Hi,
And welcome to the Mind Management Meditation on Managing Stress.
We come up against stress regularly in our daily life.
Some stress can be positive,
And can motivate us to move forward and work hard to achieve a goal or to finish a project on deadline.
But negative stress,
Over time,
Can affect our health,
Both mentally and physically.
We can't always avoid stress,
But we can find ways to manage it.
And this meditation will lead you through a technique to help you let go of negative stress.
Take a few moments to sit comfortably.
Relax your shoulders,
Your jaw,
And close your eyes.
First,
Bring your attention to your breath.
Notice how the breath is coming in and out of your body.
Consider your breaths short and shallow,
Or long and deep.
No need to judge your breathing,
Just notice.
Over the next few breaths,
See if you can lengthen your inhalation and exhalation a bit.
Begin to count your breaths,
Letting your inhale and exhale be the same length.
So if you're inhaling for a count of three or four,
Then exhale for a count of three or four as well.
Continue to breathe,
Simply counting your inhalation and exhalation.
If you find your mind wanders or becomes distracted,
Simply bring your attention back to your breathing.
When stress occurs in our daily life,
We have a choice in how we respond to our thoughts surrounding the stress.
We can attach weight to these thoughts and let our minds continue to follow a dialogue around what's causing stress,
Or we can acknowledge the thoughts that come up and then let these thoughts go.
They are just thoughts.
To train your mind to let go of negative thoughts,
Bring your attention back to your inhale and your exhale.
Your breathing rhythm will remain steady,
But instead of continuing to count your breaths,
As you inhale,
Say in your mind the word let,
And as you exhale,
Say in your mind the word go.
With your inhale,
Say the word let,
And with your exhale,
Say the word go.
Continue to repeat these two words in your mind as you breathe in and out.
Now simply breathe normally and continue to take five more breaths.
Bring your attention back into the room.
Notice your hands and feet moving your fingers and toes a bit.
Take a moment to notice how your mind and body feel.
Slowly open your eyes.
You can apply this technique to manage stress at any point in your day.
We can't erase stress,
But meditation can certainly help us deal with the thoughts that surface as a result of it.
Thanks for meditating with us.
We look forward to seeing you tomorrow.
