Hello I'm Kate,
Welcome to today's mindfulness practice on believing that you are enough because you are and on reining in all those negative thoughts.
So arrange yourself in a comfortable meditation pose,
Any position works and as you settle in begin to close your eyes,
All of your focus comes to your breath.
Inhale deeply through your nose,
Exhale slowly through your nose and keep that nice deep rhythm going.
From the moment we wake until we fall asleep our mind serves up a non-stop monologue and unfortunately much of it is negative and directed towards ourselves.
We can't stop the thoughts and pretending they're not there does little good because our thoughts are powerful and we tend to accept them without question.
So we do need to pay attention to our thoughts without letting them dominate and orchestrate our lives.
Perhaps the philosophical concept of impermanence can help us.
It proposes that everything changes,
Nothing lasts forever.
Everything,
Our emotions,
Our thoughts,
Feeling,
The cells in our body,
Good times,
Bad times,
All of it,
It changes.
Impermanence,
Nothing lasts forever.
So if we can learn to simply acknowledge each thought as it arises and then let it go,
It's power over us is weakened.
They're only thoughts and just because you thought it does not make it true.
You don't have to believe everything that your mind serves up.
So notice the thoughts as they're presented,
Especially negative thoughts and note what you're thinking or feeling.
Can you label the thoughts?
Can you put emotions to the thoughts?
Are you sad,
Uncomfortable,
Resentful?
Are you disappointed?
So on and as you go through this process be patient with yourself.
This practice takes practice.
Our mind is a relentlessly busy and judgmental place.
It's a hard task master.
It's never satisfied with how things are.
It constantly serves up judgments and negative thoughts.
It creates unrealistic demands and lots of unnecessary stress.
So remember what it tells you is not necessarily true.
Acknowledge the thoughts as they arise and then let them go.
Impermanence,
When the negative thoughts become loud remind yourself who you are.
You are confident,
Determined,
Deserving,
Resilient.
You are so many things.
You are loved,
You are amazing,
You are enough.
You were born enough and nothing has changed.
When your mind tries to embed self-doubt,
Tries to erode self-esteem,
Choose not to believe.
Impermanence,
Nothing lasts forever.
Your thoughts will come and you will let them go.
Remembering that you have a choice in whether or not to believe each one.
Take one final deep inhale through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth and whisper to yourself,
I am enough.
Gently open your eyes and reconnect with your world knowing that you are indeed enough.
Thank you so much for joining me.
Until next time.
