Hello,
And welcome to day 4 of our 22 days of guided meditation.
Today we will be focusing on the idea of stress and the role meditation plays in being an antidote to our stress.
Stress is caused by encountering obstacles to the fulfillment of our desires.
Dr.
Deepak Chopra writes,
According to Buddhism,
We create the world with our thoughts.
That means if our minds contain lots of chaotic thoughts because we are stressed,
Then our experiences will often be stressful and chaotic.
But if our minds are still and centered,
Our experience of ourselves and the world around us will often reflect this state of still,
Centered awareness.
With that being said,
Our addictive behaviors and negative patterns are often our own attempt to lessen the uncomfortable thoughts and emotions we experience.
Whenever our needs are not met,
We experience stress.
The body responds to stress by preparing to respond aggressively to a perceived threat with what is known as the body's fight-flight response.
This survival reaction causes us to take aggressive action when we perceive danger.
When our bodies activate this response,
When we are actually physically threatened,
It can potentially be life-saving.
During a time of danger,
The body's stress response,
Fight-flight,
Quickly allows us to run or fight back to survive.
In today's world though,
It is not often a common occurrence for us to have to run for our lives or deal with a physically threatening attack.
Though this is not a common occurrence,
We often also shift into the fight-flight response when our everyday desires are not met.
This can actually happen in any of our day-to-day activities such as when our car does not start.
When we are in these non-life-threatening,
Stressful situations,
Several physiological changes begin taking place,
Including the increase of our body's stress hormones.
To actually run or fight back from physical danger,
We need the stress hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline.
But in situations like when our car does not start,
Our stress hormones also become triggered and this causes us unhealthy anxiety.
Anxiety and the other uncomfortable feelings that stress cause often lead us to addictive behaviors,
So we can relieve the feelings associated with them.
Fortunately though,
During meditation,
Our body shifts into a state of restful awareness in which we are able to counterbalance and reverse the effects of the body's stress response.
When we meditate and our body shifts into its restful awareness response,
We experience a decrease in our stress hormones,
And this will help reduce our anxiety and depression.
In the end,
This means through meditation,
We can experience a decrease in the stressful feelings that contribute to our addictive behaviors.
Now let's prepare for our meditation.
Begin by finding a comfortable seat and closing your eyes.
Now begin to become aware of your breath,
Not focusing or concentrating,
Just simply witnessing the breath as it effortlessly flows in and out.
Now easily and effortlessly begin silently repeating today's mantra,
Sat Chit Ananda.
Please repeat this mantra,
Sat Chit Ananda,
And whenever you notice yourself distracted by thoughts,
Noises,
Or physical sensations,
Simply return your attention to silently repeating the mantra,
Sat Chit Ananda.
Please continue with your meditation.
I will watch the time,
And when it's time to end our meditation,
You will hear me ring a soft chime.
When you hear the chime,
Stop repeating the mantra and continue sitting quietly with your eyes closed.
Enjoy your meditation.
In the end,
This means through meditation,
We can experience a decrease in the stressful feelings that contribute to our addictive behaviors.
You You You You You You You Is now time to To silently release the repetition of the mantra and continue sitting quietly with your eyes closed Now begin to bring some slight movement into your body wiggling your fingers and toes Whenever it feels comfortable slowly open your eyes I hope you enjoyed this meditation and I look forward to meditating with you again tomorrow for day five of navigating recovery and overcoming adversity Us,
Omar you
