Let's begin this meditation by sitting down in the cross-legged position.
Or sitting in a chair without having your back resting against the chair,
If you can.
We are going to sit in this position with a straight and tall spine for a couple of minutes.
And you can close your eyes at any time if you wish to do so.
Having nice posture shows that you are honoring yourself by how you hold yourself.
Make sure your chin is a little bit raised and your head sits balanced above your spine.
Now allow a gentle smile to appear across your face,
Across your mouth.
One that you can hold easily for a couple of minutes.
Take a nice breath in,
Holding for a second.
And let it go with a little sigh.
With the next breath you take,
Allow for yourself to draw in relaxation.
Watching the relaxation,
Letting it grow.
Feeling that letting go feeling and relaxation pour over you.
Now rest for another moment before taking another deep breath.
But this time imagine that there is a medium-sized bowl balancing on your head.
And when you breathe in,
Imagine you are filling this bowl with relaxation.
Inhale,
Filling the bowl that balances easily on top of your head.
Now hold the bowl,
Noticing the relaxation you have collected.
Let your breath go,
Imagining the bowl is pouring this beautiful relaxation out,
Letting it spill over you.
Become aware of how well you are holding your body up,
With your shoulders drawn back and down.
Perhaps this posture does not feel very comfortable for you because you don't hold yourself like this very often.
But don't judge yourself for it.
Just do it in this present moment right now.
Standing strongly through the sensation that this posture creates in your body.
Take one last breath in,
Filling yourself with the relaxation,
Holding it with a good posture.
And let it go,
Adjusting into that honorable tall spine.
Let your posture just kind of relax back to what it was before we started the meditation.
And begin to think in your mind about checking social media.
Now I invite you to imagine in your mind looking at a screen and seeing other people's lives and thinking to yourself.
Their lives sure look better than mine.
When you scan through people's photos,
You see people always have happy faces and lots of friends.
You sometimes wonder why you may not have as many friends or you see people getting married and it seems like everyone does the same thing.
White dress,
Lots of smiles,
Lots of people,
Lots of pictures.
And you wonder why you weren't invited and where is your happy wedding?
You see a notification come in,
Someone liked your photo.
And this brings you an ounce of joy because the person who liked your photo,
You don't talk to very often.
And it's good to see that they notice your pictures every now and then.
You scan along the social media wall thinking you'd only look for about a minute or two but then you see the clock,
Shocked that 30 minutes has passed by.
You've been reading people's posts and watching other people's lives and you've forgotten about your own.
How has your posture changed?
How do you feel compared to before you imagined social media?
Do you remember how your spine used to be tall and straight and how happy you felt about yourself?
Breathing in relaxation and letting that relaxation sweep over you.
So let's correct our posture again.
Tall and proud,
Breathe a nice big breath and imagine relaxation and breath.
Letting relaxation take over your body.
Bring another smile to your face and notice how the air feels around you.
What's the temperature in the room that you are currently sitting in like?
What kind of sounds are around you?
Become aware of how many different things you hear.
Take another deep breath but listen to your breathing.
Pay attention to how your body feels.
I invite you to really listen to how your breath sounds as you breathe in deeply and exhale deeply.
Listen to the sound again as you inhale and exhale.
I find that my breath sounds like a baby sleeping.
How does your breath sound to you?
Maybe your breath reminds you of the ocean or the waves or the wind blowing through a snowy forest.
Take another deep breath in and imagine that your breath sounds like something in nature.
Smelling as if you are creating the sound of nature when you breathe deeply.
Great space for your spine to be straight and tall honoring yourself by having good posture.
And hold this for a moment feeling confident and feeling calm.
Notice how you feel right now in your body.
What kinds of thoughts is your mind thinking?
What kinds of feelings do you notice your body feeling?
Maybe you feel really good right now allowing a gentle smile come across your mouth.
And now let's remember a time when you were laughing.
It could be long ago or it could be yesterday.
Remember laughing right now.
Where are you and who's around you when you're laughing?
Be present in the situation and notice how good you feel laughing.
Remembering this memory.
Are you laughing really hard or are you only laughing a little bit?
What are you doing in this visual?
Are you by yourself or are you with someone else?
Now feel how your body feels when you're laughing.
In this visualization,
Are you looking at social media?
I invite you to live your own life utilizing tools like having good posture and a smile across your face.
Instead of worrying about what other people are doing,
Within the illusion we have called social media.
Remind yourself that this is not a moment that is making you laugh.
This is not a moment that you will be remembering.
And reminding yourself that social media is taking moments away from you.
Especially when you think others are living a better life than you.
So instead of checking social media to see if someone liked your picture,
Just sit with yourself with good posture honoring yourself.
And while sitting with good posture,
Visualize yourself having the urge to check your social media right now.
But instead catch yourself before doing so and make your posture tall.
Go ahead and straighten your spine again.
Hold your chin up,
Allowing a gentle smile to rise.
Take a deep breath in.
Go ahead and straighten your spine again and hold your chin up,
Allowing a gentle smile to rise.
Take a deep breath in,
Noticing the air moving in and out.
Starting and contracting your lungs and belly.
Feel noble and dignified.
Now say to yourself quietly or repeat in your mind these positive affirmations.
I don't spend too much time looking at social media.
Social media does not reflect real life.
Looking online at people's lives does not serve me.
Living my life right now and laughing in the moment is very rewarding.
I enjoy laughing with people in person.
I enjoy creating lasting memories and letting go of the need to post all of my memories to social media.
If I do want to share my memories,
That's okay.
I do not judge myself for it.
Most moments are amazing to tune into while they're happening.
I let go of the need of approval from others on social media.
I enjoy my life as it's happening in real time.
I appreciate and am grateful for social media,
For the positive impact that it can create.
I enjoy my life much more than I enjoy social media.
I stay patient to discovering the balance of living life and having social media exist.
This is the first step towards change.
And remember to provide a safe space for yourself to just be.
