This is a guided meditation for creating a new neural opportunity.
Neural meaning brain track for transitioning your emotional state when you are in a difficult interaction with somebody.
As always,
I invite you to welcome in the soothing self-havening touch crossing your arms across your chest,
Resting your fingertips on the top of your shoulders and moving your hands down your arms to your elbows and repeating that motion in a nice soothing hug to deepen the experience of neuroplasticity.
To begin,
Invite your mind to float back into you can identify a difficult interaction that didn't go exactly how you would have preferred.
This may be a moment where you found yourself being reactive to an experience,
Perhaps when you're disappointed or even when you caught yourself moving into a little bit of a freeze state in the face of some very difficult news.
Our brain holds on to these hard moments and when we have a tool to shift our functioning in the moment,
It helps soften the experience and encourages our brain to continue forward without encoding what's happening in the moment.
Once you've found that moment,
Invite your mind to reconnect with it and begin to welcome in the soothing,
Havening touch.
We're going to begin with a gentle CPR for the amygdala exercise,
Encouraging your breath to deepen.
So let's welcome in a soothing breath to a count of four,
Three,
Two,
One and release to a count of six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Now we'll do a box breath.
So breathe in to a count of four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Hold four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Beautiful.
Release four,
Three,
Two,
One and hold the exhale for three,
Two,
One.
And normal breath in four,
Three,
Two,
One and gentle deep release six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Beautiful.
Now I'd like to invite you to float back across the course of your day,
Previous days or week and to find a smile.
This may be a smile that you exchanged with somebody that you care about.
Perhaps the smile that you saw in a pet's face.
I know my sweet puppy and my kitty cat certainly smile when they're happy.
Even the curve of the petal of a flower.
You ever notice that a tulip's curve is a smile or even a butterfly wing?
Smiles are everywhere.
Once you've found that smile,
Invite it to the center of your awareness,
To the here and the now.
Taking a gentle breath in,
Breathe in that smile and invite it to move into your body.
And as you exhale,
Release any tension or stress.
You don't need that here with this smile.
And notice if your smile has a color or an energy,
A temperature or a warmth.
What does your smile look like?
What does it feel like?
Where does your smile live in your mind and your body?
Does it have a home?
Or where would you like to invite it to make a home so that you can revisit it anytime you like?
Deepening your breath,
Welcome in that smile and its beautifully colored self.
What color is this?
Is it a singular color or does it vibrate with different intensities and hues?
Where have you seen this color before?
Invite your mind to explore the color of this smile and how this has shown up in your life's journeys.
Let's welcome in another gentle breath to a count of 4,
3,
2,
1 and release to a count of 6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
And revisit that experience of your smile and notice if you feel a pull to smile back,
You can welcome in a gentle grin and response.
Now,
Let's take that smile and that positive energy,
That color and its beautifully anchored self belonging to your body and return back to that difficult moment that you identified earlier.
But this time that smile is riding along with you.
It's right there as you return to this moment.
Notice what shifts or changes as you enter back into that experience with this smile readily available.
Notice what it would have been like in that moment to have your identified experience,
That person or pet or entity show up right there in that difficult moment,
Smiling at you with care and kindness.
Invite your mind to imagine that experience is there as you circle back to this past difficult moment.
And then invite your mind to roll forward into the future.
And know that this smile is now anchored within you.
You can circle back to it anytime you want.
You can welcome it in and deepen your body and your mind's connection to it,
Encouraging it to be bolder and brighter and more present every single time.
And each time you revisit this smile,
You're creating a new opportunity for your brain in a difficult moment to go one way or another.
And let's keep going in the direction of that smile.
Build that in to be a fundamental part of your truth,
That connection to self and other.
.
