Welcome.
Give yourself a moment to get comfy.
You can close your eyes or rest them.
We'll be calling in your calm place and this time we're going to practice using the calm place for shifting states.
So as a reminder,
The calm place is a real,
Physical place you've been in your adult life.
So you've mentally visited this place before in your previous calm place meditations.
And so if you notice your mind going,
Oh I know that place,
This again,
This is boring,
That's exactly what minds are meant to do.
Don't fight your mind on that.
Instead,
See if you can add another layer.
You can challenge those creative curiosity muscles in the mind to light up even more as you step back into this place.
So once again,
Just inviting yourself back into that place,
Maybe stepping into it,
Letting it welcome you back,
Taking a look around,
Noticing where you are in this place.
And see if you can see it as if you've never seen it before with that level of curiosity,
With that level of openness or wonder.
And this time to add to the grounding aspect of this meditation,
We can incorporate the 5,
4,
3,
2,
1 grounding exercise into the calm place.
And so starting to notice around you maybe five things that you've never seen before in this place or maybe never noticed in quite the same way.
So you might look far away for something or look super close for a little detail.
Maybe it's a color you haven't noticed.
Maybe it's the way the light is here.
And what about what you can hear?
So again,
Really stretching that open curiosity muscle and just seeing if you hear something new or maybe you hear something old but listening like you've never heard it before.
These could be the little noises of yourself breathing or it could be the far away noises of the wind or birds.
And now seeing if you can notice three things that you can touch.
So your feet on the ground here.
What does that feel like?
You can even ask yourself,
What is this like right now?
Maybe there's something under your hands like grass or sand.
What does that feel like?
Just taking the time to really notice.
And then two smells.
Maybe a plant you haven't smelled before or a book.
And then finally one taste.
That could be just the taste of the air here.
Great work.
So now just noticing if there's any shifts,
Any difference between now and five minutes ago.
I like to think of a flashlight turned in on myself,
Shedding light as I scan the body for sensations,
Just noticing as they shift and change.
So you're just scanning for anything different at all.
Maybe a shift in your shoulders,
In your stomach,
Maybe your face.
No matter how subtle.
And enjoy anything,
Any sensation that feels pleasant.
And when you find those pleasant sensations,
Take a picture in your mind,
Almost like bookmarking this sensation for yourself.
And remember just by noticing you're doing such great work.
You're not usually taught as children to notice the body and its constant shifting of states.
So we're learning this vital skill together now.
And if you had a word or phrase or symbol that represents the good that this place gives you,
Think of it now.
And just strengthen that neural network that creates this anchor for you.
Okay,
So now here comes the practice part.
So this is a little like going to the gym.
We're going to work some muscles.
So if it feels awkward or ineffective at first,
That's totally normal.
So first find something that happened yesterday or this week that was mildly annoying or somewhat stressful.
You want like a one or two out of a ten on the distress scale.
Maybe being late for something or being a little annoyed at a misunderstanding.
Just bring yourself back to that experience like a visitor or an audience member of a play.
Think about where you were,
What you were doing,
What was said.
Now using that curiosity again just to see how the body shifts as you remember this stress or annoyance.
If the mind wants to tell you a self-righteous or self-critical story about this experience,
That's normal.
Again,
You don't have to fight the mind on this.
It's just trying to help.
Just see if you can add that layer of observation,
That curiosity,
That light from the flashlight.
Do you notice evidence of your disturbance in your stomach,
Your chest,
Your throat,
Your shoulders,
Maybe your face?
Just remember your only job here is being curious.
You don't have to change the way you feel.
Nothing to do.
Other than being this gentle observer.
You can even bring a tiny upward lift to the corners of the lips,
Giving the body a sense of we're okay.
So now that you've conjured that slight irritation,
Bring yourself back into your calm place.
And notice that we're not trying to make the irritation go away.
Instead,
Just see if you can hold both in your mind,
The irritation and the good that you feel in this calm place.
And then just notice.
Was there any shift between remembering that stressful situation and coming back to the calm place?
If coming back to the calm place did not get rid of all of your stress,
That's normal.
Maybe you expected it to and now there's annoyance at the continued annoyance.
Just notice that too.
What you're paying attention to is any small shifts,
Whatever they may be.
If you noticed even a 1% shift towards calm or lighter,
Maybe a pleasant sensation,
Just zoom in on that.
Notice it.
Expand it.
What's it feel like?
And this is the really important part.
Enjoy it.
So this is what I meant by going to the gym.
We just did a couple pushups together and if it was awkward or even frustrating at first,
It's totally normal.
Everyone feels pretty awkward the first time they try swing dancing.
So remember that you're doing great and you're just beginning this relationship with state shifting,
With the calm place.
So we'll wrap up here and again,
From this calm place of yours,
Take whatever good you want to take from it.
Any pleasant sensations or insights,
That's all yours to keep.
You made it.
And any good that you bring into your nervous system is good that you bring with you into the world today.
So I want to thank you for doing this.
Thank yourself for being here.
Thank your place for being here.
And whenever you're ready,
You can let this calm place start to dissolve around you and you can start to give the body some movement again,
Maybe stretch,
Maybe yawn,
Whatever you need to do.
And you can start inviting yourself back into this room.
Great work.
The more you practice this,
You might find it gets easier or faster.
Try it with relatively less distressing experiences so that you can gain mastery and encouragement through little wins.
And as you become more adept,
You might challenge yourself to experiment with shifting more and more difficult memories,
More difficult states.
Thank you for practicing with me.
