In this short five minute meditation,
We're going to calm down,
Learn to separate from the things that are stressing us in the current moment,
And focus in on the things that we can influence in the immediate future.
So after this five minutes,
You should be a little bit more relaxed and focused on the next step that will get you closer to making progress on the things that may be causing stress in your life.
So let's first stop and find somewhere to sit down and take these five minutes for yourself.
You should be able to carve this out,
Maybe sitting in the car between meetings,
Wherever it is.
Just take some time and focus yourself into the present moment.
These next five minutes are yours.
The benefit of this will reverberate into the rest of your day.
There's no need to worry about any other thing to do.
If anything comes into your mind that is a to-do or an idea,
A thing that you think you should say or should have said,
Just let it go.
If it is important,
It should come back later.
So let's start by just taking a few deep breaths to really calm the body,
Calm the actual nervous system.
Really pulling in a nice deep breath in and out.
One more.
In and out.
Continue to breathe slowly,
But allow your breath to take a life of its own as we move into this next part of the meditation.
Let's distance ourselves for a moment from the large picture things that may be stressful to you in the current moment.
They're entirely valid,
But in this moment we're going to separate ourselves and bring ourselves into this current space.
Breathing,
Being present,
Noticing the sensation of sitting on a chair,
On a seat,
Maybe wind,
Against the skin,
The breath as it goes in,
Touches the lips or the nostrils.
There may be many things outside of your control and there may be things that are within your sphere of influence,
But not immediately something that you can or should be focused on.
Bring something into your mind that once you get out of this meditation you can focus on with a sense of clarity.
Just one thing that you can make progress on,
Maybe bring to completion,
Even a small,
Small step.
I'll give you a second to bring that into your mind.
Make it even smaller than it seems like it might need to be.
The goal is to just take one step and focus on action.
Don't worry about the things that are out of your control,
The circumstances surrounding your next step.
Just prepare to take that step.
Now as you take another deep breath in and out,
Allow yourself to focus in on that one thing that you're going to get up and go do that you have control over,
You have influence on,
That's the only thing that matters in the immediate future.
So allow yourself to focus on that,
Get up from this meditation,
And take a step forward.
For just another minute,
Let's practice patience and breathe a few more times until I say the meditation is over,
Just to continue to calm the nervous system so that you can go into this next action with a calm,
Clear,
Peaceful mind.
You know what your next step is.
Go on,
Take it.
Try to do so with grace,
Kindness,
Discipline,
And focus.
