From Grind To Kind

Explore a mindful session emphasizing observation over action. Dive into the CEO role of your life, observing sensations sans judgment. From feet to head, assess bodily sensations with kindness. Check-in with your inner self, noting emotional states. This practice fosters self-connection and appreciation. Ground yourself amidst life's hustle with this mindful approach.

Transcript

Hey, It's Doug. It's a crazy fast-paced world these days and it's so easy to get swept up in the rush. Today I wanted us to focus on being an observer as opposed to an achiever. It's going to be hard, I know, But in this session I'm going to ask you to reserve judgment and planning and rather just watch and appreciate. This is the perfect antidote to the hustle culture that is so pervasive these days. I want us to replace the grind mindset to the kind mindset. So let's do that together. Bring those eyes to close, Sit up nice and tall and begin just to breathe in and out. It's at this point that I want you to enter the role of CEO of your life. And just so there's no confusion, That's Chief Experience Observer. So you are in charge of all sensations and experiences for the rest of our time together. That starts now, Just by focusing on how it feels to be sitting, How it feels to be upright and how it feels just to be breathing. This is like your easy to-do list as this new CEO. So just come to terms with this new position, Getting used to observing, Not trying to achieve anything, Just taking note. So as you're becoming aware of how it feels to sit, How it feels to breathe and how it feels just to be in this time and this space, I want you to reflect on the fact that you are an observer and this is critical. You are not the CFA, The Chief Fault Assessor. They are taking the day off. So we're not looking to pass judgement on anything, We're not looking to say if a sensation is good or bad. We are the Chief Experience Observer, Just here to note. So as CEO, We are going to take stock of the premises, The employees and the general morale of this place you call home, Your body and your mind. Let's do that together. We'll start by just focusing on the premises, The location, That body of yours. Let's start at the ground floor, Just exploring how your feet are feeling today, This base of the body. Begin to take note of how the soles of the feet feel. Are they in some socks? Are they in some shoes? What do you note about this part of your body? Move that awareness now to the heels, This hardy part of the body that takes so much impact day by day. Just noticing how this fleshy pad feels right now. Great. Now move that awareness up to the toes, Including these spaces between the toes. Move your way from the big toe to the little toe on one foot and then the other and just notice how each one feels on the inside as well as the out. Try that now. Okay, Great. So we're well acquainted with the feet now. We're going to take the stairs up to the calves and the ankles next. Feel free to flex and point the feet to check that they are in working order. Just paying attention to any clicks, Coming aware of the smoothness of movement, The capacity for your ankle to just work in these different planes of motion and just notice the change of shape of the muscles that are moving the ankle and the foot, The shin and the calves. Just feeling these muscles slide back and forth, Allowing this movement. Okay, It seems like it's in pretty good working order. Let's make our way to the lift as we go up one more floor to the thighs. And now this is a much bigger, Expansive area, So take your time exploring it. Notice the part of the thighs that is closest to the knees first, And then just explore all the way up to where the thighs meet the hips, Noticing these big quadricep muscles, These strong muscles that keep you upright every day. Walk the perimeter now, Start to notice the back of these thighs, The hamstrings. Notice the temperature. Notice if the skin of the back of the legs is touching some fabric or maybe even the seat you're in. Just taking note of any temperature, Any pressure, Any sensations. Just noting it all down as you become acquainted with this new level of your body. From here, We move our way up even higher, Jumping back in that elevator and ascending to the torso, Checking first the belly, Very much the middle of the premises, And noticing the expanding and collapsing of the middle of the body. Just as we did before with the shins, Just noticing the muscles that are responsible for the movement here and checking for how smooth the movement is. Are we making the most of each breath? Could there be more expanse on the next inhale? And could there be more relaxation on the exhale? Bring your attention now to this all-important column that runs all the way from the hips to the neck, This central column of the body, What you know as the spine. Of course, It's important, Just as it would be in a building, That this column, This structure is nice and straight and strong. So feel free to bring some movement in here to isolate the spine and bring it to as straight as a position as you can, As you're capable of doing. Then notice how the rest of the body follows suit. Become aware of your shoulders and just seeing if they are level with one another. If you need a sneaky look, You're welcome to go for that, Or you can just feel it, Observe it, Notice it. Once you have nice level shoulders, Can you then bring some relaxation to them, Allowing them to go back and down, Letting those shoulder blades just retract, Having that lovely space between the bottom of your earlobe and the top of your shoulder, As if you're walking around the body here. Just imagine looking down your shoulder, Down to the bottom of the arm, And just look out for any tension, Checking in with your tricep, Your bicep, Your forearms, And even your hands. Great job. So having noted all the different parts of the upper body, The torso, We're going to take the very special executive elevator now to travel to the penthouse of the company to visit, Of course, What we like to call the head of the operation. So from here, We examine the outside first, Checking in with the ears and taking note of what sounds are coming in, Noticing what you can hear that's near and noticing what you can hear that's far away, Then taking a leisurely stroll to the nose and just taking note if there are any smells apparent in this area. What can you notice in your environment right now? What smells call out to you? From here, You just move your way downward to the mouth and begin to examine the tongue and just how it sits in the mouth, Something we don't regularly think about, Maybe even starting to notice how each one of your teeth feel in your gums, Noticing for the first time today the warmth of your mouth, Being aware of all the different sensations that exist and then becoming aware if there's any taste in particular in your mouth at this time. No right or wrongs, Just noticing, You know, Make your way to the eyes, These perfect vantage points to look out into the world and even though the eyes are closed, We can still see how they feel, Noticing for instance how the eyelids feel touching one another, Taking note of the seal between the upper and the lower lid, Noticing if you can even feel the micro movements of your eyelashes with any movement of air around you, Then even beginning to notice what you can see behind your closed eyes, Becoming aware that there's a nuance to darkness, It's not exactly fully blacked out when we close our eyelids, It's dark for sure but it's a mixture of colors and lights and darks, It can be a fairly unique and interesting landscape to look at. So now that we've explored the premises extensively, We turn our attention to interview the employees of this body, The different elements of our soul that reside within it, Noticing how our emotions feel today, Again no right or wrongs, No good or bad, Just noticing how you feel emotionally, Then beginning to feel what the energy system is like in your body, Do you feel revved up and ready to go, Do you feel a little bit more subdued and tired, Are you fairly content or do you feel restless, Is your soul motivated or a bit dejected and just as you reflect on these different parts of your being, Begin to think if these employees of yourself are getting everything they need to thrive, Are they getting all the benefits of working for you or could they do with some more love, Attention, Hard work, Healthy food, Rest, Recovery. So take a moment now and just absorb all these observations, Allowing them to filter into your subconscious for future consideration, Ready to give you a report to whoever may need it, Feeling now this connection to your body and your mind as well as your soul, Slowly begin to open your eyes, Just take a moment, Enjoy now this deeper connection with yourself and take it wherever you go and if you need a moment to relax and just be, Then you can of course drop back into another meditation with me. I'll see you soon. Namaste.

Reviews

Wow! What an incredible meditation. Love the analogy of the CEO and the embedded theme throughout. Well done!

This is the most brilliant body/mind/soul scan! Usually, when doing body scans, especially in the morning, it's hard to rein in my thoughts. I start strong, but my mind races to thoughts of what I need to do for the day. However, using the imagery of CEO/building (I love the executive elevator!)/employees/etc made it so easy to stay focused on the exercise. I became aware of micro movements in my muscles I had never felt before! I actually could feel my eyelashes! And my jaw fell relaxed of all tension. I will be doing this one regularly. Looking forward to what subtleties I will notice next time. Thank you 🙏