This is a guided meditation for finding the opportunity within the challenges we face on a day-to-day basis.
As always,
If you prefer,
I invite you to welcome in the soothing,
Self-havening touch across your face,
A gentle,
Moving hug,
Or palm-havening as though you're washing your hands under warm water.
And let's begin with a gentle breath in to a count of four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And a slow,
Easy release to a count of six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Beautiful.
Now,
I want you to take a moment to relax Beautiful.
Now,
I invite you to float back across the course of your day or week and notice a moment of difficulty or an experience that was a challenge for you.
This could be a moment where you responded in a way that was less than preferable.
Maybe a moment of procrastination where you chose to do something that you would have rather not done rather than accomplishing the tasks on your to-do list.
This could be simply rolling over and hitting snooze when you knew you needed to get up.
Challenges come in all forms and all opportunities.
Once you've identified your moment of challenge,
I invite you to walk back into that experience,
Making it as big and bold and vibrant as you can.
Notice what's happening in your mind and your body.
Is there any physical energy that comes up?
Any smells or tastes?
What's the feeling as you revisit that experience?
Do you recall what your thoughts were?
Invite all of that information to make itself known in the here and the now.
And then on that scale of zero to 10,
Where zero is completely zen and a 10 is the greatest amount of emotional or physical pain you've ever experienced,
Where would you rank this challenge?
How distressing or disturbing was it?
Do you have a pen and a paper nearby?
Go ahead and make a quick note or just walk onto that in your brain for a quick second,
That number.
Now I'd like to invite you to welcome in another gentle breath to a count of four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And a slow,
Easy release to a count of six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Now allow your mind to relax.
Now allow your mind to start drifting.
And I'd like you to focus your attention on a special place.
This might be a beautiful beach,
A hike that you enjoy.
Maybe it's the Vista from the top of a cliff.
Wherever it might be,
Just a special space,
Real or imagined,
That is all yours.
And as you invite this space to become front and center in your mind as you're curating this moment,
Identify five colors that you see in your special space.
And now,
If you could reach out and touch in this beautiful world,
What are four things that you would touch,
Four textures?
Sand beneath your feet,
Smooth leaves,
Dewy grass,
Wet water.
Just notice and imagine that you're moving into a relationship with that.
And imagine that you're moving into a relationship with these four different sensory experiences.
And now,
What are three sounds that you can hear in your beautiful space?
Are there birds?
Is there wind?
Invite your senses to fully connect with those sounds.
And how about two things you can smell?
Salty sea air.
Have you ever noticed how sunlight seems to have a smell?
And finally,
Scent and taste often go hand in hand.
And so what is one thing that you can taste?
Beautifully done.
Now,
I invite you to turn your attention back to that roadblock,
A difficult moment that you identified earlier.
I'd like for you to check in on a feeling state that you wish you had had in that moment.
And I invite you to turn your attention in that moment.
You see,
In every moment of difficulty,
Our brain has many options.
And it will link in to the path most traveled.
And so the opportunity of neuroplasticity is to build the pathways that we want to have available when we need them.
And so as you bring that experience back to the center of your awareness,
Is there a feeling state,
A sense of awareness that you would like to have so that you can bring that on board next time this type of roadblock or barrier arises?
This is how we turn a challenge into an opportunity.
We learn from what was so we can create what will be.
Once you've identified your preferred state,
Invite your mind to notice a time where you felt this way in the past.
And the beautiful thing about our brain is it doesn't necessarily differentiate between emotional and physical.
It's a beautiful experience.
If you wish that you were strong,
You could imagine being at the gym,
Lifting weights.
If you'd like to imagine a moment of compassion,
Think about something that you felt compassionate towards,
Perhaps a beloved animal,
Or maybe an experience of love for yourself in that moment.
Can you think about something that you've extended love towards?
These experiences can be internal or external.
Just notice a time where you felt this emotion before.
And once you have that present,
Focus all your energy and attention on that neural memory.
How did you know that this symbolic,
This real life,
This emotional or physical experience was connected to what you want more of?
Bring that front and center.
Where does it live in your mind and your body?
And if you don't yet notice it anchored in,
Or if it already is anchored in your mind and your body,
And you want to strengthen it,
Let's imagine we're welcoming a gentle breath,
Breathing and enhancing that experience,
Inviting it into our body.
Count of four,
Three,
Two,
One,
And release to a count of six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Beautiful.
Now notice this preferred state.
And it doesn't have a name or a label.
It might be as simple as confidence or strength,
Or maybe a little more nuanced,
Such as hopefulness,
Capacity.
Whatever it might be,
Invite that energy back into this earlier experience.
And notice what it would feel like to walk into that experience with this other sense,
This other energy enveloping you.
Notice if this new preferred sense has a posture,
Your shoulders go back,
Your chin up.
Does it have a vibration inside of you as you embody it?
And invite yourself to walk through that roadblock,
That moment of difficulty,
Embodying this new preferred sense.
Just floating through it as you carry this new energy forward.
And as you notice the title or the name or label of this energetic state,
Let's welcome in that anchoring experience.
What if?
What if I was?
And imagine yourself moving through that roadblock with this new energy.
What would it look like?
What would it feel like?
What if the next time this experience showed up,
This challenge,
You were instead able to link into this new way of being?
What would that look like?
What would it feel like?
And inviting in these possibilities with another gentle breath to a count of four,
Three,
Two,
One,
And an easy release to a count of six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And now noticing that you've anchored this opportunity into your brain.
You have the neural memory to link back to this whenever you want.
And I deeply recommend bringing this up regularly and inviting your mind to notice this new opportunity,
This preferred way of being that you have cultivated and curated right here,
Right now.
