Mind, Body, And Spirit

A well-rounded practice that will help you ease anxiety, connect with your body, and open your heart. Lou will guide you through a peaceful meditation that will comfort you, while also developing your skills as a practitioner. In the first few minutes, Lou shares how this practice was inspired by our Insight Timer community.

Transcript

Hello and welcome.

My name is Lou Redmond.

Thank you so much for being here.

Today's practice is going to be a bit of a general practice.

So we're going to touch on a few different areas within our anxieties,

Within our mind.

We're going to work on just becoming aware of different feeling tones in our bodies.

And then we're going to wrap it up with a nice soulful expression,

Just a little loving kindness to get us off on our days or get us off into our lives on a soulful note.

And I first want to share the little story of how this came to be,

Or at least how I'm sharing this.

As I'm sure you know,

If you've listened to me before,

I get to connect with you from all over the world,

Right?

I am in Northern New Jersey,

Just outside New York City.

And as I share this,

It connects with people in Russia,

Australia,

Japan,

All over the place.

It's really amazing to see how many different people have commented and the connections that I've made.

Recently,

A listener of my practices,

She was in Portugal for a while and she came back to where she's from in New Jersey and she had reached out to me to see if I was teaching in the area and I was.

And so she was coming to some of my practices,

Which was really cool to meet someone that connected with me on here.

And so she was coming to a few of my meditations.

And there was one meditation that I did a couple of times,

Which is the one that we're going to be practicing.

And like I said,

It's just a general broad meditation.

There's not a huge inspiring theme,

As I know sometimes I do behind it,

Just a good practice for us to do.

And she really loved it.

And she asked me if this was on Insight Timer.

And I said,

No,

It's actually not in this way.

And so that was the inspiration.

I said,

You know what?

Just for you,

I will go ahead and create it.

So that's how this came to be.

So you could all thank Joanna for that.

I'm sure she wouldn't mind me sharing your name.

And yeah,

Let's go ahead and get into the practice.

And so allow yourself to take any last movements and close down the eyes if you haven't.

And fall into your space.

And that may seem a little strong to fall into our practice,

But it gives us that feeling of just,

It's okay.

We can relax here for a moment.

We can give ourselves this time.

So feel the connection beneath your sit bones,

Beneath your feet.

Feel the weight of your thighs.

Relax.

Connect with wherever your hands are,

Whether on your thighs or between your lap.

Maybe even feel the texture of your pants.

Or maybe you feel one finger resting on another finger if you have some sort of mudra that you're holding.

Just coming into the physicality,

The support.

And then beginning to allow a few smooth and even breaths to enter into your body.

Feeling that lightness and that expansion with each inhale.

And further allowing yourself to fall,

To relax with each exhale.

And just taking a few more moments to get yourself in that space to receive,

To open,

To connect.

Generate these positive feelings that a lot of our meditation helps us to generate.

Feelings of peace,

Feelings of love.

And just this overall positive energy that we have surge through our being when we practice.

So you can feel that energy with each breath.

And then together with me,

Let's take a full breath in and a full breath out.

The beginning of this practice is our mind we're going to work with.

And really what that means is just noticing any anxieties that we are carrying with us at this moment.

It might be the anxiety of what we have to do today,

This week.

Or maybe it's just this generalized anxiety that comes with whatever life circumstances bring.

Whatever it is,

See if you can first maybe just feel where it is.

Maybe it's just feeling that place in the mind.

And let's see if we can move the anxiety outside of us.

So you're welcome to imagine almost as if there's like an altar in front of you.

And you're just kind of picking the anxiety out of your mind and placing it in front of you on the altar.

And you could see it as just like an energy form,

Maybe just like a dark cloud.

You can make it an object if you'd like.

And if you don't want to use an altar,

You can just kind of put it outside in front of you.

Just imagine whatever that you can do to get it out.

Just one by one.

So noting each anxiety.

In each breath,

Getting it out and getting it in front of you.

Alright,

Now that you've had it all in front of you,

What we're going to do is we're going to thank this anxiety.

We're going to thank any any uncomfort that we're feeling in this.

Because what it's there to do is really just to keep us safe.

It wants to keep us alive.

It wants to keep us doing well.

We worry because we want to make sure that we get things right.

And what a beautiful intention that the mind's trying to give us.

The mind's trying to help us.

But it doesn't always have the right outcome.

It doesn't always know what it actually does to us.

So first,

Seeing the anxiety in front of you and just sending it some thanks for,

Hey,

I know you got me.

I know you're looking out for me.

And as you do that,

Just notice if it shifts the energy at all,

Or the relationship that you have to it.

And although it has good intentions,

We're going to now say,

Hey,

It's time to go.

We don't need you.

So with each breath,

Each exhale,

Maybe imagining that anxiety starting to dissipate and float away.

Imagine each cloud on the altar starting to disappear.

Each form starting to come down.

And really allow yourself to feel this washing away of anxiety clearing the mind.

One by one,

Letting it melt away.

Getting that stuck energy out.

And then when you're done,

Take a full breath in and a full breath out.

Now that we've cleared the mind a little bit,

Hopefully that'll allow us to set some time to connect with our bodies.

And to do that,

We're going to do a pretty core mindfulness of body practice.

So what that is,

The Buddhist notion,

The Buddha would talk about these three feeling tones that are basically all of human experience.

All of human experience is either pleasant,

Unpleasant,

Or neutral.

And so one of the practices is to find these different parts of experience within our bodies and just noticing how they feel.

Not trying to change it because often our tendency is to run away from what is unpleasant,

To seek what is pleasant and to be unaware of what is neutral.

So doing that within our bodies,

We're first just going to scan your body and see if you can find any part of your body that's feeling a little uncomfortable,

Feeling a little unpleasant.

It could be a tension in your hips,

Tightness in your neck or your jaw or your forehead.

Maybe it's a negative taste in your mouth or a negative smell.

Find that space and notice once you find it,

If there's a immediate wanting to make it feel better or to resist it.

And instead see if you can just observe it.

Observe this discomfort and just breathe and be with it,

Not needing it to change either way.

And as you start to become aware and observe,

Notice if the relationship to the feeling shifts.

Maybe the feeling does change.

Maybe just by being with it,

Maybe it softens in it or maybe it strengthens from giving the energy.

Both are normal.

And just staying a few more moments.

Just staying a few more moments here.

Observing and breathing.

And slowly let that go.

And now we're going to move into finding some place in the body that is feeling pleasant,

Feels good.

That could just be the peace of sitting in your meditation space.

And maybe a clear feeling through your chest or your throat.

And maybe the absence of something that was once in pain.

Maybe we had a sickness earlier this month and there is no more sickness and we feel that ease.

Maybe it was a broken arm that we once had and we note that our arm feels good right now.

Some place that just feels free,

Feels light.

It's a little bit tougher than the uncomfortable.

It's really easy to find something wrong.

As many of us love to point out.

That's the human nature program to find something wrong.

Why don't you just find something that's right right now with your body?

And once you find it,

Notice if you want to make it feel even better.

That's our tendency.

It's the addictive tendency.

Oh this feels good.

Let's do it again.

Can I feel better?

And instead,

Just like we were before,

Observing and breathing.

Just observing here.

Just another moment.

Notice if that relationship is changing.

And then slowly letting that go.

And then finally finding a place in our body that is neutral.

Some place that we don't often feel or are aware of.

And this is probably the toughest one to note.

This could be something like our gums or the bottom of our feet or fingernails.

Some place that is neutral.

Scan your body,

Find it.

And then we do the same thing.

Just observe and we breathe and we be with it.

Nothing else to do.

No thing to change.

And then letting that go.

And then together a full breath in and a full breath out.

So we've moved into mind,

Into body,

Now into our spirit,

Our soul,

Our heart.

However you want to define that emotional,

That intuitive,

That non-physical energy that we feel throughout our lives,

Throughout our day.

The energy that sustains us,

That grows us.

And bringing our awareness into our heart center.

And feel the center of your heart,

The center of your being.

Maybe even feel a little widening through your chest as you do so.

And then giving ourselves some good loving kindness.

Because the Lord knows we could always use some.

We might as well fill ourselves with that spirit.

So you're welcome to repeat this to yourself.

You're welcome to just listen.

May I be happy.

May I be healthy.

May I be strong.

May I be safe.

May I be loved.

May I be at peace.

May I be happy,

Truly happy.

May I be healthy.

May I be strong.

May I be safe and feel safe.

May I be loved and feel love.

May I be at and know peace.

Deep inner peace.

Allow one of those energies to just cultivate within your heart and within your body.

And then sharing that energy with all who may need it.

All of our friends,

Our loved ones,

Our peers,

Our colleagues,

Our strangers,

Our world,

Our society.

May we all be happy.

May we all be healthy.

May we all be strong.

May we all be safe.

May we all be loved.

May we all be at peace.

And whatever you think this world needs,

What others need,

From your own spirit,

From your own soul,

Radiate and send that out.

Keep imagining that energy,

Receiving,

Imagining that energy being received by all of those who need it.

Let your soul speak here.

Let that energy sing out.

And then together,

One final full breath in.

And slowly let that go.

And whenever you're ready,

You can gently come back into your body and start to open your eyes.

So you can thank her friend,

Joanna,

If you enjoyed that.

I hope you did.

I hope it was supportive to you and to your day.

If you ever want to connect,

If you're ever where I'm currently at,

Who knows where I'll be soon.

Who knows where I'll be.

But I love meeting people that listen to me on here,

Online and in person.

It's a really cool experience.

So feel free.

Maybe you get to recommend a meditation.

And as always,

I love hearing your comments.

So if you do have meditation recommendations that you'd like to hear,

I'm always open to hear from you or topics that you'd like me to explore.

I really appreciate feedback from you.

So I thank you so much for being on this journey with me.

Let's continue to walk our paths with love and with strength and with purpose.

Thank you.

Namaste.

Reviews

Thank you for this deep and, at least for me, powerful meditation where my anxienty-cloud dissolved both mentally and physically… Will return to this ❤️

Super relaxing. Loved the visualization of placing and working with our anxieties

I'm South African. Living near in Cape Town. Thank you for your clear and beautiful guideness.

Really great. Do you do individual instruction? If so please let me know on here and a place that I can contact you for details. Thank you.

Lou! Thank you 🙏 that was amazing! I’m so glad you put this on Insight Timer and I’m so glad I reached out to you when I was home from Portugal to meet you and practice with you in person! It’s so wonderful to connect with you from such a far distance and to have the opportunity to listen to your meditations! Peace ☮️ love 💜 and joy 😊!

Lovely and gentle as always. Thank you Lou. Love, peace and blessings to you 💙 x

Really enjoyed that! Thank you!!

Calming, soothing meditation. Thank you 🙏

What a lovely general practice, and delivered in a fresh, friendly and unselfconscious manner! Thank you and namaste!

Sooo good! Thank you!❤

Thanx Joanna 🙏😉

Thank you Lou!!!

Awesome!! Exactly what I was looking for today. Thank you.

Gratitude to you and Joanna! I live with anxiety disorder, and the idea of making friends with my anxiety is very powerful. I imagined my anxiety as a confused, crying infant, and felt compelled to take her in my arms and soothe her. I will practice with this in mind, thank you!! I want to embrace myself, anxiety and all. ☺

Amazing, I liked the general nature of this, removing much of the "woo" makes it more accessible to my westernized, American male aspect.

Nice to check in and hit all the bases! Thanks Lou! Sending love and metta to you and yours! 🕊💞☮💞☯️🍟

Beautiful. Thank you. 💛

Thank you so much for this wonderful practice...I look forward to following you here on Insight timer.🙏

Thank you Lou
Thank you Joanna
Abundant blessings
Much Love and Light
Namaste 🙏🏼

Thank you and Joana so much!
Lots of love from Lisbon (Portugal)!
Namaste
Zé