Welcome to the Inner Work of Work.
I'm Stephanie Edward.
Today,
We're talking about resetting after a tough workday.
We all have those days,
Whether we got disappointing news,
Had a frustrating interaction,
Or nothing seemed to go right.
Those days can leave us feeling off and their effects can linger long after the workday is over.
While having days like these is normal and perfectly okay,
We don't want their effects to last.
We don't want them to take over or impact our relationships or health or hobbies.
Let me help you work through this so you can move forward with a bit more ease.
Sit comfortably.
Close your eyes.
And bring your attention to your breathing.
Starting off by simply noticing what your breathing is doing.
Noticing every breath in and every breath out.
Now I invite you to slow down your breathing,
Breathing slowly in through your nose if you can.
And slowly out through your nose.
Put all your attention there on the breathing.
Recognizing that thoughts about your day,
Feelings about your day,
Are likely very much present,
And you'll have to keep redirecting your focus to your breathing.
This is entirely normal.
Focus on that in-breath.
Focus on the out-breath.
Now acknowledge how you are feeling.
It's hard to overstate the power of merely making note of and accepting where we're at emotionally.
Naming the emotion,
Getting specific about what we're feeling.
Can really help.
So take a moment to think about what emotions you are experiencing right now.
Remind yourself that it makes sense for you to feel this way.
It's okay to feel this way.
While continuing to breathe softly and smoothly,
I invite you to picture whatever you are feeling as a separate entity.
It's part of you,
Yes,
But it's contained.
It's not the whole picture.
So give what you're feeling a persona.
Consider what it looks like,
What color it is,
What shape it might take,
Where in your body you might feel it.
When we do this,
We can start to see that maybe everything we're feeling isn't actually entirely who we are.
We don't want to stifle the emotions that come up as a result of tough days.
But when we can picture our emotions in response to tough days as being separate or contained,
It's easier to detach ourselves a little bit from them.
I like to picture it as though we're creating space within us for us,
The us beyond the emotion.
Spend a few moments here,
Breathing softly and smoothly in and out through your nose.
Picturing that emotion as a separate entity or persona within you.
Sometimes bad days can cling to us for longer than necessary.
They can affect more than the day itself.
We want to be able to let go of those tough days.
Acknowledging how we're feeling is the first step.
This next step is a little more active.
You can stay seated or you can stand for this.
And I want you to physically wipe the bad day off your person,
Off your body.
Imagine this tough day is clinging to you like snowflakes and you're going to brush them off.
You can vigorously brush the tough day off your left arm with a downward sweeping motion.
Just like you're brushing dust or snowflakes off your arm.
Then do the same with your right arm.
Brush that tough day off your shoulders,
One at a time.
Brush it off your chest,
Your abdomen,
Your thighs,
Your hips,
Your lower legs.
Anywhere you feel it may be clinging to you.
When you're done,
Sit still for a moment.
Breathing softly and smoothly.
Enjoying that sense of release or freedom from at least partially getting rid of the remnants of that tough day.
Here's something else you can do to reset.
As I share this,
Please continue to sit there,
Breathing softly and smoothly.
Returning your attention to this recording and to your breathing whenever necessary,
Whenever thoughts or emotions take over.
Consider this.
It was a bad day,
Yes.
And that's okay.
But I am confident that you can find at least a couple of things that went right.
They may be small,
But they're there.
That's the problem with tough days.
When things go wrong,
They tend to overshadow anything that went right.
So as you continue to breathe softly here.
I invite you to take a moment to consider anything that went well today.
This can be something you are proud of,
Something you're happy about.
Something you're just glad didn't go wrong.
Think small,
Think really small.
It can be as little as being glad you got something off your to-do list.
Or proud of the way you handled a particular issue.
Maybe you had a nice two minute chat with someone while waiting for your coffee.
Maybe you're happy with the way your team handled the pressure of the day.
Maybe you got a decent parking spot in the morning,
Or your lunch was particularly good,
Or you saw a cute dog on your way to work.
Maybe you're happy it's sunny or maybe you're happy it's raining.
It doesn't matter what it is.
But take a few moments now to think of three things you are celebrating or grateful for or proud of.
If you're still thinking of your three things to celebrate,
You can pause the recording here.
That I'm going to continue now.
As you continue to breathe softly and smoothly in and out.
Become aware of the you that is beyond your tough day.
The you that's beyond the frustration or the anger or despair over your day.
This you has likely started to emerge as you did all the other practices in our time together.
You may have caught glimpses of that person,
But now I want you to focus on this calmer version of you who is unfazed by a bad day.
You may sense this as a gentle buzzing in your hands or feet or as a sense of spaciousness or lightness.
There's no right or wrong way to detect the you that's beyond the bad day.
Continue to sit comfortably and breathe,
Focusing on however it is you do detect that you.
Imagine with every breath in that that sense of you is growing.
So if you detect you as a sense of spaciousness and calm.
Envision.
The spaciousness and calm spreading throughout your body,
Growing.
And with every breath out,
You're releasing a little bit more of the effects of your tough day.
Breathe in.
And you connect a little bit more with the true you.
And as you breathe out,
You release a little bit more of the effects of your bad day.
As a final practice.
Let me share this.
And you can continue to sit here,
Breathing softly and smoothly,
In and out.
Every experience we have prepares us for future experiences.
As tough as today was,
You gained from today in some way.
You don't have to know what specifically you gained from this challenging experience that was your day today.
But you do have to be open to the fact.
That you grew,
You learned.
In some way.
Let me guide you through a brief practice that will help you absorb those lessons now.
If your eyes are open,
Close them again.
Breathe softly and smoothly in and out.
As I said a moment ago,
You don't have to know exactly what you gained from today.
But you do have to believe on some level.
That you have gained in some way.
Imagine all the lessons and gains from today appearing around you as twinkling,
Sparkling flecks of light.
Floating in the space around your body.
Imagine those flecks of light are drizzling down onto you.
Landing softly on your head and shoulders,
Hands and lap.
As they land on you,
They spread across your body,
Seeping into your being,
Filling you with light.
Imagine you're absorbing all the goodness there is to absorb from this challenging day.
All the lessons,
All the growth,
All the opportunities.
Sit like this,
Breathing softly,
Imagining this light and how it fills you up.
Now return to your natural breathing.
Sit quietly for a moment.
And when you're ready,
You can slowly open your eyes.
Thank you for joining me on the inner work of work.
I hope the sense of ease you've cultivated through this practice will continue through the rest of the day and beyond.
Until next time.
