Welcome to this meditation and journaling practice focused on training your brain to embrace mental ease.
Imagine this scenario.
You go to a social gathering and have a great time meeting new people,
Making connections and engaging in pleasant conversation.
Later you go home and recall the events in your mind.
And despite all of the good points,
There's one comment you made that really sticks with you.
You wonder what made you say it and worry about what the other person thought.
You might start to get down on yourself for this,
Calling yourself names,
Judging and criticizing yourself and maybe even falling into a mental spiral of shame and anxiety.
Well this is your brain's negativity bias at work.
We're naturally more likely to register negative events in our mind than we are to take in and recall the details of the positive events.
This natural tendency is part of our brain's protective mechanisms.
We need to be able to remember the bad stuff,
Especially when negative experiences were a matter of life and death.
Being able to protect ourselves from threats and keep ourselves safe is critical.
And if we spend too much time with our negativity bias,
We can develop a negative mindset and get caught in anxiety,
Depression and negative loops of replaying past events over and over.
We'll be going through a meditation and journaling practice.
So if you need to gather any props to be comfortable,
Go ahead and hit pause and you can come back and join us when you're ready.
As you bring yourself into this time and space,
Find a comfortable position.
Creating comfort in your body will allow your mind to follow into a state of greater comfort and ease.
Invite your body to release tension as you begin to relax into yourself.
Softening around your forehead,
Releasing your jaw,
Letting your shoulders relax down your back.
Take a deep breath in,
An audible exhale out.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Feeling the breath coming and going.
No matter what has been going on for you today,
Whether your mind is filled with the happenings in your external world or no matter the quality of your thoughts and emotions making up your internal world,
This practice is designed to help you create a greater state of mental ease.
Become present with yourself and whatever is there for you.
The thoughts,
The emotions,
The sensations.
Touching into what you find with a brief moment of acknowledgement.
Then letting the thoughts fade into the background.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Each breath bringing you deeper into stillness,
Quiet and ease.
As you continue like this,
Start to notice something enjoyable that's part of your experience right now.
Maybe it's the pleasant temperature in your room,
The comfortable chair you're sitting in,
The light touch of clothing against your skin.
Finding something enjoyable about your current experience and identifying the good aspects of that experience.
Maybe it's the ability to have comfort,
To have support,
To be able to experience sensation.
Let yourself feel the good feelings that come with this positive experience.
Staying tuned into the sensations they produce in your body.
And start to bring to mind something good about your life right now.
Small things that you don't normally pay attention to.
Maybe that you live in a house,
That you cooked a meal today.
Maybe that you are reading a great novel,
That you spoke to a friend.
Consider the good aspects of that experience.
Maybe it's the shelter that you have,
The ability to nourish your body with good food,
The ability to communicate,
Your working body that supports you and helps you function through your life.
Take a moment to be with the feelings that come with this positive experience.
Now shifting your focus to bring to mind something good about yourself,
A positive quality about your character.
Maybe recognizing that you are a good listener.
You have a fun sense of humor,
Where you're able to empathize with others and understand their experience.
If it feels hard or uncomfortable to see your own positive qualities,
Remember what other people have said to you.
Maybe telling you that you're trustworthy or honest.
Being with the truth about your goodness.
Open to the positive experiences of that experience.
What is it like to feel this sense of trustworthiness?
What is it like to have a sense of confidence or courage?
How does it feel to recognize your own goodness?
Place your hands over the center of your chest,
Bringing your hands to your heart space.
And either listening to and feeling these statements or repeating them silently to yourself.
I am connected.
I am supported.
I am loved.
Take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.
Inhaling through your nose a little deeper this time.
And exhaling to a sigh.
Once more,
Taking an even bigger inhale.
And exhaling for a deep release.
You can relax your hands down and begin to slowly bring yourself back.
Coming to the space where you are,
Gradually opening your eyes.
We'll deepen this reflection with some journaling prompts.
Our first journaling question is,
How freely and easily do you experience contentment?
How freely and easily do you experience contentment?
I'll keep the time as we go through these questions.
But know that you can always return to these to deepen your contemplation in your own time.
Our next point of reflection is,
What's the last thing that brought a smile to your face?
What's the last thing,
Maybe an event,
An experience,
A memory,
That brought a smile to your face?
And our last journaling question,
What were the feelings,
Thoughts,
And emotions that came with this experience,
The one that brought a smile to your face?
What are the feelings,
Thoughts,
And emotions that came with this experience that brought a smile to your face?
As you're ready to conclude your journaling contemplation here,
I invite you to mindfully close your journal,
Making peace with the work that you've done here.
May you take the ease and contentment that you've cultivated through this meditation and journaling practice with you into the rest of your day,
Into your life to share with others.
Thank you for your presence and your practice.
