Welcome.
Make yourself comfortable by sitting still or laying down.
Close your eyes.
Relax and allow the muscles in your face and in your neck and your shoulders to drop.
Begin by listening to your breathing.
Breathe very deeply and very slowly.
Quiet your mind of any questions,
Responsibilities,
Thoughts,
And desires by just breathing deeply,
Staying relaxed and still.
Take a moment and appreciate yourself for making the time to listen to this meditation.
Take a deep breath in and out.
Let's begin.
If you think of boredom as being a burden to others,
Then you're not.
Let's begin.
If you think of boredom as being an unconscious choice of how we sometimes spend our time,
We can consciously choose to control it.
Time is the most important thing we have.
And since the number of heartbeats that we get in our lifetime is unknown to us,
In my mind,
I feel that boredom can cost us more time and alter our behavior in more pernicious ways than we realize.
For many people,
An antidote to boredom is to become a philomath or a lover of learning.
You must create and reinforce a compelling purpose that you can use to keep learning throughout your lifetime.
Find something so meaningful to you that it will pull you away from boredom without any conscious effort.
Take a slow,
Restorative,
Deep breath in and out.
Here is a simple strategy.
First,
Remember that you are always in a state of becoming.
That is,
You improve at anything you choose to focus your attention on consistently.
Increasing your attention and willingness to try new things will keep your mind engaged.
No matter the natural tendency to protect ourselves from the threat of embarrassment or failure,
Lack of support or lack of credentials or experience,
Taking control of what you pay attention to moment to moment is key.
Boredom is the result of time spent without the challenges that make life worth living.
Second,
Focus on something fascinating during what I call downtime.
This could be daily time that is naturally less focused,
Like while on the bus or at the airport,
Waiting in line,
Working out,
Or taking a shower.
Let this fascination become an emotional passion of yours.
This passion that you uncover must become important enough to you that it will make you wake up early and keep you up late at night to pursue,
Experience,
To research,
Or practice without feeling like it's work because of your strong emotional connection to it.
Take a deep breath in and out.
Be patient with yourself as we prepare to ask your mind two versions of a simple question to help focus the purpose of this meditation.
The answer will probably not come to you right away.
And that's okay.
Be willing to allow the answer to arrive organically and trust you will receive an answer.
If not now,
Then eventually.
You may want to pause this meditation if you prefer to think on the following.
Genuinely,
Ask yourself.
What have I always wanted to try?
What have I always wanted to try?
Or ask,
What could I try that I didn't notice fascinates me?
What could I try that I didn't notice fascinates me?
Take a deep breath in and out.
Maybe you want to learn how to dance or fly.
Learn a new language or play a musical instrument.
Or maybe deep down,
You always wanted to take on that thing you used to daydream about.
But life got in the way.
So you had to set it aside.
Take a deep breath in and out.
Understand that boredom is clandestinely painful because boredom blocks fulfillment.
Exploring and maintaining new hobbies that excite you will neutralize boredom while giving you a joyful feeling to share with the people who care for you.
In short,
You will find yourself more interesting and so will others find you more interesting as well.
The results are geometric.
Let's pause here for a moment.
Take a deep breath in and as you exhale,
Allow your head,
Neck and shoulders to sink deeper into relaxation.
Feel your tongue and your jaw loosen.
Imagine any tension you may be feeling behind your forehead and eyes or anywhere else,
Leak through your pores like sweat evaporating from the body.
Take a deep breath in and as you exhale slowly,
Imagine yourself at a party making new friends.
And as you continue to breathe deeply and slowly.
Imagine everyone at the party is interested in what you have to say.
Because you are telling them all about your new passions and how your journey to explore these passions are expanding your goals and dreams.
And how this endeavor is changing your life for the better,
Affecting your relationship with yourself.
Take a deep breath in and out.
Take a camera.
Imagine zooming into the scene as an imaginary observer outside yourself.
Look at how engaged everyone is around you from all angles.
Imagine how energized you look as you engage the people around you.
Notice their facial expressions as you speak from using an honest and genuine tone of voice.
Notice your own expression as you convey your enthusiasm to them.
Take a deep breath in and out.
And now imagine this scene again only now you and everyone else are 20 years older.
In your mind,
Notice that over time the energy between you and others is still strong.
Imagine that 20 years from now you still have the same drive for your passions then as you do now.
You have been a philomath for decades and your zeal for living has affected others to join you in the pursuit of banishing boredom.
Take a deep breath in and out.
Please take a moment to appreciate and thank yourself for the discipline you've shown throughout this meditation.
Take all the time you need to just breathe and remember you can return to this meditation whenever you please.
Remember that the more you practice this meditation,
The faster and easier it will work for you.
Thank you for taking the time to begin learning how to banish boredom.
When you're ready,
Slowly open your eyes and let me leave you with these words.
It's a great day to be alive.
