your eyelids and very slowly,
Gently open your eyes,
Letting your vision be soft and fuzzy at first.
And then take a look at the environment around you,
Just reorienting yourself with the space.
And then slowly reenter your day.
Namaste.
