We're going to try out this meditation for executive functioning.
This meditation is designed to help you come home to yourself,
To feel an inner sense of organization and coherence,
Regardless of what you're working on externally.
So I encourage you to begin by finding the body and by noticing what the body is currently doing.
Is the body feeling chaotic or frazzled?
I know for me my body holds on to stress and tension,
And I can feel that like a buzzing,
Like an aching in my body.
Sometimes there's heat in my head from trying to organize so many tasks.
Take a moment to scan yourself and notice these signs of stress,
Of dysregulation,
Burnout,
Fatigue,
Or anything else that might be showing up for you in particular.
If it's helpful for you,
You could experiment with a bit of movement,
Such as shaking your hands and arms,
Creating a vibration,
Letting your muscles hang loosely on the bone,
Wiggling your shoulders up and down,
Scrunching your face tightly,
Tensing the muscles up in your body as tight as you can,
And releasing them.
So wherever you are right now,
I want you to find your way to a neutral breath,
Just letting the breath be the way it is,
No sense of pressure or having to do it right,
Just noticing the in-breath,
Oxygen's flowing through your nose into your lungs.
It's being exchanged with carbon dioxide,
And the carbon dioxide is moving through your airway,
Passages back out through your nose.
Staying with this for now,
The breath coming in,
The breath going out.
If breath is feeling stressful to you,
Shift your awareness to the weight of your body sitting on the ground,
Sitting on a chair,
Wherever you might be,
Doing a gentle swaying side to side,
Almost like the breath coming in and going out.
Close your eyes if that feels okay for you.
Turn your attention inward.
Allow yourself to become aware of the executive dysfunction that happens,
And how it's experienced internally in the body.
Notice any constriction,
Any tightness.
You can pay attention to the types of thoughts that you have as I say those words,
Executive dysfunction.
What happens throughout your day?
How do you occupy your body?
In ways that engages with this executive dysfunction.
What does your heart rate do when you're trying to be organized?
Even more,
We can turn towards the emotional experience of this.
Witnessing in yourself what types of emotions you have about your struggles with executive functioning.
Tiredness,
Shame,
Discouragement,
Anger.
In witnessing this right now,
You don't have to judge whether it's right or wrong,
Or what action you should take.
This space,
This meditation is very simple.
It's just to be here right now with yourself,
Just the way you are.
And if it's possible to bring some kindness to the inner experience you have around executive functioning.
Sometimes kindness for me feels like a gentle light shining on my body.
And it might actually be helpful to open my eyes and just see the light from the window coming in and gently washing over me.
It could feel like your cat or your dog cuddling up to your side.
Or a loved one who might just be near you in the space,
Even if they're not there right now.
Even if executive functioning is hard for you every day,
It's possible to have a moment like this where your intention is to be gentle and kind with your body and your mind,
Creating space to be human outside of the sphere of doing and executing and achieving and accomplishing.
Right here in this space,
You have permission to just be you,
To drop all the labels,
All the words,
All the tasks and the roles.
Coming back to that neutral breath,
Or again the swaying of the body back and forth.
Taking note if there have been any shifts for you throughout this practice.
Thank you so much.
I'll leave you here for now.
Please follow along with me on Insight Timer if you're interested in more neuroaffirming meditations.
