Hi there and welcome to this mindfulness meditation.
My name is Anaïs,
You can call me Ana.
I am a mindfulness and travel coach and I am here to guide you on a mindful and purposeful life.
Life has its ups and downs and when we are aiming to be mindful,
What we are doing is bringing in gentle awareness.
But it's so much more than that,
Mindfulness is about bringing in compassion,
Kindness,
Gentleness to ourselves and to others.
And sometimes our inner weather can get stormy,
Cloudy and we don't know what to do.
We feel overwhelmed,
We feel lost,
We feel sad,
Hopeless,
Thrown down by the storm.
It's important to realize this very moment that all storms pass as the weather changes,
Your mental state,
Your inner state does too.
Sadness doesn't last forever but neither does sadness and mindfulness teaches us that nothing lasts forever,
That feelings come and go and that we can simply become aware of that.
Because when we become aware of that,
It takes off the pressure.
We become aware that we are not just sad,
No,
We are not just sad,
We are much more than that,
We are way more than that.
Maybe if you are feeling something right now or many things,
Just realize that that doesn't make up the whole of you.
There's so much more of you than simply the part that is sad,
The part that is anxious,
The part that is angry,
The part that is overwhelmed.
There's the you who is listening right now.
There's the you that's kind and compassionate and that wants nothing else but the very best for yourself.
As I'm a mindfulness coach,
I've discovered various techniques to deal with difficult emotions or mood swings or just being in this mood of dark clouds.
Even if you know in that moment that you are not alone,
That this shall pass,
Sometimes you need something to make yourself just a little bit better.
And in mindfulness,
After we become aware of our feelings and we've sat with them,
We take conscious action and this action can look like many things and is very personal.
But one thing that I do daily,
Multiple times,
Is practicing gratitude.
Because even in the darkest times,
Even in the happiest times,
In all times,
We can be grateful for what we have.
We can be grateful for what is here in front of us right now.
And by shifting our focus from obsessive thoughts or complaining or focusing on what is not yet here,
Whether that's a state of mind,
A mood,
A person,
A thing,
An experience,
Shifting that focus to gratitude,
Where we do have something magical.
And it's not just magic,
It's science.
We create new neural networks in our brains every time we are grateful.
And it literally rewires our brains to see the good in things,
To see the good side,
The positive side of things,
And to help you face these difficult moments just a little bit better.
It helps you to see the sun through the clouds just a little bit clearer.
So I invite you to take a deep breath in.
You can take the deepest breath you've taken so far today.
As you let go,
As you exhale,
Just sigh it all out.
Let it all go.
Good.
Now take a comfortable position.
You can lay down or you can sit.
Relax your jaw.
Relax your shoulders,
Your stomach.
Relax any points in your body that might feel tense or that you're carrying some weight in.
Now let's take another deep breath in and a deep breath out.
Fully exhale as you let go of all the air in your body.
Good.
Now close your eyes gently.
Simply watch your breath as it floats in and out.
Try to pay attention to where your breath begins and when it ends.
When does your inhale begin?
When does your exhale end?
Good.
Now check in with yourself.
How are you feeling right now?
Let them know that there are no such things as good or bad emotions or thoughts.
Don't try to judge yourself or judge them.
Simply allow them all to be there.
And greet them with compassion,
Kindness.
However you are feeling right now,
It's okay.
Imagine giving yourself a hug or you can do this physically in real life if you feel comfortable.
Appreciating this time that you took for yourself.
How can you think of one thing that actually went well today?
This can be a big thing or a small thing.
Notice how it feels to reflect on this.
Now can you think of another thing that you can be grateful for,
That you can give thanks for?
And it doesn't have to be something that happened today.
It can also be something in general in your life.
Maybe a person you have in your life or your own health,
Safety.
Again it can be something big or something small.
Like a cup of good coffee.
And again notice how it makes you feel thinking about something that you can be grateful for.
Do you notice a change in your mood?
And now bring into your mind something you appreciate about yourself.
For example,
You appreciate about yourself that you took the effort and time to do this meditation or that you take care of yourself,
That you cooked for yourself or that you slowed down,
Took a break.
This can be anything.
Something you appreciate about your character.
One thing you can appreciate about yourself and really let it soak in.
You might notice that as soon as you start thinking about something you can be grateful for,
That went well or that you can appreciate that more things start flooding in your mind.
And that's the beauty of it.
There are so many things we can be grateful for.
So I'll give you a minute now simply to think about what you can be grateful for.
Just let it float into your mind.
Let yourself bathe in gratitude.
I'll come back to you in a minute.
Good,
That was so beautiful.
And now I'd like you to check in with yourself again like you did in the beginning.
You might even think of your inner state as a type of weather.
How is your inner weather right now?
And it can be that you notice no difference from the beginning,
That's okay.
Or maybe you feel better or you don't.
It's all fine.
What matters is that you are here for yourself today and that you practice self-care on the deepest level.
Because self-care also looks like having the courage to be there for yourself in dark times and in good times.
Thank you so much for meditating with me today.
Whenever you feel comfortable you can gently open your eyes and wiggle your toes and you can remain in this position soaking in the feelings of gratitude as long as you like.
I'll see you next time.
