Welcome.
Welcome,
Friends.
So whatever you were just doing.
.
.
Whether you're answering emails or sitting in a meeting.
Staring at a screen or making a list that seems to keep growing and growing.
I invite you to stop.
Just for now.
You have permission to stop.
So close your eyes.
Or soften your gaze.
Let your hands rest any place they're comfortable.
And take the deepest breath you've taken all day.
In through the nose,
Filling the belly,
The ribs,
The chest.
And then out with an audible sigh.
Huh.
Let the sigh be expressed with a sound.
Just let it be real.
Let's do that a couple more times,
Breathing in and sighing it out.
Sigh.
Take another big one.
In through the nose and then sighing it out.
Just letting go.
Letting go of whatever you may have been holding.
And now,
Just notice your body scanning for areas of tension.
Perhaps in the shoulders.
Or the neck.
Or maybe the jaw.
Just softening through the shoulders.
Lengthening through the neck.
And letting the mouth come open a little bit.
Relaxing the jaw.
Relaxing the jaw.
And then notice if your hands are gripping.
And let the fingers release.
Let your hands become soft.
So tension is the response to stress.
And stress accumulates in the body without asking permission.
It's not as if you decide to tense your shoulders or clench your jaw.
The deadline does it for you,
The stressful moment with your coworker.
Acts as a trigger.
And the reality is that you can choose to release tension.
Then you're making this choice right now.
So.
.
.
Let's talk about the stories work tells you.
Work says,
Do more.
Work says,
Resting is laziness.
And that your inherent value is measured in output.
It says emails can't wait,
Projects can't wait,
And that everything is urgent.
And here's what's true.
You are a human being with a body that needs to rest.
A mind that needs space.
And a spirit that needs fulfillment.
And not just ticking things off your seemingly never-ending to-do list.
I'd like you to imagine your workload as a physical weight,
Like a heavy backpack.
You've been carrying it for hours,
Days,
Weeks,
Maybe even years.
And right now,
In this moment.
I'd like you to imagine setting it down,
Just placing it on the ground beside you.
It's there.
It's not going anywhere.
And for these few minutes,
You're not carrying it anywhere.
So then notice.
Notice what your body does when the weight lifts.
Maybe it feels like your spine lengthens or your breathing deepens.
Maybe the chest opens.
This is the feeling.
You feeling you,
Underneath the stress.
This is who you are when you're not performing,
Producing,
Or pushing through.
Bring your attention to your breath.
Let it be easy and natural.
Just notice it going in and out.
The body breathing itself.
Just feeling the breath.
Allowing it to move.
Allowing yourself to be breathed in.
Now,
Consider why you work.
Not the immediate pressures,
But the deeper reason.
Like supporting your family,
Building something meaningful.
Learning,
Growing.
Making a contribution.
You just notice what it is.
And connect with it,
Connect with that purpose for a moment.
You open to feeling it in your heart,
Not just your head.
And just feel the purpose,
The purpose that inspires you to work.
And it's there underneath the stress.
So when you're in deep work stress,
You may lose perspective.
The email that feels catastrophic today.
Will be totally forgotten a week from now.
Or maybe the project that feels impossible will eventually be finished.
Or it won't.
Either way,
You will still be here.
You'll be breathing.
The sun will shine.
The moon will rise.
And your worth as a human being.
Has never been contingent.
On whether you make a deadline.
I like you.
To repeat softly to yourself.
I am more than my productivity.
My worth is not my output.
I do good work and I rest.
I am more than my productivity.
My worth is not my output.
I do good work and I rest.
Just take a breath,
Let that settle in.
And now.
Imagine the rest of your day or your week ahead.
Instead of seeing it as a gauntlet to survive,
I wonder if you can see it as a series of moments.
Some challenging,
Some easy.
Some boring and others meaningful.
You don't have to conquer them all at once.
You just take it one moment at a time.
One moment at a time.
And this one right now.
Is a moment of peace,
A moment of peace.
So take three breaths.
With each inhale.
I invite you to draw in a sense of calm capability.
The feeling that you can handle what comes one thing at a time,
One thing at a time.
And with each exhale,
See if you can release the urgency,
Release the urgency.
Release the false alarm that tells you everything needs to be done right now.
So inhaling,
Calm.
And exhaling the sense of urgency.
Let's do it again.
Calm capability.
And exhaling that sense of urgency.
Let's take another moment and rest here.
In this moment of peace.
And trust that you can handle things one at a time.
Giving your attention and realizing that not everything is urgent.
And when you open your eyes in a little bit,
You'll return to your work.
And you'll feel lighter.
You'll return as someone.
Who just remembered that they are a person,
Not a machine,
Not your job title,
Not a productivity score.
A person.
Person with a heart and a body.
And you are enough.
Then take a breath.
Gently,
Slowly allowing the eyes to open.
And go slowly.
Your work will be there.
And you will approach it differently with presence and an inner sense of calm.
And as you move through your day,
I invite you to pause,
Turn toward yourself.
Toward your purpose.
And toward the heart of who you are as a person.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
