Boosting Resilience & Hope In Response To Coronavirus

This practice crafted for these unprecedented times to boost your resilience and hope for the future through positive affirmations, guided visualizations, and research-based activities. Binaural beats technology helps this practice soak deeply into your subconscious mind.

Transcript

Welcome,

My name is Laura Garrison-Brooke.

Thank you so much for joining me for this meditation.

I'm glad you're here.

We are living through an unprecedented time,

Which in one way or another is knocking most of us off center.

This meditation is focused on boosting our resilience and sense of hope.

As you listen to the first couple of minutes of this meditation,

I invite you to stand up.

Amy Cuddy is an incredible researcher who's done a lot of study on how our body positions affect our body chemistry.

After you're done with this meditation,

I invite you to Google Amy Cuddy Power Pose to learn more.

But for now,

Let's do it.

Stand up with your feet a little bit wider than hip distance.

Head is up,

Chest is broad,

Chin is lifted,

Hands are on the hips.

It's like you're an Avenger,

Right?

You're looking good.

Alright,

Please stand like this until I invite you to take a seat.

Can't stand up right now?

No worries,

You can still power pose from a seated standpoint.

Hands are on your hips,

Elbows out,

Shoulders back,

Chin lifted.

There's lots of science behind why we're doing this,

But the nutshell for right now is that this pose has been proven to drop cortisol levels.

Even if you stand like this for as little as two minutes.

And that's around the amount of time we're going to spend doing this.

What's cortisol?

It's a stress hormone that's not great for us when we get too much of it.

And if you've been listening to my other meditations on how to boost the strength of our immune system,

You know that when cortisol goes up,

Something called IGA goes down.

Okay,

So for those who haven't been listening to those other meditations,

What's IGA?

I jokingly refer to them as our own personal army of Roomba vacuum cleaners going around sucking up viruses and bacteria.

They are our bodies defenders.

Let's get back to resilience.

I'm the founder of a charitable organization that provides a positive psychology program for at risk teens.

I've been studying positive psychology,

Which is the science of how people thrive for years.

So I know that resilience is an important skill that helps us navigate life's ups and downs.

When you think of resilience,

How would you describe it?

Maybe words like bouncing back quickly and easily come to mind.

As I guide my students,

I'm always all about keeping it real.

Bouncing back as my friend and fellow insight timer teacher Tamara Leckner reminded me recently,

We are not rubber balls.

We are human beings.

Let's give ourselves permission to be human.

And remember that resilience might look more like two steps forward,

One step back during these times of challenge.

And that's okay.

Day by day,

Moment by moment,

We show up and we do our best.

Every morning is a chance to begin again.

We're still in our power poses,

Right?

Hands are on hips,

Feet are planted,

Shoulders back.

Awesome.

Just a little bit longer.

Here's the great news.

As we develop these resiliency skills,

It might still not be easy,

But it will get easier.

Here's a definition of resilience more grounded in reality.

The American Psychological Association says resilience is about adapting well in the face of adversity,

Trauma,

Threats,

Tragedy,

Or even significant sources of stress.

Did you hear that?

Adapting well,

Not necessarily adapting easily.

When I think of resilience,

I often picture us all as surfers.

Resilience is about learning how to ride the waves of life.

Now,

I got to tell you,

I took a surf lesson once and I was a hot mess.

Again,

It's a skill,

Right?

We learn it with time.

Let's practice now.

And nicely done on the power pose,

I now invite you to take a seat.

Connect to the breath.

Feel your seat grounded and steady.

Your back is straight.

The crown of the head shines up toward the sky.

Let's start with something I call the universal abundance breath.

A nice big belly breath.

As you exhale,

Feel yourself root down.

Inhaling,

Feel the spine grow long.

I invite you to draw your attention to your spine.

As you inhale,

Feel energy flowing up along the central channel of the spine.

The crown of the head shines up.

Exhaling,

The energy flows down,

Pouring down the tailbone into the earth.

I invite you to see this energy as light.

Inhaling,

The energy goes up the spine and shines out of the top of the head.

You are a column of light that stretches far up into the sky.

Exhaling,

This light shines down into the crown of the head,

Along the spine and into the earth.

Find your own comfortable rhythm of breath.

Inhaling,

See the pulse of energy flowing up and out of the top of the head,

A shining cord of light reaching up into the heavens.

Exhaling,

The energy flows down from the sky,

Entering the top of the head,

Filling up the body with luminescence.

Everything in life is energy.

Feel this energy fill you.

As you inhale,

Think,

I connect to the universe.

As you exhale,

Think,

I receive healing energy from the universe.

As you inhale,

You think,

I connect and the light shines up out of the top of the head.

Beautiful radiant light as if you're reaching up with your energy,

Reaching out to connect to the universe.

As you exhale,

You think,

I receive and the light shines down onto you,

Bathing you in healing radiance.

Inhaling,

I connect to the universe,

Shine your light up.

Exhaling,

I receive abundant healing energy from the universe.

Light shines down,

Bathing you in warm healing light.

Feel into your body.

Feel how you are present,

Grounded and relaxed.

Let's begin our affirmations.

Allow these statements to wash over you.

Know that each affirmation is a beautiful seed bursting with life and potential.

Allow it to be gently planted in your subconscious.

With time and nurturing,

It will take root.

Let's begin our affirmations now.

I am gentle with myself as I navigate through this new life space,

Knowing that it's normal to have ups and downs in a period of change.

I am compassionate with myself,

Recognizing that moment by moment,

I am doing the best I can.

I am compassionate with others,

Recognizing that moment by moment,

They are doing the best they can.

I am mindfully reassessing my expectations of what is realistic in this current reality.

I am giving myself permission to let go of expectations that do not serve me.

I am reminding myself that within this window of time,

It's okay to not have things unfold as they normally do.

I am working on my resilience with kindness and self-compassion,

Knowing that this takes effort and is not always easy.

In moments of challenge,

I'm deliberately connecting to my deep belly breathing,

Taking time to mindfully come back to center.

I'm connecting to things that lift me up and feed my body,

Spirit,

And mind.

I am strong.

I am powerful.

I am resilient.

Say this again to yourself.

I am strong.

I am powerful.

I am resilient.

And you are,

Even if it doesn't always feel that way in the moment,

You are strong.

You are powerful.

You are resilient.

I invite you to breathe.

Connect again to your universe of abundance breath.

Inhaling,

I connect to the universe.

Shine your light up.

Exhaling,

I receive abundant healing energy from the universe.

Light shines down,

Bathing you in warm healing light.

Resilience is like a muscle.

If we overuse it,

It becomes fatigued.

It becomes weak.

So we need to nurture and take care of our resilience.

You already know this considering that you're here.

I invite you to nurture yourself now.

Let your mind gently drift and let me ask you a question.

Who in your life is the person who makes you feel most nurtured?

It's okay if that person has passed or is no longer part of your life.

Bring that person to mind now.

And if you're struggling a little bit with centering on someone,

I would be honored to be the person who nurtures you right now.

Breathe and see that person in your mind.

Connect to that person through your heart.

And then hear that person's voice.

They know that things have been hard lately,

And they want to connect with you.

Hear their voice through my voice.

Hear them say your name.

Hear them say,

I love you.

I am here.

I love you.

Feel their arms warm and comforting wrapped around you.

If it feels good and natural,

Gently rock forwards and back.

Maybe just a little sway as if they are rocking you.

They say to you,

I am here.

I love you.

I am here.

Hear them say it's going to be okay.

It's going to be okay.

You are going to be okay.

You are going to be okay.

Hear them say,

I'm so proud of you.

You are doing great.

I am so proud of you.

Hear them say,

This too shall pass.

It will be okay.

This too shall pass.

It will be okay.

This too shall pass.

You will be okay.

This too shall pass.

You will be okay.

This too shall pass.

Hear them say,

You are safe.

I am here.

You are safe.

I am watching over you.

You are safe.

I am watching over you.

Feel their arms around you,

Holding you,

Loving you,

Nurturing you.

Breathe and relax.

This is part of resilience,

Allowing ourselves to be nurtured,

Allowing ourselves to be replenished.

Your special person is still with you.

They gently take your hand and draw you forward into the future.

It is exactly one year from now and they show you a scene.

There you are,

Happy and well,

So incredibly grateful for the life you are living.

Do you see yourself?

Maybe sitting in a coffee shop,

Laughing with friends,

Or at the dining room table,

Visiting with family,

Or in the office,

Joking with colleagues,

Or at a concert,

Dancing with others.

There you are,

With a beautiful,

Open,

Happy heart.

There you are.

See yourself in whatever future scene speaks most to you.

There you are.

Allow that scene to gently fade away.

Your special person is still with you.

They wrap their arms around you,

Giving you the sweetest,

Most loving hug.

And they whisper in your ear,

Everything is going to be okay.

You are going to be okay.

This too shall pass.

You are strong.

You are powerful.

You are resilient.

You hear them.

You allow these words to penetrate deep into your mind and heart.

And you believe them.

Yes,

I am strong.

I am powerful.

I am resilient.

Yes,

I am.

To end our time together,

We're going to do three rounds of loving-kindness meditation.

First,

I invite you to say to yourself,

May I be happy.

May I be healthy.

May I be safe.

May I be peaceful and at ease.

Next,

Bring people to mind whom you love,

People you want to send special energy to.

Thinking of them say,

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you be peaceful and at ease.

Now,

Let's extend our healing energy out to the world.

May we all be happy.

May we all be healthy.

May we all be safe.

May we all be peaceful and at ease.

If you're listening to this before bedtime,

I invite you to just slip into sleep.

Ignore the next words I'm going to share with you.

For the rest of you,

As you're ready,

Bring movement back to the body.

Wiggle fingers and toes.

Softly open your eyes if you have them closed.

Thank you so much for joining me for this meditation.

I'm so glad that you found me.

Please remember that I'm always here for you as a resource to lean on.

I'd love to hear from you,

So I welcome your thoughts and feedback in the comments.

Day by day,

May you lean into your resilience so that these skills become more and more powerful.

May you be grounded.

May you be calm.

May you practice compassion for yourself and others.

Reviews

This was beautiful.Seeing my nurturing person brought tears of joy to my eyes.Thanks you so much for this wonderful practice, I needed it so much💜💜💜

Gentle voice and gentle words. Very helpful in these current times.
Thank you🙏

Thank you for powerful teaching during these stressful times.

Thank you so much for this deeply comforting meditation. 🙏❤️

Another powerful meditation to help calm the nervous system and restore peace. Thank you!

I’m so glad I found you!! I cried tears of joy when my person was nurturing me. Thank you!🌹

I feel contained, relaxed, reconnected ...
I feel good and ready.
Thank you for your beautiful work, for your sweetness, for your sense of humor and for your wise guidance.
Thank you Laura.
Be well dear and radiant soul 🙏💙

Thank you I find that having a calm, firm voice is incredibly helpful right now I am very grateful for this/ you and no worries about the tarheel thing as I am a fan as well 🙂 Kind regards.

Exactly what I need to hear...thank you so much Laura, I feel genuinely supported by you in my isolation fighting off the effects of Corona Virus and associated anxiety, Annabelle 🌿🙏🏻🌷

I am grateful to have found you 🙏💛

Thank you so much for this. It is exactly what I needed today to bring me back to my strength.

This meditation is beautiful and very helpful! Thank you so so much! Blessings 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

A peaceful, strong meditation to start the day. Thank you. May you be happy and healthy.

Amazing! Thank you!❤ My grandma was my nutruring person and she always said This too shall pass. She went to Heaven a year and a half ago. I miss her horribly but could feel her saying This too shall pass.😊

Helpful in this moment. May we be happy.

So powerful! Thank you so much for this thoughtful, timely, relevant meditation. I can really feel the positive effects!

Very soothing, comforting, and supportive. Thank you so much 🙏🌼🍀