Welcome to this mindfulness meditation on dealing with change.
We're going to begin this session by getting comfortable.
So you may choose to lie down flat,
To sit up,
And sit up on a hardbacked chair,
Or on a sofa,
Or on a bean bag on the floor.
Find a position that you're comfortable in.
We're going to begin the session by taking in a deep breath through the nose,
Holding it for one or two seconds,
And then releasing it in a long blow.
If it helps you can imagine blowing a candle flame gently enough not to blow it out,
But causing it to flicker.
We're going to do this a couple of times now.
So deep breath in through the nose,
Hold it for a second or two,
And then release in a long out breath.
Do that one more time.
Now you can allow your breathing to return to its normal rhythm,
And if you feel comfortable doing so,
You can allow your eyes to gently close.
Very often during mindfulness meditation we focus on our breathing as an anchor to the present moment.
Each time we become aware of thoughts distracting us,
We can simply note them,
Acknowledge that we've had a thought,
We can let them go and focus our attention on our breathing.
In this meditation I'm going to ask you to visualise a picture.
The picture is of you as you see yourself now.
Take a moment to try to imagine yourself sitting or lying where you are,
And have a clear picture of yourself in your head.
Throughout this track,
From time to time,
I'll ask you to return to that image of you.
When we approach new situations in life,
We're often very concerned about how the change is going to affect us.
Very few things in life stay the same.
In fact,
Change is the only thing we can be 100% certain of.
Your friendships will change,
You yourself physically will change,
Your environment will change.
So learning to deal with changes is a very important part of learning to accept who we are and to accept our place in life.
Whether the changes you are facing are large or small,
Focusing on yourself as an agent within the change is always going to help you to cope with the external changes which are taking place.
This will become clearer in just a moment.
Focus on the image that you created of yourself.
Note your physical features,
But note also the underlying feeling of who you are.
Note that that person does not change when external circumstances change.
Emotions are something that happen to us.
We don't choose them.
Thoughts happen to us.
We don't always choose our thoughts.
And outside events happen to us.
We don't always choose them.
But we can choose our responses,
We can choose our reactions,
And we can choose our actions.
Focus again on the image you have of yourself.
Notice how the central part of you,
Your physical features,
The underlying feeling,
Has not changed.
We are always free to continue to choose whichever emotion we are feeling.
Or we are free to let those emotions go.
We are free to choose to continue to be afraid of changes that are coming.
Or we can choose to let fear go.
We are free to continue to be anxious about changes that are coming.
Or we can let our stress and our anxiety go and refocus on the image we have of ourselves.
We are free to continue to feel self-conscious.
We can let go of our self-consciousness and return to the secure image that we have of ourselves.
You are free to resist change or to accept change.
You are free to live in the past and to regret changes that have occurred.
But you are also free to focus on the image you have of yourself,
To live in the present moment,
And to accept the challenges that changes will bring your way.
You are free to choose to be open to new events.
Reflect back on the image you have of yourself.
How do new events that you anticipate affect that image that you have of yourself?
You are free to be open to new ideas.
How do new ideas affect that image that you have of yourself?
You are free to be open to new people and new relationships.
How do those new people or new relationships change the image that you have of yourself?
Reflect back onto that image of yourself that we began this session with.
And notice that these external events cannot change who you intrinsically are.
You are free to choose to be open to new surroundings.
These new surroundings will not change who you are.
The image you hold of yourself remains constant.
The image you hold of yourself is your identity.
External events,
Be they new people,
New ideas,
A new environment,
New possibilities,
Offer you the opportunity to grow.
They offer you the opportunity to accept the changes that are occurring around you.
But they don't threaten that central image that you hold of yourself.
The person that you are can stay constant and steady amidst the changes that you are currently dealing with.
Take a moment to focus strongly on the image that you had at the beginning of this session.
Hold that picture in your mind.
And as you hold that picture in your mind,
Imagine the changes that you are anticipating.
Do they evoke emotion?
You are free to accept that emotion or to let it go.
Do they evoke thoughts?
You are free to accept those thoughts or to let them go.
You can come back to this image of yourself at any time by simply returning your focus to the internal picture of yourself and holding that image steady in the midst of change that you are dealing with.
Focus your attention once more,
Very clearly,
On the image you held of yourself.
And now bring your attention back to your body,
To your physical presence where you are now,
Maybe the weight of your body on your feet or your legs if you're sitting in a chair,
The weight of your body on the floor,
The texture of your clothing,
The sounds that you are aware of in the place where you are.
When you are ready,
You can gently open your eyes.
Thank you.
