Removing the tug of stress.
This time is to become aware of what may be bothering you,
Explore any triggers you may have,
And to come to peace with them.
As you settle into a comfortable position and allow yourself to relax,
Close your eyes.
Start to feel a sense of calm.
Take a deep breath in and release.
For a few moments,
Just focus on your breath.
Notice when you're breathing in and breathing out.
Allow yourself to feel lighter with every breath.
Consider your life to be a movie.
You are the protagonist going through all the ups and downs of the story,
Feeling all the emotions as you experience them.
In meditation,
We try instead to take a seat in the theater and watch our life as if it were a movie.
Noticing the space between you and the emotions in the movie.
There may be fear or stress,
But you are not the fear or the stress.
It's the creation of that space between you and the movie that we try and achieve in meditation.
We don't press pause on the movie,
Meaning it's okay to have emotions,
Thoughts,
Feelings.
Instead,
We watch the movie and celebrate when we notice that space that we've created.
With that,
Come back to your breath.
Comfortably breathing in and comfortably breathing out.
Today's session is around stress.
The big stressors,
The small ones,
And the triggers.
They'll carry weight somewhere in your body,
Perhaps in your stomach.
Much of the weight we feel of stress is a result of unfinished thoughts that need time and attention to dissolve.
This session is to give them that time.
I want you to imagine your thoughts and stressors as cars in a traffic jam.
Some days your mind is an open road,
Clear and fluid.
But in others,
Your mind is jammed,
Bumper to bumper.
With our attention,
We are going to start clearing cars on the road and let your mind relax.
As you continue to breathe,
Let a thought that's bothering you bubble up to the surface.
Take your time here to watch what's bothering you.
Discover that car or truck that's blocking the way.
As you surface it,
Rest on it.
Explore why it may be bugging you.
Tell yourself it's okay to have that thought.
If you're bringing up stress from work,
It's okay to be overwhelmed.
When you feel like you've spent enough time reflecting on the thought,
Come up with a quick one-line solution that may help put it at ease.
If you are upset with someone,
It could be that you decide to give them a call or simply a line of forgiveness.
And with that,
Let it go.
No need to get into too many details.
Just give yourself a rough solution to help the thought settle down and slowly ease the traffic of your mind.
With that,
Come back to your breath,
Comfortably breathing in and comfortably breathing out.
Repeat this exercise with other dwindling thoughts in your stomach.
One by one,
Bring them to the surface.
Let them gain comfort.
Give them attention.
And when you're comfortable,
Provide yourself a one-line solution to let the car go.
Notice the sound of a notification,
The disruption.
What did it trigger?
How do you feel?
In today's world,
We have a lot of triggers.
These triggers behave like accidents in our traffic jam,
Making notions and ideas collide.
But the same process applies.
Notice the trigger.
How did it make you feel?
Give it some time to unpack and let it go.
Removing the accident and letting things roam more freely.
Come back to the exercise of surfacing a thought,
Giving it time,
And letting it go one by one.
As you continue,
Appreciate the lightheartedness of coming to terms with each one of these stressors.
As you repeat this exercise,
You'll notice some days where your road and mind are naturally more clear,
And thoughts you would have dealt with before are automatically relieved.
Notice also the distance you are creating between you and your emotions or thoughts.
Remember,
One argument,
Stress,
Or emotion does not define you.
You are sitting in the theater and enjoying the movie.
With that,
Open your eyes and indulge.
Thank you.
