Meditation & Coffee - Breathe Easy

A reminder that meditation is there for us no matter how we’re feeling - it’s always forgiving and welcoming and there’s no way to fail! Today, we’re using some metaphors for how to get the balance right between attention and focus, and trying so hard that we feel even more tense and tight. As with everything, it’s a balance. Join us to find yours.

Transcript

Hello! You are listening to Meditation and Coffee, The weekday meditation podcast that helps you start your day off calm, Aware, Intentional, Focused and most importantly, Awake. Because did you know that the word Buddha actually means awakened one? I'm Hannah, Your host and founder of the online meditation community Breathe Like a Badass and I am obsessed with starting the day with good coffee and seriously simple meditation. As a trained meditation teacher and a female entrepreneur, My mission is to help anxious yet ambitious women cut through overwhelm, Negative self-talk, Constant comparison and fear so they can get the calm, Clarity and focus that they need to build happy, Fulfilling, Freedom-filled businesses and lives. Meditation is not magic but it's a pretty good place to start. So whether your coffee is a shot of espresso, A latte decaf or even a tea or a chai, I invite you to join me every weekday to start your day off right. FYI, These sessions are recorded live on my Instagram page at BreatheLikeABadass so if you'd prefer to join in and watch them live, You can do so there every weekday morning between 8 and 8. 30am London time. The videos are also available after the lives on my IGTV page. Now on to the meditation and coffee. Good morning. I think we're live, Yes. It is Friday morning today. Hello, Hello. I'm always happy when it's Friday even though I'm an entrepreneur and I don't really do weekends for some reason I still have that feeling that Friday is like fun day, Yay. I'm brought to you today by iced coffee. Hello. You might be able to hear the ice cubes gently clinking in the glass there because it's a beautiful day. We've had some really hot weather in the UK which is lovely which I always appreciate. I'm absolutely roasting yesterday so yeah, Today is iced coffee so whatever you're drinking and wherever you are in the world when you're watching or listening to this I hope that you're able to yeah, I hope that the weather is treating you well and it's not too overwhelming and I hope that you're able to get whether an iced coffee or a nice warm one or anything in between that works for you. Yeah, So. First of a coffee of the day feels good. So today because it is Friday I thought that I would talk about a really key principle of meditation and mindfulness in general that is just kind of really good to remember especially if you're someone who maybe sometimes struggles with it or sometimes you feel like you're having to try really hard, Do it properly and basically the title of today's meditation is breathe easy not because meditation is easy and not because breathing is always easy when you meditate. I always speak, I mean yeah I did a meditation about this a while ago about how to meditate without using your breath because I do speak to a lot of people who say that using their breath can sometimes actually be really challenging so there's a meditation that I did, A meditation and coffee in the same series which you can find about not using the breath. But today we will use the breath and the reason for that is just because it's the easiest thing that we have but as usual as I always say this is about finding what works for you so really using the breath for meditation really does not work for you or it sends you into a panic or whatever it may be. You can always focus on your body or other physical sensations, You can focus on the sounds that you can hear, What you can see, Tastes, What you can smell, Like literally anything that brings you back to attention is what you can use instead of your breath. However I'm going to direct you today using your breath and the principle that we're talking about today is literally not trying so hard and for anyone who struggles with meditation that might come as a bit of a relief because you really don't have to try very hard. We are not trying to show up as anything other than we are, Anything other than our natural state, Anything other than we feel right now whether that's good, Bad, Tired, Frustrated, Depressed, Anxious, Happy, Calm, Like literally meditation will welcome you. You can sit and begin this meditation however you are, Whatever's going on in your life, Whether it's Friday where you are and you're doing this live or whether you are watching this on a completely different day. The whole point about meditation is that you can basically do it whenever you need in whatever state that you're in and when I say breathe easy what I'm talking about is just hold it with a certain balance. So there's a really good metaphor for this in that for example I like to think of, Did you ever get one of those like little magic trick finger, I don't know what they're called, Kind of like finger tightening things in like a Christmas cracker or like a kid's toy box and it would hold onto your fingers really really tightly and you'd put your fingers together like that and you'd struggle and struggle and struggle and struggle and the more that you struggled the more that you pushed your fingers and pulled them back to try and release your fingers from the cylinder, The tight cylinder, Your fingers would just get more and more and more stuck right. Anyone ever anyone have any idea what I'm talking about? Let me know. But the thing is that it was a magic trick because what you actually needed to do to release your fingers from it was relax and as soon as you relaxed it let go of its grip and allowed you to pull your fingers apart. So that is kind of what we're talking about when we're talking about breathing easy in meditation because so often when we're trying to focus and be really really good at our meditation and we really want to try and make sure that we don't get distracted you know and keep our mind really really focused it can sometimes be like we're holding on to that magic trick and we're really really tight tight tight tight tight and it can feel really tight and we get more and more stressed and actually what we need to do is relax and then it will let us it will let us relax it will it will allow us to just be who we are and allow our fingers to come apart. Another metaphor is if you don't know what I'm talking about with the magic trick if you think of a wine glass you instinctively know how much pressure to put on a wine glass when you're holding it or even just a normal glass right. If I was to pick this glass up that I've got my iced coffee in and it was a delicate glass and if I really really really held it and really really crushed it and really made an effort to break it because I'm putting so much pressure on it because I'm holding so hard onto it eventually it would break right I might not be able to break it but someone stronger than me you know you'd hold it and hold it and hold it and then it would eventually break because you're putting too much pressure on it right. However I know that there's a balance and we all know that there's a balance that when you hold a glass or a wine glass you just want to put just enough pressure on your hand so that you can hold it and and hold the weight and grip it but not so much that you're at risk of breaking the glass it's a balance right it's kind of an easy hold you know I'm not putting so much pressure on it that it's too tight and that my hands gonna get cramp but I am holding it tightly enough that I'm not gonna drop it and spill my coffee everywhere which would be a tragedy. So I hope that those metaphors they're really helpful to me to help me understand and I hope they help you as well let me know if you've heard any others that kind of make sense to you too. And today the meditation is just simply going to be practicing that. So without further ado I invite you to come into your meditation position with me and as I always say it can be just a comfortable position. It doesn't have to be a perfect meditation pose just make sure that you're comfortable that you are sitting relatively upright relatively grounded. And with those metaphors in mind not trying too hard not pushing too much just attempting to find this kind of like nice balance where you're holding the glass but you're not smashing the glass right. I invite you to allow yourself to come into position and find a posture taking a deep breath that is going to allow you to find that sweet spot balance between being really focused and bringing your attention calmly but firmly to your breath but not so much that it feels too tight like you're gonna smash the glass. So wherever you can feel the breath I invite you to draw your attention to it now maybe in your nose or your chest. And just taking some very gentle breaths. It doesn't have to be a deep deep breath unless you want it to be just some very gentle normal calming morning breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth. And as you allow yourself to breathe just allowing yourself to breathe in opening up your chest very gently and as you breathe out allowing yourself to come back down into position and relaxing the muscles of your face under your eyes your jawline your neck your shoulders your torso and your hips allowing yourself to calm and just melt into position wherever you happen to be sitting. Like I say I invite you to bring your attention to your breath but if that doesn't work for you bring your attention to any part of your body that you can really focus on and that can be your anchor during this session. So maybe it's your hands on your lap maybe it's the physical feeling of your chest rising and falling as you breathe. Really noticing the sensations of what it feels like to be breathing and sitting here today. Allowing your body to breathe itself. That's a great phrase that I love. Allowing the body to breathe itself. And of course if you haven't already you can close your eyes and that might help you to develop that sense of focus somewhere that you can really draw your attention. For me sometimes I like to close my eyes because I can really draw my attention to the third eye point which is just between my two eyes on the bridge of my nose and somehow that really does allow me to train my focus. It really does provide me with an anchor point where I can close my eyes and focus on that part of my body and how it feels the air going in through the nose and out through the mouth. But for you it might be somewhere different so it's really up to you to find that place that works best for you. And once you've found that spot in your body and your breathing that's all that we're doing today. We are practicing focusing on that spot and when we get distracted we notice it with compassion and gentleness no judgement and then we bring it back to that spot. Reminding ourselves that we're looking for this balance between focus and bringing our attention to that spot, Yes, But also remembering to breathe easy and remembering that metaphor of the wine glass. Not too hard, Not too loose. Maybe if you find yourself going to that place of it being too hard and too much and you're concentrating too hard and it's really becoming kind of tense and stressful I invite you to breathe even more deeply. Consciously relax your muscles around the areas of tension that you might be feeling and start again. So relax. . Nothing else to do. No fancy mental gymnastics required here. Just choosing one particular object of focus. And practicing holding that object of focus. With just the right amount of attention. To allow you to be present and notice the sensations. But not so focused that it becomes tense and tight and like a stressful thing. So always trying to find that balance and reminding yourself that meditation is not supposed to be this really tense, Tight, Stressful thing. We're practicing showing up to what is, To what we can notice, To what's here. Without adding extra tension into it. Meditation is very forgiving because it can hold you as you are, Like I say. However you're feeling, However distracted, However bad your anxiety or your mental health has been over the past few days or hours. Because meditation will hold that because you can always just show up as you are. And there's no way of failing in meditation. Because you can always just forgive yourself. And there's no way of doing it wrong. If you get distracted, If you feel like you've done it wrong, Then you notice that and you bring it back to the object of focus. And that's it. And it's about forgiving yourself for being distracted. And trying again and trying again and trying again. And showing up to it exactly as you are, Not how you wish you were. Which is kind of liberating. So as I close out the session today I invite you to just spend the next few moments practicing that. Practicing finding that object of focus and bringing a balanced, Relaxed, Yet focused sense of attention to it. And each time you get distracted, Recognizing that and just bringing it back. And I invite you to join in with me in these last two breaths. So even if you've been distracted this whole time, That's absolutely fine. We're just going to do these last two breaths together. So if you join me, We're going to inhale through the nose. Noticing the feeling of the inhalation, Holding it slightly at the top. And then allowing yourself to breathe out, Noticing the muscles relaxing as you breathe out. And one more time, In through the nose. Inhale. Holding it at the top. And allowing yourself to relax as you exhale. Wonderful. Well, I hope that that was a good meditation to start your Friday or whenever it is that you're listening or watching to this. Let me know how that went for you. Let me know if those metaphors were helpful. Yeah, Sometimes I find that we just need a reminder that we don't have to do any crazy mental gymnastics or complicated visualizations or anything like that. We can literally just show up as we are with our breath and our body and breathe and practice that sense of attention and awareness in a kind of chilled out, Not so stressed tense kind of formal way. And that's what that meditation session is about. So I hope this was helpful. This was also from a request that I received from someone on Instagram. We were speaking about their own struggles with their meditation and so I've designed this meditation to kind of help them. And as I say, If you do have any kinds of questions or requests or issues or problems that you find that come up when you meditate, Please let me know. I'd love to chat. Send me a DM on Instagram and you know, If appropriate, If it works, I will design a meditation and coffee session for you. So I'd love to help. Yeah. As usual, These meditations are free and I love doing them, But if you're in a position to be able to support the meditation and coffee session and allow it to continue to be free, You can do so. You can go to PayPal. Me forward slash breathe like a badass and buy me a coffee and it would be much, Much, Much appreciated to help me continue to do this for free and just show up and help you guys and be here in the morning. For literally my first meditation and coffee of the day. So thank you so much for being here. Really enjoyed it. For me and my iced coffee and a very lovely, Warm, Sunny London. I hope you have a wonderful Friday and a wonderful weekend and I will be back here bright and early on Monday morning. That's it for today. Thanks so much for listening and spending your morning with me. If you like this podcast and you are as obsessed with coffee and maybe meditation as I am, Please go ahead and leave a rating and a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you normally listen as it helps spread the word and get the message out to more brilliant women just like us who need it. You can also share with your friends on Instagram tagging me at breathe like a badass. I always love to see you there. If you like this and you'd like to hear more from me and breathe like a badass on how to use meditation to get the calm, Clarity and focus you need to build a happy, Fulfilling, Freedom filled business and life, Head on over to my other full length interview style podcast. Just search breathe like a badass anywhere that you normally listen to podcasts. Thank you so much for listening and I will see you for the next one.

Reviews

Very simple and powerful exercise! Thanks and big hug from Panama ☀️