Hello and welcome back to Insight Timer.
This is Shannon Algeo and I am a psychotherapist,
I'm a meditation teacher,
A poet,
A researcher,
A curious human being,
And I am delighted to be guiding this practice today to explore the nature of procrastination for you.
Procrastination,
How do we get free from it?
How do we take action in the face of it?
How do we not let it hold us back for days,
Weeks,
Months,
Or years?
And procrastination can often be elusive,
Like what is the root of it?
It can come from feelings of,
You know,
Complicated self-worth or perfectionism.
Lack of clarity can drive procrastination or a fear of the unknown,
Like what's on the other side of the action that we might take.
You know,
There's that quote,
We miss 100% of the shots we don't take.
And this meditation is really to come home to yourself and to come home to your values,
To come home to what's important to you,
And come home to clarity about the next right action to move through procrastination.
Because we might not fully break free from it.
We might not ever be completely done with resistance or hesitation or doubt.
However,
We can move through the night and find the light of morning that awaits us on the other side.
And so let's begin by finding a comfortable seated position.
You can also always lie down for any of my practices or any practice that you do.
And let's explore the inner realms of this moment.
Maybe there's something that you are avoiding doing.
Some part of you is avoiding taking action right now around a task.
And so let's sit with it.
Sitting with and being with what's here and becoming curious about the nature of whatever might be holding you back.
Could be the voice of limitation,
Maybe a self self-inflicted limitation or the voice of someone who you heard as a child growing up.
Ultimately,
Procrastination is a quality of fear of the unknown in one way or another.
And so dropping the awareness into the body into this moment right now and just come to exactly what is here.
Can you bring your awareness to the physical sensations in the body and perhaps even feel where the resistance lives right now in the body as a sensation?
Where where do you feel stuck or blocked or tense or restricted or tight?
Where does that feeling of being held back show up in the physical body right now,
If anywhere?
And then bring the awareness to the center of the solar plexus,
The fire of the belly,
The core,
The abdomen.
And take a couple of deep breaths into your belly.
This is the center of your core sense of self,
The center of your being.
Perhaps noticing if you can take some elongated exhales as the belly moves back towards the spine.
And full inhale and long slow exhales.
You might visualize a flame in the solar plexus like an internal sun,
A fire,
A life force energy,
An eternal heating system from within.
And this is your this is your power.
Your inner strength,
Motivation,
Inspiration.
And just imagine for a few moments here that your breath is a wind that is fanning the flames of your inner strength and your inner purpose,
Your inner flame.
And taking a few moments and a few breaths to just sit with this question.
What is the one thing,
And there may be a few,
What is the one thing that my soul,
That my spirit most wants to do right now?
If I were to arrive on the other side of this resistance,
What would it feel like to complete this task?
To be already done?
Notice your body as you reflect on these questions.
What is the one thing in the way right now?
What is the primary block or obstacle that is preventing me from flowing forward into action?
Breathing and letting your body and internal wisdom find the answer.
What is the one block in the way?
And lastly,
What is the next right action?
What is one action you can take right now today following this meditation that can move you into flow or the beginning of a snowball effect?
Remember,
As Dr.
Martin Luther King says,
You do not need to see the whole staircase.
You just need to take the first step.
And so what might it look like to take the first step?
I'm just taking a few more moments here to listen to the body breathing.
Hear yourself and hear your breath.
Bring the awareness back to your core again,
The center of yourself,
The internal and eternal flame.
And to close this practice,
If it feels comfortable for you,
We'll bring the hands together to prayer.
Resting the thumbs against the sternum and lifting the sternum up into the thumbs.
So the sternum is touching the thumbs and the thumbs are resting on the chest.
And remembering the power of your presence,
Remembering the power of your breath.
Remembering that there is an internal and eternal flame that is self-guided and self-directed.
And through the practices of meditation,
We build a mind that we can trust.
And when there is an action that is aligned with our soul,
With our spirit,
It is our duty and our commitment to step forward in the face of fear,
In the face of the unknown,
To take an action,
Any action,
No matter how small.
So may you step forward with grace and self-compassion and courage as you face what's ahead.
Thank you so much for practicing with me.
I'll see you soon for another meditation here on Insight Timer.
Many blessings.
