Hello again,
I'm Michael Beckamier with Mindful Meditations for Calm the Bleep Down,
A show where each episode we bring you a brand new meditation.
This time we're going to get over our imposter syndrome.
Let's go ahead and get started.
As always,
We have a mindfulness quote to help get us started,
And this time our quote comes from Don Miguel Ruiz who wrote the four agreements.
The quote says,
Whenever we hear an opinion and believe it,
We make an agreement and it becomes part of our belief system.
This quote jumped out of me because it's been a while since I've recorded a new Calm the Bleep Down meditation,
And I personally was going through some,
I don't know,
Imposter syndrome.
Every time it's been a while since you've done something,
You're feeling a little rusty maybe,
And I started thinking about,
That quote made me think about not just what the quote says itself,
But the opinions we tell ourselves about ourselves.
We spend so much time staring in the mirror being really cruel to ourselves.
Fat,
You need to lose 10 pounds,
That shirt doesn't lick right on you,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah.
You ate too much yesterday.
You didn't go running yesterday.
All of that stuff,
All of those things we say to ourselves that we would never say to anyone else,
But we have a running commentary in our head all the time of the cruelest thoughts and sounds,
A soundtrack of negativity.
And they're not true.
Those things aren't true.
Those things are our opinions.
But when we hear an opinion and believe it,
We make an agreement.
We agree that that's true.
And it's not really the case.
I'm reading the four agreements right now,
And one of the things that he talks about is the fact that everything that happens to us is a dream.
It's filtered through our minds and remembered,
And memories are more like dreams than the truth.
So we need to be mindful of that.
It helps,
I guess,
To be mindful of that when we are navigating ourselves through our own day,
And we are navigating ourselves through that little voice over in our head,
The narration we give ourselves.
And we're really an unreliable narrator a lot of the times.
You can't really trust us because it's all how we're feeling that day.
Is it a good day or is it a bad day?
And it can run rampant if we're not mindful of the fact that our thoughts are not real.
Anyway,
That's what that quote made me think of.
And hopefully we are here to meditate and to work ourselves out of those little imposter syndromes and negative speeches we give ourselves.
So let's go ahead and get started.
First,
I want you to close your eyes and let's you take a couple deep breaths,
Settle in,
Get comfortable.
You can sit down or lie down for this meditation.
It doesn't matter.
You just want to make yourself comfortable.
And you want to slow down and maybe even,
Since we're talking about negative self-talk,
Maybe you want to take this moment to congratulate yourself for taking a few minutes to quiet down.
Bring yourself back into this current moment.
The only thing that we truly have is right now.
What happened a minute ago,
A few minutes ago,
Yesterday,
Last year,
Those things are gone now.
And what may or may not happen in the next five minutes,
10 minutes,
20 minutes,
Week,
Month,
Year,
Those haven't happened yet.
We don't know what will happen,
What will come.
So there's no sense in getting worked up about it,
Convincing yourself that it's all going to be bad.
So take this time to yourself and settle in,
Get comfortable.
Reward yourself this quiet few moments of precious,
Calm.
As you start to deepen your breath,
Maybe start feeling the sensations in your body,
Feel the weight of yourself pressed against your mattress or chair,
Wherever you're sitting,
Wherever you're sitting,
Lying down.
Feel the weight of yourself pressing down,
Feel the resistance from that object pushing back up against your body.
Start to feel the breath come all the way in your lungs,
All the way back out.
A couple of long,
Slow,
Deep breaths in.
Let's take a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in right now.
In.
Hold it.
Let it out.
Let's do that one more time.
Hold it.
Let's do it one last time.
In.
Hold it.
Let it out.
In.
Hold it.
Let it out.
Feel yourself entering this present moment.
In this moment,
You are right where you were supposed to be.
You have chosen to be here.
You have time,
You have space.
This is where you are meant to be.
Someone once said to me,
If you have such a deep,
Deep breath,
You have such a,
If you have a hard time being negative towards yourself,
With that negative commentary running in your mind,
Try picturing yourself when you were younger.
Five,
Six,
Seven year old,
You sweet,
Innocent,
Yourself,
Who probably wanted nothing more than just to play,
Have fun.
Have fun.
And if you wouldn't say these things to that child,
Why would you say them to yourself?
Because really that child is you.
That child is still inside of you.
And we were all sort of thrust into this big,
Scary world.
We did not ask to be here.
We did not ask to be forced to grow up,
Pay bills,
Deal with stressful things,
Cruel people,
Cruel things,
Harsh realities.
None of us asked for that.
So deep down inside,
We are still just that child that is wondering why the world is such a big,
Scary place.
And if that's true,
Why would you ever be cruel to that child?
Or would you ever be cruel to yourself in that state?
So you're painting your breath even further,
Feeling yourself sink even deeper to your seat,
Heavier and more relaxed.
Your arms so heavy,
You might not even be able to lift them.
They feel so heavy.
And your legs and your legs heavy.
So you sink deeper into this relaxed,
Calm state.
You take long,
Slow,
Deep breaths in and feel that breath into your lungs.
And back out.
You feel that breath exit your lungs.
Over and over again,
Just you and your breath in this moment.
This ever-present,
Never-ending,
Present moment.
Your breath is always right here,
Right now.
If you're ever feeling stuck,
Worried,
Left without a choice,
You can always return to this space and breathe in and out.
It's the most basic necessity in this moment is breath.
If you are choosing to breathe,
You still are the one in control of your life.
And our last few moments together,
Take a few more long,
Slow,
Deep breaths in and out,
Feeling all the way in and all the way out.
In and out.
Out and out.
Out.
One more time.
In and out.
Out.
Coming back into your body now,
To this moment.
Settling in,
Take a moment for the stillness and calm to settle in for one more breath.
In and out.
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes and go about your day.
