My name is Lisa Jacob and welcome to your meditation.
I'm so glad you're here.
So let's get settled in.
It does not matter what your posture looks like for this meditation.
Traditionally,
When we meditate,
We sit spine long.
But if that doesn't work for you,
If you are more comfortable lying down,
That's totally fine.
We don't want body pain to get in the way,
So try to make yourself as comfortable as possible.
You have the option to close your eyes.
If that does not feel good to you,
You can just lower your gaze.
Maybe finding one thing to rest your gaze on lightly.
You're not staring at it,
But you're just letting the eyes relax.
Now maybe taking stock of the body here.
Noticing if you've got your shoulders up around the ears,
Let them drop down.
Noticing if there is tension in the hands.
Maybe making a fist,
Balling up those fingers,
Squeeze tight,
Tight,
Tight.
And then release the hands.
Shake them out and let the hands rest gently in the lap.
So when we meditate,
We're really just trying to work with our focus.
The mind is going to wander because that's what the mind does.
It's not a problem.
It's just a fact of the mind.
That's why they call it a monkey mind.
It bounces all over the place,
But we are training it to come back to the present moment.
To come back to right now.
To not obsess about the past,
Not worry about the future.
But to notice what's happening in this moment.
From a place of observation,
Not judgment.
So one way I like to do this and refocus the attention is by looking for the space.
When you take an inhale,
When you get to the top,
When your lungs are full,
There's a tiny space before you exhale again.
After that next exhale.
There's a tiny space before you take the next inhale.
See if you can dwell in that space just a moment longer.
See if you can find yourself in that place where the lungs are full.
And when the lungs are empty.
In mindfulness and meditation we talk a lot about creating space.
We work to create space in the breath.
Space between the thoughts.
In yoga we're working to create space in the body.
And ultimately we are trying to cultivate this sense of creating space between our triggers and our responses.
So that out there in the real world,
When somebody cuts us off in traffic,
When we get that passive aggressive email,
When somebody is just seemingly trying to ruin our day.
Instead of going into a knee-jerk reaction that might not serve us very well,
We can create space.
We can come back to our breath.
And ultimately we can choose our response.
Notice here if you can create some more space in the body.
Can you lengthen through the spine?
Can you breathe deeper into the chest?
Into the belly?
Can you create space between the shoulders and the ears?
Can you relax the jaw?
Creating space between the teeth.
Can you smooth out the forehead?
The body and the mind are one.
We often treat them as if they are completely separate.
They're not.
So as we work with our mindfulness,
As we work on managing our anxiety,
As we work on processing our trauma and our pain,
We need to work with both the body and the mind.
So we can create that space by continually coming back to the present moment.
By noticing when we have been caught in the past,
In the future,
In judgment,
Making to-do lists,
Scheduling,
Critiquing,
Analyzing.
Give it some space.
Everything that you need to do will be waiting for you later.
This is a time for you.
This is a time when sitting and breathing is enough.
We are so often distracted in our everyday lives.
We have work and family.
We have phones.
There is constantly something to do.
And that's great.
There can be a lot of joy in that.
But we need to find balance between doing and being.
And sometimes just being is enough.
There is nothing here to strive for.
There is nothing here to accomplish.
There are no winners or losers.
It's impossible for us to get rid of our thoughts completely.
We don't want to do that.
All we're trying to do is change our relationship to the thoughts.
We don't need to follow each one down the rabbit hole.
We don't need to take them all so seriously.
You can notice your thoughts.
You can create some space.
And you can let them float on by.
Not every thought is worth your time and energy.
Not every thought deserves your attention.
And when we learn to pick and choose our thoughts,
It's like closing out extra browser tabs.
It increases our efficiency.
It gives us more space.
We become able to focus on what matters.
We become able to focus on what matters.
In the final few moments here.
In the final few moments here.
Coming back to the body.
Noting if there is anywhere where you are holding tension.
Letting that relax just a little bit.
Good.
Take a deep breath in through the nose here.
Let it go.
Good.
Two more times.
Deep inhale through the nose.
Get loud here.
Really let go.
One more time.
Breathe in everything you need.
And exhale everything that is no longer serving you.
And then exhale.
Gently let those eyes open maybe taking a bit of a stretch here.
Maybe just taking a moment to notice how you feel in this moment.
Acknowledging that you did something really wonderful for yourself.
Maybe you did it for me.
But you did it.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you.
