Often when you do one of my meditations,
I remind you to observe and not judge.
And today,
I just wanted to have a little talk about the importance of doing that and why I suggest you do that.
And so,
Just like a meditation,
I just want you to get comfortable.
Put on headphones if it's best for you to really listen to what I'm saying,
To intentionally take the time to just be present for the few moments of this talk.
If you just need to settle down because you've got a busy day,
Just take a deep breath or just breathe the way you need to.
For me,
It's always a deep breath,
Breathing in and long and slow out.
Judgment is such a natural thing for our brains.
We are literally wired to have an automated response to things.
The first thing that pops up,
What's in the subconscious,
What things have happened in our lives that store these memories and beliefs,
These limited beliefs,
May I add,
That cause us to judge things.
Judgment is natural,
But when it comes to going within in a deeper way,
Observing to make yourself aware is more helpful because it comes from a place of more grace,
Having more grace,
Having more empathy,
More kindness,
More self-compassion with oneself to observe versus judge.
And so whenever doing my meditations especially,
When I ask you to go within,
I want you to come from this place of self-compassion,
Of observing,
Of being kind to oneself so we can get to the root cause of what's going on within,
Why you do what you do,
Why you say what you say,
Why you think what you think without the judgment.
Since judgment is such a natural part of our brains and the way that it functions,
It does take a little bit more work to stop the automated thought and to learn to observe.
It's okay to change things up.
It's okay to try something new.
And it's certainly more than okay to give yourself some grace,
To just observe,
To set yourself free from what judgment offers you,
Especially when it comes to the place of meditating.
Because for me,
Meditation is the opportunity to go deep within,
To process things deep within yourself.
And so process and learn and grow and evolve.
Observe,
Don't judge.
Right now,
I just want you to take a minute or two or three or whatever it is you need.
And I want you to just be in the space that you're in.
What thoughts come to mind?
What do you see?
What do you hear?
What do you feel?
What are you experiencing?
Without judgment,
Just observe.
That's you right now.
And what if you took the same stance and observed your neighbor,
Your coworker,
Your partner,
And not judge them,
But observe them?
Maybe there's something going on within them you've misunderstood and that you've judged incorrectly.
That perhaps something from your past made you judge them or a situation wrong.
And perhaps you are projecting something from your past onto them,
Which can lead to a lot of misunderstandings.
Imagine a place even outside of meditation where we can discover and understand I'm judging versus I'm observing.
And owning,
Perhaps you don't know what someone else is thinking.
And so maybe asking,
How do you feel?
What are you thinking?
Versus coming up with your own story of who and what they are.
It can be a powerful tool,
Not only for yourself,
But the relationships you have with others.
So I ask you today to try it in meditations and outside of meditations,
Living life,
Intentionally conscious,
Living life,
Purposefully aware.
Taking the time to just be.
Be aware,
To observe.
There is so much for us to discover and uncover about ourselves and the world around us.
And we need to come from this place of more open-minded,
More observing,
More understanding perhaps of someone else.
But how can we understand someone else when we might not even understand ourselves?
And so understanding that we have a natural ability to judge helps us to work on the observation of ourselves and the world around us.
And that's what I ask.
I ask for you to shift what is natural,
Shift the judgment in both meditation and living and see where it takes you.
I want you to just take another deep breath in or breathe however you need to.
But for me,
Breathing in and out.
So.
And remember,
Try and observe,
Not judge.
Thank you.
