Exploring Victim Mindset: Diabetes Discussion & Meditation

Join Nurse Coach, Patricia Daiker, RN for an interactive session to explore the victim mindset that is keeping you from the life you desire. This track is beneficial to people who live with diabetes or other chronic conditions. Patricia lives with Type 1 diabetes and offers a holistic approach to health issues that empowers individuals to live fully and happily despite any medical challenges they face. Please join Better Diabetes Life circle on Insight Timer.

Transcript

So my name is Patricia Baker.

I am the owner and founder of a company called Better Diabetes Life.

I am a board certified nurse coach,

Registered nurse,

And I live with type 1 diabetes.

And if you'd like to learn more about my services,

My programs,

My offerings,

You can always go to my bio here on Insight Timer and access my website.

And that's got my blog,

Social posts,

But there's a wealth of information.

There's tons of things you can read and look at and well,

You can access my services that way as well.

So tonight what we do is we talk about 30 minutes upfront about a topic.

Tonight we're talking about the victim mindset and then we'll do a guided meditation.

And really it's to make sure that we're taking care of all aspects of self.

We have to take care of our physical self,

Right,

With our body.

But we also need to be aware of what's going on in our mind because that really colors our view of the world.

And also our spirit,

Sometimes our spirit,

Our self,

Our essence gets kind of pushed away.

And we can start living for our condition maybe.

So the cool part is we have options,

Right?

And so that's what we're going to talk about.

This topic tonight is victim mindset.

And I know that can be a triggering word,

So as we talk through that,

This is not victim as in being taken.

This is thoughts in our mind,

Right,

The mindset that I can't or I'm stuck.

Those are the things that we're talking about.

But it's very much,

And so we're going to unpack what that means as we go through the night.

All the teachers on Insight Timer are very thankful for your donation.

So monetary donations help keep the platform going.

And the teachers also get a small percentage of that,

So that helps as well.

If donation monetarily is not within your ability,

More than that,

I would like you to tell someone.

If this is helpful for you,

If this is something that you don't find often in healthcare or wellness and that you think is beneficial,

Please share.

But that's probably the biggest gift that you could give to me.

All right,

So tonight,

As I said,

We're talking about overcoming this victim mindset.

We feel stuck,

And so we'll get there and we'll dive through it and we'll do a little exercise.

You may want a pen and paper for later,

And then we'll do the meditation.

But when we start,

We always like to gather,

And I think this is one of the most important things because one of the hardest things,

I think,

In life and in dealing with chronic situations is feeling different,

Feeling other,

Feeling outside of what everybody else gets to do,

Right?

So tonight,

As we come together,

We gather in a place of connection,

Of safety,

Of welcome.

We are committed to being here,

To holding space for each other,

And even though we don't see each other,

We don't know actually who everybody is,

Our energy comes together,

And one and one is not two,

It's a lot more.

So just being here,

Doing the same thing at the same time,

Thinking some of these same thoughts can be very beneficial and it can be soothing if you're feeling alone and isolated.

So I want you to imagine that you are in a place that's very familiar and comfortable for you.

Maybe a kitchen where you grew up,

Maybe a friend's house,

Maybe a picnic table,

Maybe a party,

Maybe a dorm room with friends,

Who knows,

Right?

Some place where you experience connection,

Some place that's safe for you,

That feels open.

I want you to remember what that feels like to be among friends,

Among people who understand you,

Who you don't have to tell your story to,

Who understand your journey,

And I want you to know that we hold each of us in that same space,

Right?

So if you live with a chronic condition,

Diabetes for me and many of us on here,

We get it.

We get what it's like to have to think about that 24-7,

Have to deal with it,

Have to worry about that,

And feel judged by that,

Right?

So in this space,

It's judgment-free.

There's nothing wrong.

I want you to imagine that feeling of warmth,

Of connection,

Of peace,

Of welcome,

Right?

That's the space we bring tonight.

That's where we do this.

We do this from a place of connection.

And as we begin,

I want you to think of an intention,

Perhaps something you'd like to cultivate in your own life,

Some feeling that you'd like,

Some awareness,

Some insight,

Right?

Something that you would like to happen as we have our time together.

Maybe it's more peace.

Maybe it's an aha moment.

Maybe it's just connection.

Whatever that intention may be.

I also like to have an intention for the peace and happiness of the world,

Right?

There's a lot of crazy stuff going on in the world,

And we are a global community.

It's amazing to me the people that follow and hop on these calls,

We're from around the world,

Literally.

That's pretty powerful to think that we can connect this way and influence the world this way.

So from this place of gathering,

We'll share an intention for the world,

For us,

For each other.

And that intention is,

May we be hopeful.

May we be empowered.

May we be joyful.

May we be free.

And I invite you all just to smile right now,

That we're here,

That you showed up,

That you did it.

Whatever today held,

You survived,

Right?

I love that idea that no matter what life has thrown at us,

We're still here.

You still survived,

And I can always smile at that no matter what.

Alright,

So kind of a weird subject,

Victim,

Mindset.

So in my book,

I have a definition that I found that I think is kind of universal because I really don't want to talk about someone that's held against their will.

This is more the victim idea of our thoughts,

Our mind,

I can't,

I'm stuck.

So one definition of a victim says,

Anyone who experiences injury,

Loss,

Or misfortune as a result of some event or series of events,

Right?

It's pretty generic.

Typically,

It's somebody who,

Something gets taken away,

And on some aspect,

You just have a choice about it.

So for me personally,

Diabetes,

I didn't ask for this.

I didn't want it.

I don't think I did anything to deserve it.

It just is,

Right?

And so that can feel very stuck.

Like I didn't have a choice.

I didn't want that,

Right?

It's like something was done to me,

Right?

Something was done to me,

And I had something taken away.

Well,

That's true.

That happened,

Right?

A lot of us,

Yes,

Right?

We get stuck.

So the interesting thing about a victim mindset is nothing really,

Things can happen to us on the outside.

So the victim mindset,

We can't change some of the circumstances of our finances,

Where we're at,

What body conditions we may have today,

Right?

We all may be built a hand of cards that we can't control,

That we can't control our inner thoughts,

Right?

We do get to choose that.

So often when we,

Those limiting thoughts and the thought,

It's what we decide in our head,

What we believe in,

What we agree to.

And sometimes we build our own little box and trap ourselves mentally,

Right?

We've decided it's a certain way.

This is how it is.

This is my belief system.

And it may not serve us.

It may be very limiting,

Right?

And that's the condition we're talking about.

The hard part is you've got to step away from yourself just for a moment to notice it's happening.

So we're going to do some things tonight to sort of talk through that.

Characteristics of this victim mindset.

I don't have any power.

I don't have any options.

I can't.

I believe I can't.

They should.

She should.

I should.

Right?

That shoulding,

That there's some expectation.

Whatever that is,

There's some belief system that keeps you from where you want to be,

Right?

Mentally,

Not physically.

Mentally.

This has been around a great while.

I have a couple quotes again from my book that I think they're amazing.

So these are nothing new,

But Marcus Aurelius,

Right?

He's a Roman emperor from long,

Long ago.

You have power over your mind,

Not outside events.

Realize this and you will find strength.

So this isn't anything new,

Right?

Mahatma Gandhi.

Nobody can hurt me without my permission.

Right?

It's that permission we have inside.

In the Buddha,

No one saves us but ourselves.

No one can and no one may.

We ourselves must walk the path.

Right?

So there's a lot of things where we agree to limitations.

I would even say as a nurse,

The medical system wants you to agree to some limitations.

You shouldn't do this.

That's risky.

Right?

That sort of thing.

When we believe that we are stuck,

That there's some limitation put on us,

Our natural and human condition is that fight or flight response.

Our nervous system is going to push back.

It's like,

I don't want to be stuck.

I don't like this and let's fight against this.

That is a helpful survival mechanism.

We're really,

Really thankful that our bodies do that until we get stuck there and then it doesn't serve us anymore.

What typically happens,

And this is where,

Especially with diabetes,

You try,

Try,

Try,

Try,

Try and you do it all and you give it so much energy and you don't like it.

And then you try and you work against it and you do it and you have just all this effort and the result is about the same as if you don't try.

Or you go to the doctor and they still are very critical of your performance or your abilities.

We go from that fight or flight,

That sympathetic nervous system state,

To this aspect of our dorsal vagal nervous system,

Which is shut down and overwhelmed.

Shut down and overwhelmed in the medical community is called non-compliance.

You didn't do what you're supposed to do.

I don't believe in it at all.

I disbelieve we get stuck in one of those states.

But if you kind of imagine that trapped sort of feeling,

You fight,

Fight,

Fight,

Fight,

Fight and at some point there's a give up.

And it's usually one or the other,

Right?

Neither of those really serve us,

Especially in our belief system,

Right?

These are survival states.

Very good when you're really under threat,

But for a long-term strategy for health,

Of dealing with a chronic situation,

It's probably not going to serve you.

And they're related to trauma,

So it kind of comes back to that original definition,

Something bad happened to you.

You had a loss,

You got an illness,

Something was taken away.

And I guess this is where we're going to get to the next thing,

Is are you focusing on what you can't do or what you can't do?

Not a long-term strategy.

We either get exhausted,

We run out of steam because we're fighting against whatever this is,

Or we just give up.

And either of those places we don't get better,

We don't heal,

We don't find peace.

How do we get to the healthy place,

Right?

How do we do this?

Obviously it is,

If you've heard me talk,

First of all it's safety.

How do I get to a place that's safety?

Even if I physically can't or I'm frustrated,

That fighting against it,

It's really hard and exhausting.

So,

Kind of like when we do meditation,

We release,

Right?

We let go.

We choose to take a deep breath together,

Right?

We relax a little bit,

And so when we're fighting against it,

Just my chest gets tight,

Just feeling about that,

Right?

So,

How do we get to a healthy place?

Empowerment,

Feeling like we have choices,

Feeling safe,

Taking ownership.

If you own something,

It feels pretty much like it's yours,

You have more control over it.

If you don't feel like you own it,

That's that victim thing.

And mindfulness,

Just being aware of what's going on in our brain,

That it's helping or not helping.

So,

I'm going to start,

There's a million ways we can do this,

And I've worked with people on different scenarios,

But we'll start with empowerment through choice.

So,

When we feel like we don't have choice,

That's where that trap is sort of feeling unstuck.

But all it takes is one little crack in the door,

One little opportunity,

One little option,

And we can start opening the door.

And if I get to choose something,

I'm taking my power back.

That feels better.

So,

These are the weird things,

Because it's kind of counterintuitive.

I can choose to surrender to what is true right now.

So,

What is true right now?

I can have physical limitations,

I can have blood sugars that aren't where I want them to be,

I can be nauseated and I can't go to work.

There are things that may be happening,

And I can surrender,

And just accept that what is true right now is what is true.

So,

Choose to surrender to what is true right now.

Not maybe a hundred years ago,

Five days ago,

Two minutes ago,

Now.

Right now I'm here,

I'm listening,

I'm not somewhere else,

I'm focused on you.

I'm okay.

Right now I'm okay,

Right?

It's okay.

I can accept what is true.

I don't have to like it.

It doesn't mean I agree with it.

Actually,

I don't really have that feeling.

I used to hate having diabetes,

And I really don't hate that part of my life anymore.

It just didn't serve me to be out of myself.

Accepting what is true.

This is who I am.

This is how it works.

This is my life,

And I don't,

I choose to let that go.

This is me,

This is how it works,

Right?

Because I choose to,

Ugh,

It feels so much better than if I don't get to.

One of my favorite strategies is pause.

If you are reacting and running and shaking the cage and fighting and mad and angry,

You're not thinking,

Right?

You're in those states of being hijacked by your body.

You're in your head.

You want to get in our heart,

Just pause.

I love a breath.

A breath is a great pause,

Right?

To stop.

Like,

What is going on?

What am I believing?

What's really true?

What's really in my way?

Because we start telling ourselves a story.

I have a teenage daughter.

Oh my gosh,

The stories she tells because her prefrontal cortex,

Her brain,

Believes whatever her narrative is.

We all do that to some extent.

As we get older and wiser,

We can start questioning the stories we tell ourselves.

What's going on in your head,

Right?

Is your head really telling you the truth?

Probably not.

If you're in that fight or flight state,

Your head is looking for danger,

Trouble,

Problem.

It's looking for all that stuff.

And it will find it,

And it will tell you all the things you should do,

Couldn't do,

Can't do.

Like,

It will warn you,

Right?

That's your job,

Your sympathetic nervous system.

That aspect of your brain is to keep you safe.

Right?

That's exhausting.

It's not creative.

It's not where you're going to heal.

It's not where you're going to have peace,

Right?

Fight or flight is not peace.

Those are two diametrically opposed conditions.

Likewise,

If you're on shutdown,

If you just can't go anymore,

Right?

So we have to be in that middle space,

And we can get in that middle space with just a pause sometimes to realize,

Oh,

What state am I in?

I'm spinning in my head,

Or I've shut down.

That's the first step of just noticing.

Like,

If you can do that,

Then you can go,

Okay,

Wait a minute,

I'm taking a pause.

I'm just going to take a breath right now,

Right?

Or I'm going to,

Hmm,

Why am I thinking that?

Like,

That curiosity pops in.

And then you can choose to focus.

You're like,

You know what?

I see those thoughts.

I hear what that's saying.

It's telling me I can't.

And I'm going to ask,

Is that true?

Can I really not do that?

So I've been told I shouldn't have children.

I've been told I shouldn't work the night shift.

I don't know.

I've been told a million different things,

And some of them I agreed with,

And some of them I didn't,

Right?

But the medical system is always going to warn you.

It's kind of like a lawyer,

Right?

They're going to tell you all the possible things that can go wrong.

You have to find your truth.

Can I do that?

Is it willow?

I'll tell a really quick story,

Too.

So I have a friend.

His name is Don Muchao.

Google him.

He's amazing.

He's type 1 diagnosed early teens,

I think,

12,

14,

Something like that.

He was told to drop out of PE,

Don't do anything,

You're fragile,

Sit on the sidelines,

Wait till you die,

Pretty much.

So he was in his 40s when he started having retinopathy,

Different diseases,

Different complications from this life of diabetes.

And he just said,

I'm not doing it.

I can't just sit by the sideline.

He's reading,

Doing research.

He started walking,

And then he started running.

And last year during COVID,

He finished a race.

He ran from California to Disney,

To Florida to Disney,

Ocean to ocean.

It took him a while.

He ran about 30 miles a day.

It's crazy.

He is an ultra marathoner with type 1 diabetes.

And they told him not to.

And he just at some point,

He's like,

I'm not just going to let my eyes keep going bad.

So he's got great control.

He manages.

There wasn't a roadmap on how to do ultra marathoning with type 1.

He figured it out,

Right?

So he's a really great inspiration to me.

You make your way.

Like if it's something you go back to,

His spirit told him,

I'm not sitting down.

I'm not.

And he figured out a way to make it happen.

And you have that same feel within you.

For a long time,

He was trapped by this mindset,

I can't,

I shouldn't.

And then he said,

Wait a minute.

I want to.

Right?

I want to.

So we could do that.

You find that power through choice.

Go back there.

So choose to surrender.

I'm going to quit fighting against what is true.

Doesn't mean you like it or you don't want to change it.

But I'm just not going to spend my energy on this battle.

I'm going to accept what is true because from that place of truth,

Then I can make a plan.

And I can really map.

I'm going to pause and ponder.

Look at my options.

When you're in that place of safety,

When you're not in fight or flight,

You're not in shutdown,

That's where you can be creative.

You can think.

You can brainstorm.

Because now your resources are available and you're not in survival mode.

From a place of safety and from a place of choice and it's baby steps.

He did not start running across the United States,

You know,

In one time.

Just out of the blue.

It took time.

But he just started doing things,

Right?

Little things.

Little things.

So what did we do?

We reframe our beliefs because it's our beliefs in our mind that are keeping us stuck.

We may not be able to change the outer world.

You know,

It is what it is.

We may have physical limitations.

I have to take insulin.

I have to check my blood.

These things I have to do,

Right?

They are true.

They are true.

Do I like them?

I don't mind them anymore really.

It's like part of who I am.

But I quit fighting against them.

I just look at this is what I need to do today to be healthy,

To live my life,

To pursue my dreams.

I don't live to be diabetic.

I'm a good diabetic so I can live,

Right?

So nothing on the outside changes.

It's all right here.

So reframing our beliefs and thoughts and really like working on the lens through which we view the world.

So we're going to do something.

I guess the other thing I will say is that hard?

Is it hard to change your mind,

Change your thoughts?

Does it take effort?

Absolutely.

Yes,

It does.

But it's also hard to struggle and suffer,

Right?

So if you can just incrementally start questioning,

Changing,

Pondering,

Wondering,

That's all it takes to open the door.

And instead of going in this path,

You now shift a little bit and a little bit and a little bit and a little bit.

And over time this becomes more possible,

Right?

You begin changing how you think about things.

So we're going to do a little exercise.

This is really,

Really super simple.

Okay,

So if you have a pen and paper,

First let's take a breath.

I feel like I've talked a bunch of stuff.

Let's breathe.

Let's kind of slow back down,

Right?

And so this next thing that we're going to do,

I'm going to offer to you it's safe.

It can't be right or wrong.

I think you will find some interesting insights.

It's a really simple exercise.

Breathe.

Nothing to be worried about at all.

Okay?

But I do want you to get a pen and paper.

And we're going to do just a few minute little things.

But we're going to breathe.

And before we do this,

We're just going to ask that it's easy.

There's no fear.

You're safe.

There's nothing you can wrong,

Right?

That is wrong,

Right?

That is wrong.

And just be open.

Open to what you might find,

What you might learn.

Be curious.

Hmm,

What am I going to find out with this?

I don't want you to be scared about this.

But if you have a piece of paper,

I'd like you to write down the things you have to do.

The things that you have to do because you live this way,

Because of how you think,

Because of what others have said,

Because of what your doctor has said,

What you have to do to keep yourself alive,

What you have to do to be healthy.

The things you have to do,

Right?

So,

I mean,

For me,

I have to take insulin.

I have to take my blood sugar.

I have to have a provider.

I have to have enough money to cover this stuff,

Right?

There's some things that I have to do.

We have to sleep.

We have to stay hydrated.

Those are super easy,

You know.

But think about some of the things,

Especially the things that are a burden to you.

What do you have to do?

I have to wear glasses because if I don't,

You're all blurry.

There are things that kind of are,

You know,

We may not like,

But they're part of the truth of what is now.

So,

Go ahead and take a minute.

Think about it.

Don't think too hard.

There's no right or wrong.

So,

Don't get a little crazy.

You don't want to rush anybody.

Okay.

So,

I'm going to assume you all have a couple of things written down.

So,

I want you to look at your list and I want you to cross out the word have,

H-A-V-E,

Cross it out,

Cross it out,

Cross it out,

Cross it out,

What you have to do.

But I want you to use the word I get to.

Substitute the word I get to.

So,

For me,

I get to take influence.

I get to check my blood sugar.

I get to earn money so I can take care of myself.

I get to see my doctor.

Does that feel different?

It's just a feeling.

And having to is no choice.

No choice at all.

I don't have any choice.

Getting to is an opportunity.

Right?

I clown.

I get to.

Make sense?

Okay.

So,

Here's my third word I got recently.

This makes me cry.

Get rid of the word I get to because that is somebody giving you permission.

I choose to.

I choose to take influence.

I choose to do this on Monday night.

I choose to make time.

I choose to believe I am worth this.

Right?

Does that make sense?

I choose to.

I choose to take care of myself.

I choose to walk.

I choose to go to yoga.

I choose to meditate.

I choose to write in my journal.

I choose to say no to something.

Right?

And in that choice,

You know,

The outside world may not change,

But feel how much better that feels.

Like,

I choose to take influence.

I choose to do that because you know what?

It makes me happy and healthy.

Is it kind of a pain?

Sure.

That's accepting the truth.

It's expensive.

Sometimes it's hard to get.

Are there struggles?

Absolutely.

That's just true.

I can accept that.

That's a fact.

Choosing it because I want to because it makes my life better.

Oh my gosh.

I choose to go to that doctor and not that doctor.

Right?

Think about that.

When you think about all those things that you have to,

Right?

I want you to question,

Why do I believe this?

Did my doctor tell me this?

Does society tell me this?

Is it a person in my past?

Did my coach tell me this?

Like,

Where did that thought,

That limiting belief come from?

Who did that?

So consider,

Why do I believe this?

Where did this come from?

Who gave me this idea?

Is it true?

Do I agree with it?

And then my other favorite word is curiosity.

Right?

Hmm.

That's what?

Wow.

I didn't even realize I said that.

Why am I doing that way?

And so the voice in your head tells you a lot of stuff,

But it takes a moment to pause and look at that.

It takes a pause.

A pause is so powerful.

Right?

That new perspective.

So be curious and then choose from that place of truth,

From that place of awareness,

From that place of safety,

Choose what's next.

Right?

What do you choose to do?

And even if it is,

I choose to start thinking about this.

That could be all it is.

Right?

I choose to listen to another meditation.

I choose to do this exercise again.

I choose to share this with somebody else.

Whatever those little steps are,

The more you do in the direction of you,

The bigger it gets.

Right?

So when we think of the victim mindset,

We have these beliefs that are somehow keeping us stuck.

The solution comes from choosing to surrender to what's right now,

Fighting against the truth,

Accepting what is true.

Don't have to agree with it.

Don't have to like it.

But you can accept that today this is true.

This is just where it is.

It's really,

Really hard to want to be somewhere other than where you are because you can only be here.

Right?

We're always only ever here.

Right?

And then we get to be curious and explore and consider.

But we have to be in that place of safety.

We have to take a pause and a moment.

Right?

Is it really true?

Is this really true?

Where did I get that?

Who taught me that?

Right?

Is there another story?

Am I making up a story?

Right?

All those questions are things we can do.

Again,

In my program,

It takes you kind of through all that.

You can answer those questions and do some things like that on this stage with so many people.

I just am able to give you some guidelines.

Right?

But I hope that makes sense.

Right?

So that victim mindset is from a belief of lack,

Of limitations.

And we find choice,

Empowerment,

And safety are really good ways to kind of break that and feel better about ourselves.

Alright,

So this last part is the delicious part where we get to really take advantage of this safe place.

I want to create this place for you where we can honor our body.

So tonight we talked a lot about this victim mindset where we're stuck and we don't have choices.

And yes,

We do always have choices,

Especially in our thoughts.

And so our meditation is going to be about choosing.

Right?

Choosing.

Choosing to celebrate our body for what it has done,

For what it is today,

For what it can do.

Right?

And permission to heal.

Right?

Healing is possible in so many ways.

Sometimes our beliefs are that we're broken,

We're lacking,

We're not good enough.

And so during this time we just want to celebrate what is.

Right?

We want to celebrate the bodies we have doing the best they are because we're all here listening and watching.

That means our bodies are working to some extent.

Right?

There's something happening that allows us to share this.

So we're going to choose.

Right?

To celebrate ourself.

Okay,

So as we get into this meditation aspect of tonight's session,

I want you to get comfortable.

You get a sip of water if you need that.

And so one way we can transition from learning,

Talking,

Doing is this technique I use called polyvagal breathing.

And so it is the opposite of panting.

Right?

It is slow and intentional breathing that signals to your body that you're safe.

That it's okay.

That you are not in fight or flight.

That it is okay to be open and trusting for your resources to turn inward and the outside world can be on pause.

And so we can use our breath to transition our physical body,

Our physical nervous system.

So it's not just your mind.

Your physical body changes.

Your blood pressure changes.

Your awareness changes.

Your abilities change.

Your ability to hear,

To synthesize information change.

All from this breathing technique.

And the more you do it,

The better you get at it.

So it's breathing in to a count of four and out to a count of eight.

Prolonged exhales in and out through your nose.

Breathing in.

And I like to just imagine breathing in from my head,

Chest,

Belly and tail and then exhaling big and deep and full to the earth.

And then we breathe opposite.

We come from tail,

Belly,

Chest and head.

And then a big exhale to sky.

So we're just really moving energy through our body with our breath and just noticing and watching it flow.

Okay?

So we'll do that and then we'll just need to lean back and listen,

Relax and I will tell you what's going on.

Right?

You just follow my cues.

Okay.

Take a breath.

All right.

Swallow.

Relax your jaw.

Notice your breath.

Notice your chest.

Notice maybe any energy in your chest,

In your face,

In your shoulders.

Your muscles tight.

Just pay attention to how you feel.

We'll do this breathing exercise and I'll guide you.

We'll begin now and I want you to take a breath in from the earth up.

Breathing in through your tail,

Belly,

Chest and head.

And exhale to the sky.

Seven,

Six,

Five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Breathing in head,

Chest,

Belly,

Tail.

Releasing to the earth two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Pulling air up from the tail,

Belly,

Chest,

Head.

Releasing tension and energy to the sky two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Pulling energy and air down head,

Chest,

Belly,

Tail.

Releasing to the earth two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Breathing in tail,

Belly,

Chest,

Head.

Relax and let it go to the sky two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Full deep breath,

Head,

Belly,

Chest,

Tail.

Relax and let it go to the ground two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Breathing in tail,

Belly,

Chest,

Head.

Letting it go two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Lovely breath in head,

Chest,

Belly,

Tail.

Full expression of your exhale two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Breathing in tail,

Belly,

Chest,

Head.

Relax and let go two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Breathing light and love from head,

Chest,

Belly,

Tail.

Relax and let go two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Last one,

Breathing energy from Mother Earth through tail,

Belly,

Chest,

And head,

And opening to the sky two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Let your breath just do what it wants.

Relax and notice your body.

Anything different?

Be a little softer,

A little quieter,

A little safer.

Breathe and let go.

No tension,

Peaceful,

Calm state.

We'll repeat our intention for tonight.

May we be hopeful,

May we be empowered,

May we be joyful,

And may we be free.

From this place of peace,

Connectedness,

In this community,

I want you to close your eyes,

Lie back,

Relax.

Let now happen.

Let your heart be open,

No fear,

Open,

Receptive,

Safe.

When we affirm these truths,

You can say them after me aloud or in your head.

So we know that this is true.

I am here.

I am breathing.

I am aware.

I am not my thoughts.

I am the observer.

I am the chooser.

I am the owner of my body.

I am able.

I am worthy.

I am free to choose.

I am whole and I am okay.

And so that is true.

From this state of peace and calm,

We choose to honor our body,

Our physical form,

The only one we have for this experience on this earth.

We celebrate our body for what it's done,

For what it still can do,

For how it persists despite the obstacles.

And in this moment,

In this time,

We give ourselves permission to believe,

To believe we can be better,

To believe in the possibilities,

To know that we have innate wisdom inside us that knows how to heal.

That wisdom is there if we listen.

You can choose to hear it.

But it requires us getting quiet and opening to the possibility.

As we begin,

I want you to move your awareness to your feet.

Feel what your feet feel like.

Imagine them from the inside out.

Feel the bones,

The tendons.

Maybe there's swelling,

Maybe there's not.

The feet that have carried you from one place to another.

The feet that are the most distant aspect from your heart.

Can you celebrate the blood flowing through your feet and ankles?

The blood that's delivering fresh oxygen,

Making its way to heal every bit of tissue.

The bones joined together,

Surrounded by tissue that allow us to move about.

Can we celebrate their abilities in the past and right now?

Moving up into your ankles and your lower extremities,

Your calves.

Can you notice your legs?

Can you honor your work?

The part of you that's not always looked at,

Perhaps,

Away from your line of vision.

The muscles of your calves,

The muscles of your thighs,

Blood flowing,

Muscles constantly flexing,

Bones regenerating.

Can you imagine love and light swirling around your feet,

Your ankles,

Your legs,

Letting go of tension,

Opening to healing,

To blood flow,

To restoration.

Bringing all the things that are needed,

Even if you don't know what they are,

And you command your wisdom center to provide healing to your lower extremities.

And be grateful that this is possible.

Can you move your awareness into your hips,

Your pelvis,

The bones that frame the bottom half of you,

Your lower back,

Your tailbone,

This bowl that is a container.

Can we celebrate how it works together,

How perhaps it worked long ago,

But that it still functions today?

Perhaps it needs something,

Perhaps it's strong.

Can we be grateful for all that it does?

If we're sitting or lying,

Perhaps you can notice where your back and your legs touch,

Feel the support beneath you,

The weight of you.

Know that there is blood flowing,

Lymphatic drainage,

Fluids moving,

You are a living,

Moving system.

And it's all perfectly coordinated with very little interaction on your part.

Follow this idea of your spine,

Vertebrae by vertebrae,

Allowing buoyancy,

Fluidity,

Release of tension,

Imagine light and love beaming up your back,

From your tailbone all the way to your neck and shoulders.

From the base of your skull radiating to your shoulders,

Can you give yourself permission to let go,

To put down the weight of the world,

To let gravity hold you close and pull you down?

Can you give these muscles a break,

These parts of you that connect your arms to your torso,

Your shoulders,

Your back,

Down into your upper arms,

Your biceps,

Your muscles?

Notice your elbows,

Your forearms,

Your wrists and your hands,

Can you feel the aliveness in your hands?

Can you breathe here for a minute,

Can you feel the aspect of you that lives in your hands,

That knows how to write,

How to care,

How to cook,

How to drive?

This part of you that does the work with very little oversight,

Your hands and arms that care for you,

Pay close attention to your hands,

It's supposed to feel like if we put our hands on our face,

Touch the hands to face,

It feels healing,

Supported.

You can do that,

It's free,

Whenever you want,

Put your hands to your face.

Can we celebrate our hands and our arms?

If we poke our fingers for blood checks,

Can we be grateful that they take one for the team so often?

Move your awareness into your torso,

The holder of the organs that work together to keep you healthy,

To keep you nourished,

To keep you happy.

Your gut travels through all parts of you,

One of the oldest and wisest aspects of our nervous system lives in our gut,

It knows we're hungry,

It knows we're thirsty,

It knows when it's time to let go,

When we believe this and we know this.

But our gut also knows the home of our intuition,

It's the home of instinct,

It's the home of knowing deep in our gut.

So we should listen quietly as we celebrate and honor our gut,

The parts of us that we protect with our body,

With our arms,

With our back,

The liver,

The right upper quadrant that's filtering,

Removing toxins,

Creating new chemicals,

New hormones that are synthesizing blood products,

That are regulating glucose.

Can you allow love and light to filter through your liver,

Healing,

Repairing,

Restoring?

Let your awareness on your kidneys and your upper back above your waist and your ribs,

The kidneys that filter,

Purify,

Maintain blood pressure,

Support the adrenal glands,

And we breathe and relax and let these areas be flooded with light and love and blood,

With healing,

With wisdom,

With ancient knowledge.

Let these areas be fulfilled not only with blood but with any other aspects that are needed to be restored,

Repaired,

Rejuvenated.

And we celebrate them for the work they do 24-7,

Never stopping,

Never ending,

To keep us healthy and safe.

Let's move your awareness behind your belly button and your pancreas,

Nestled in by your stomach.

Let's move your awareness behind your belly button and your pancreas,

Nestled in by your stomach.

Can we give it permission to be better,

To receive healing,

To be restored,

To entertain the possibility of repair and rejuvenation?

Can you imagine love and light sparkling in your abdomen?

Imagine your whole abdomen at peace and ease,

These organs nestled together as a family,

Working to keep you safe,

To keep you fed,

To keep you nourished.

Can you give them permission to let go of worry,

Of holding emotions that no longer serve you,

Of relaxing,

Of rhythmic movement,

Of peace and ease and zeros?

Move your awareness into your chest.

Notice your breathing,

The air coming in and out,

Surrounding your heart,

Beating in the center of your chest.

Another area of your nervous system that is smart and intelligent and knew how to beat before your brain knew how to think.

It's old and it's ancient.

Not only does it beat,

It has a pump,

It talks,

It speaks,

It loves,

It listens.

There is a coherent coordination between your heart and your brain and your body and they like to be in sync.

Breathing and relaxing brings these things together.

Notice the rise and fall of your breath.

Perhaps you can feel or hear the beating of your heart.

Can you imagine peace and ease,

Stability,

Strength flowing across your heart?

Openness,

Receptivity in your lungs as you receive air,

As you receive light.

With each breath breathing in,

Each breath restoring,

Renewing,

Communicating with the heart.

The heart that is the central figure of your cardiovascular system,

Your blood vessels,

The flow.

We have flow in life.

As long as flow happens,

Movement happens,

Life happens.

Flow of emotions,

Flow of thoughts,

Flow of ideas,

Flow of blood.

All flow rises and falls just like your heart and just like your breath.

Up and down,

Better,

Worse,

Higher,

Lower,

Struggle,

Release,

Peace and suffering.

We can't have one without the other.

Can we celebrate this rhythm of life that courses through us?

The open,

Notice,

Feel.

Move your awareness up into your neck,

Back,

The base of your skull,

Your throat,

Your jaw,

This passageway from the outside to the inside.

The place where we express our voice,

Where we speak our truth,

A place that it may get stuck.

Can we celebrate every moment that we have said who we are,

That we have shared with another,

That our words have helped?

Notice the breath that allows us to do this.

Relax your jaw,

Relax your teeth,

Relax your face.

Breathe and let your eyeballs float,

The retina on the back of your eye.

Thousands and thousands of tiny blood vessels,

Open,

Flowing,

Converging light into what we see in our minds as the brain,

Our central hub of our nervous system,

Processing,

Coordinating,

Making up stories,

Thinking thoughts,

Having ideas.

Can you allow your brain to be in a state of peace,

Of surrender,

Of acceptance?

Can you imagine the electrical activity in your brain,

Calm,

Rhythmic,

Flowing?

And this activity deep within you is guided by your internal wisdom,

Telling your brain to heal,

Telling your brain to relax the muscles,

Telling your brain it's safe outside,

The time to open,

The time to listen,

The time to pause.

And the wisdom inside you can tell your brain this and your nervous system will respond because you choose.

You choose to pause.

You choose to notice.

You choose to be present in the truth of now.

From that place there is much safety,

There is much grace,

There is energy and excess to heal your body.

No need to fight.

No need to look outside all your energies and from this place of peace,

From this place of surrender and serenity,

We repeat our truth.

I am here.

I am breathing.

I am aware.

I am not my thoughts.

I am the observer.

I am the chooser.

I am the owner of my body.

I am able.

I am worthy.

I am free to choose.

I am whole and I am okay.

When you say this is true,

Then so it is.

From this place of peace and relaxation,

If it's goodnight time for you,

Sweet dreams,

Know that you are in a state of parasympathetic healing.

Your body is open,

Ready to heal and repair.

This is why we sleep every night.

You've just given it a head start.

You've given yourself a great gift.

If it's time to come back to present,

Take a breath with me.

Notice your body again.

Notice how you feel.

Notice your emotions.

Notice your heart.

Move your hands and feet.

Swallow.

Come back to present and we will wrap up right here.