Imagine a world where the most powerful and influential people are also the most mindful.
My name is Lori Wald and for the next 20 minutes you have nothing to do.
So often when I tell people that I am a mindful meditation instructor they say to me,
Oh boy,
My husband really needs that.
He should totally call you.
Or they might say,
That would be such a great thing for my kids to learn.
It would be so great.
I mean can you imagine if all kids learned about mindfulness meditation?
And yeah,
Sure,
It would.
But what about you?
What about you,
The person who knows it would be great for all the people surrounding you?
And really the only person that we have control over and that might be somewhat moderate is ourselves.
I have this fantasy where the most powerful and influential people in the world all decide that mindfulness meditation is the one skill they really need to acquire.
Because if that were to happen,
I believe in trickle down mindfulness.
I think that as the powerful and influential became more mindful,
More aware,
More able to effectively listen and communicate and pause,
It would benefit the world.
And I suppose that's really what is so intriguing to me about spreading the word about mindfulness meditation and my hope that you too will incorporate it into your life.
Because butterfly effect,
Right?
The flutter of one butterfly wing affects something in the current of the air and that affects something else and that affects something else.
So let's hope that if we all cultivate a practice of coming to stillness,
Being more intentional,
Inserting that necessary pause in our lives,
It will be like the wing of a butterfly and the next thing will also be affected in a positive way.
So come to your comfortable yet dignified position.
Sitting or lying down,
Eyes open or closed.
And stillness is an awareness of your present situation as it is,
Not as you would hope it was,
With an awareness,
With some creativity,
With compassion,
And yes,
Even with courage.
And find your breath.
Notice the gentle rise and fall of your belly.
Or the rise and fall of your chest or even the whisper of air that comes into your nostrils cool and goes out warm.
And from where you are right now,
Let's do a short body scan to notice what our bodies feel like right now.
Notice your eyes.
Are they relaxed?
What about the muscles in your cheeks?
And your jaw.
The jaw is a place where we hold so much tension.
See if you can allow your jaw to relax.
Even let your tongue relax.
Notice your shoulders.
Anything you've been carrying around with you for all these hours,
Days,
Years,
Let everything just roll right off.
Let your shoulders relax.
Notice your hands,
Your fingers,
Your chest.
Give a little gratitude to your heart that's beating away in your chest,
Bringing blood to every cell in your body.
Let your belly relax.
And your legs.
Notice your feet.
Notice where your seat hits the chair or the bed or the floor.
Let it relax.
And now notice the vertebrae in your spine.
Your spine is a perfect metaphor for everything we want from this life.
Flexible enough to let you bend.
Strong enough to hold you erect.
Can you allow your neck to relax and the back of your skull,
Even the top of your skull,
Where your thoughts,
They're still there,
But allow them to be a little softer,
Maybe a little bit slower.
Just sit in this place and breathe.
Of course,
Breathe.
Your breath is always with you.
Where are you now?
Have you drifted somewhere?
It's okay.
Just start again.
We encourage ourselves to practice.
Like a toddler learning to walk,
You don't say,
Just get up and walk.
Everybody can do it.
No,
You say it's okay.
You're going to get it.
I believe in you.
Just try again.
Let's learn to walk together.
Just try again.
Just notice what's there.
Restlessness,
Tranquility,
Hunger,
Excitement,
Anger,
Peacefulness.
A little bit of a lot of those things.
You can hold it all at the same time.
Just notice.
Are you planning for the future?
Are you replaying the past?
Start again.
Be here now.
What's something to accomplish right now?
Just practice being.
How often people tell us to pay attention,
But no one tells us how to do that.
We're orienting ourselves to the present.
This allows us to decrease anxiety.
It puts us more in control when an anxious situation does arise because we're practicing.
Start again.
Stall Imagine a world where the most powerful and influential people are also the most mindful Let's help them get there by being mindful ourselves Come back to the present.
If you've wandered away,
It's still here for you.
Try again Can you notice the sounds around you?
I have a lot of traffic noises outside my window Can you hear the sounds without attaching a story to them?
Just notice sounds,
Anything sensory brings us into the present.
Just notice without attaching a story or a wish.
Wish they'd be quiet.
Wish that motorcycle wouldn't have backfired.
Why are they allowed to do that?
Now just come back,
Objectively noticing without attachment,
Without a wish to change it.
It takes so much energy to change what we really can't change anyways.
We're just working on accepting what is curiosity,
Compassion,
Courage So often we're annoyed with the traffic around us.
Why are they going so slow?
Why are they going so fast?
So annoying,
But we are also part of the traffic.
So we practice being mindful because we are part of the world.
The annoying traffic in the world.
We're just like the world would be a better place for me,
But it starts with me.
If you've drifted away,
It's okay.
Start again.
There's still time.
Start again.
Very simple.
For the last minute,
Just stop trying.
The onlyasm we have seen is the there.
I'm Lori Wild.
Thanks for meditating with me.
