Hello and welcome to Notes from Within,
A space where clarity,
Presence and expansion meet.
I'm Katie,
Your guide and a deep listener,
And this is our first note.
Today I want to tell you why I started all of this,
And why I return to meditation again and again,
But also why I believe that tuning inward is not just a personal practice,
But a powerful strategy for leading,
Creating and being human well.
Many many years ago I took one of my beautiful solo trips,
Which I love to do.
I was in my first leadership role in an insurance firm,
And I'd been carrying a lot on my shoulders.
So many questions,
So much tension and the weight of my own expectations,
Both personally and work related.
And on this trip I went into this beautiful library and I found one of these little maze games that you may be familiar with.
They were wooden boxes typically,
And you had knobs on either side,
And you had to get the little silver ball from one end to the other of the maze,
Without falling through any of the holes on the way.
And I spent so much time here trying to get this ball from one end to the other,
And I just couldn't do it.
I was starting to feel super frustrated,
But I just wanted to get this done.
But obviously the more I tried,
The harder it got.
Anyway,
I had a schedule as part of this trip,
And realized that I had a one-to-one meditation session coming up.
So I had to leave the maze and go to my one-to-one meditation session,
A little bit reluctantly if I'm honest.
In this session nothing particularly dramatic happened.
It was just lovely and quiet.
I felt a sense of spaciousness,
I guess,
And there was some gentle guidance from the teacher.
It was,
I would say,
Quite a non-eventful session.
Anyway,
I had this maze on my mind.
So after I left the session,
I went back to the library and picked up the maze again,
Because clearly I had unfinished business with it.
I picked it up,
And without really thinking,
The ball gracefully flowed straight into the hole at the other end.
It was my first attempt after the meditation session,
And I did it with zero effort.
I just felt this sense of clarity.
And so it wasn't really about the game.
It was a reflection of what had shifted in me,
That something clicks into place after we slow down,
After we drop in,
After we listen inward.
And that's the feeling I'm trying to share here.
Notes from Within isn't a podcast to tell you what to do.
It might not even be a podcast,
Because it's really just me.
It's here to remind you of what you already know,
To help you hear your own voice underneath the noise,
To support you whether you're navigating complexity in your work,
Or in your relationships,
Or in your own inner world.
These episodes are part meditation,
Part musing,
And a lot of my own ramblings on things that move me.
Sometimes we'll have a lot of quiet,
Sometimes we'll feel expansive,
But we will always be honest,
And I will always be real.
Because when we pause,
And when we return to ourselves,
That's often when the answer lands.
So how about we take a nice deep breath together right now.
So take a nice deep breath in through your nose,
And out through your mouth.
And just start to feel yourself relaxing into this present moment together.
Starting to feel your body relaxing as you breathe.
And closing your eyes if you feel comfortable.
Allowing your shoulders to drop down towards the earth,
And the top of your head to reach up towards the sky.
Feeling any tension around your forehead and your eyebrows melting away.
And feeling yourself slowly but surely relaxing into this moment.
Spending some time here.
Noticing that as we drop in,
And as we listen inward,
We find a deep sense of ease.
And with this ease comes a sense of clarity.
The ability to see things for what they really are.
And to be able to solve what may seem to be complex problems.
Seeing them in their simplicity and their ease.
And now bringing your awareness back to your breath.
Not judging your breath,
But simply being aware of your breath.
And when you feel ready,
You can gently open your eyes if you close them.
And so this is an offering.
For the leaders,
The creatives,
The seekers,
And the in-betweeners.
For anyone walking with questions.
For those who sense that the real strategy might just be stillness.
Thank you for being here today.
You're invited to listen inward,
Not just today,
But always.
And not just when you hear my voice,
But in your everyday activities.
And these are my notes for now,
For what's happening within.
I look forward to speaking to you and meditating with you next time.
