Mental Stability During Coronavirus (Extended)

With the recent outbreak of coronavirus, many of us are dealing with ambiguity, uncertainty, and unmet needs related to health, safety, and survival. In times like this, even when we are taking good care of ourselves, we are most likely experiencing some kind of mental turmoil.

Join Elliott as he gently guides you toward gaining stability in the mind through adopting a neutral mindset and befriending the breath. This is the extended version of this meditation.

Transcript

Welcome,

And please take a seat.

Do what you can to prevent distractions while you're in this space.

Be seated in any meditative posture and allow yourself to be comfortable.

Activate your abdominal region to maintain an upright spine with its natural curves.

Place your hands on your knees or in a mudra of your choosing.

Slightly draw in your chin and rest your gaze on the space just ahead of you.

If you prefer,

Now is the time to gently close your eyes and mouth.

Let's begin by taking a deep breath in through the nose and out through the nose.

Rest your attention on your breath.

It will be as your anchor throughout this meditation.

During this practice,

If thoughts arise,

Acknowledge them and let them go.

Just return to the breath.

We often categorize life events into what we prefer to call good or bad.

If something is considered good,

It usually means it's beneficial.

If something is bad,

It means it's harmful.

But we don't know everything and we don't know the future,

So how can we be so sure that something is good or bad if we haven't been patient enough to see where it actually leads?

For instance,

Let's say you woke up tomorrow to find a text message from your boss notifying you that you've been fired from your position without any explanation or warning.

Now for most people,

This would be considered bad because you've got bills to pay,

Mouths to feed,

Stuff to buy,

Whatever it may be.

We all need a way to support ourselves and sustain life,

But perhaps what we can consider to be bad is actually a blessing in disguise.

Perhaps it's only bad because we cannot see where it leads.

Who's to say that losing that job wouldn't open the door to find an even better job that is more in tune to allow you to give your real deeper gifts?

Perhaps if we could shift our mental focus from how it's affecting us now to what kind of opportunities it allows us,

We could extinguish the habit of categorizing everything into good or bad and instead change our attitude to see things in a more open and positive way.

To see the tragedy as a gift takes insight and courage.

This is important to consider because if we allow our mind to be swept up by the content of our life,

We can be thrown this way and that at the whim of our unstable mind and the inevitable bad stuff that can happen around or within us.

In this way,

The context of our life is ruled by the content in it.

We need a ground to stand on.

We need a way to contextualize the content which is constantly changing around us in a way that leads to us living happy,

Balanced lives.

We need stability in our lives,

Not certainty that everything will work out in the way we want.

If you want to be the noble ruler of your world,

You must learn how to take advantage of the neutrality of the mind.

We decide to decrease the amount of time spent in negative emotion and increase the amount of time spent in thoughts and ideas that lead somewhere.

If we place our mind on thoughts that are based on compassion and wisdom,

That's what the mind will become familiar with and like any habit,

It will increase.

This is why people suffering from anxiety and depression have been healed through deciding for themselves that they will no longer drink from the fountain of what about me and instead nourish themselves daily from the fountain that reads what about you.

By bringing a bigger mind into our daily activity,

We are changing our attitude.

We are changing the context of our life.

Now we may begin to flush away the stubborn energy in our system by remaining connected to our breathing,

Allowing gentle space to create a distance between us and our mind,

Us and our body.

Let's continue with breathing to create a solid foundation.

Make each breath more fluid than your last.

Breathing in through the nose,

Breathing out through the nose.

Feel my count with each breath.

Breathe in,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathe out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six.

Breathe in,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathe out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six.

Breathe in,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathe out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Breathe out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six.

Breathe in,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Breathe out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven.

Breathe in,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Breathe out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven.

Breathe in,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Breathe out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven.

Breathe in,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six.

Breathe out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Breathe in,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six.

Breathe out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Breathe in,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six.

Breathe out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Now exhale through your mouth as if you are blowing out a candle.

Blow out all the air.

As you inhale,

Focus on slowing down the breath into a calm rhythm that is your own.

Exhale fully,

Releasing all the air.

Continue to breathe slowly and calmly.

Now let your breath go.

Allow your natural harmonious breath to take place.

Breathing in through the nose and breathing out through the nose.

Simply witness your breath for the next few moments.

Now exhale through your mouth as if you are blowing out a candle.

In placing our mind on the breath,

We build a base of stability that leads to peace.

In contemplating truths about existence,

Instead of being swept up by the fancies of the mind,

We can build a base of knowledge that leads to wisdom.

The body houses all the wisdom of the universe.

We are,

After all,

Made of the universe.

Therefore,

We reflect it.

But our mind needs to be clear in order for that wisdom to shine through.

But our minds need to be clear in order for that wisdom to shine through and align our life purpose with everything else that is going on.

The breath rests in the body so we can use our breath to build our confidence.

The more we cultivate stability and knowledge,

The more clearly we see and the more confident we feel.

Feel your body.

What does your body feel like now?

Can you feel the relaxation that is taking place?

Now that your mind has settled a bit and your cells are getting flooded with rich oxygen,

Relax.

Just allow yourself to be in this present moment.

Allow yourself to be comfortable until this feeling passes.

Do not resist this feeling.

Do not identify with this feeling.

Just allow yourself to be.

Focus on the relaxed state of mind and body that you are currently experiencing.

You are participating in building a stability in your life right now.

You can feel positive energy being generated from you in the practice right now.

Eventually,

This relaxation that you are experiencing right now and can experience every time you sit down to meditate will allow wisdom to speak through you.

Spread this relaxation throughout your whole body.

Relax and let go.

Now repeat this mantra after me.

Continue to repeat this mantra with me and you will sense a deeper state of relaxation and peace.

My breath is my stability.

My stability is my peace.

My peace is my confidence.

My confidence is my wisdom.

My wisdom is my body.

With every breath,

My body feels more and more relaxed.

My breath is my stability.

My stability is my peace.

My peace is my confidence.

My confidence is my wisdom.

My wisdom is my body.

With every breath,

My body feels more and more relaxed.

Now as we reach the end of this practice,

You can slowly,

In your own time,

Start to move around a little bit.

Feel yourself in relation to the space around you and the room and then open your eyes.

Thank you for practicing with me today.

Namaste.

If you have any questions about this meditation or would like to suggest a topic for me to cover in a future meditation,

Please feel free to leave me a comment below or find me on social media at Elliot.

Travess.

Reviews

Body and mind are relaxed 🪅
Thank you Elliott for this very peaceful meditation 🙏🏾

The best ever....so calming. Real,unhelpful I. These uncertain times. Thank you so much. More please.....

Much needed. Thank you Elliot.

Thank you Elliott, for this amazing meditation & calming meditation.
Stay safe. Namaste!

Really great thank you 🙏

Thank you Elliot 🙏 This meditation was very effective in helping to calm my mind. I enjoy all your offerings ❤️

...my wisdom is my body....liked it 🙏

Thank you. This epidemic has my mind struggling. I have been struggling to find peace in my home with my children constantly around me.

First time ever that I could finish a whole section ❤️ amazing feeling thank you so much

Deeply calming & refreshing for me. Thank you.

Powerful and desperately needed message. Namaste 🙏🏻

I really enjoyed this. I felt such peace! You asked for suggestions on possible future meditations. I believe I would enjoy a meditation on management of thoughts that are real or truths relative to some of my useless unproductive or harmful thoughts of worry. Thank you!

Thank you for this beautiful practice 🙏I was too zen at the end your voice went deeper and deeper that I couldn’t even hear eventually ✨

~ grounding, soothing practice... Love and light 🙏✨💚🌱

Very good, thank you! Blessings, 😊🙏🌸

Thank you for providing me with so much positive energy! Namasté

Drenched in awesomeness once again. Elliott - thank you so much for creating this. Namaste 🙏

Thank you Elliot. I felt very supported🙏

Thank you for this one! I really feel grounded and feel energy flowing through my body. Stay safe!