Breaking The Habit Of Reactivity, Stress And Anxiety

So just finding your seat,

Feathering your nest.

Maybe adjusting your clothing,

Adjusting your cushions.

Just remember that comfort is queen,

So just making any last minute adjustments before gently closing your eyes.

And then just take a nice long slow deep breath in through the nose.

And then relax,

Let it out through the mouth with a sigh.

Feel your shoulders melt,

Landing in this space.

Another nice long slow deep breath in through the nose.

And relax,

Let it out through the mouth,

Letting go of anything that's troubling you,

Anything that you've landed or come in with today.

Just leave that at the door for now.

Just breathe it out,

Let it go.

And another nice cleansing breath in through the nose,

Nice long slow deep breath in.

And then relax,

Let it out through the mouth.

Just noticing the difference when your feelings have calm and peace just by closing your eyes and focusing on your breath.

How that can already help you to feel more relaxed,

More calm.

Just noticing how focusing on your breath helps you to relax your body and relax your mind.

So just for a moment,

Just love your breath.

Just breathe in a normal rhythm just in and out through your nose.

Just love your breath.

Just noticing the parts of your body that tell you that you're breathing.

Just noticing the parts of your body that move,

Whether you feel your breath moving down into your lower belly,

Maybe you feel your rib cage moving up and apart.

Maybe you can feel the breath just traveling into your nose,

Feeling slightly cool.

And as it travels out,

Maybe you just feel that breath slightly warmer.

Just love your breath,

This life force flows in and out effortlessly.

Your breath is like your best friend always reminding you where the present moment is.

So to relax the body even further,

We'll do our 4-8 relaxation breath and remember the important thing is to double the length of your exhale.

So we'll count in for an inhale for a count of four in a moment and we'll exhale for a count of eight.

But as we do this,

Find your own rhythm.

You can knock it down to inhaling for three,

Exhaling for six,

Whatever feels most relaxing.

Just the important thing is to double the length of that inhale.

So just relaxing your shoulders,

Relaxing your jaw,

Allowing your tongue to rest in the bottom of your mouth.

And let's begin together.

So inhaling through both nostrils for one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Exhale release eight,

Seven,

Six,

Five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Inhale two,

Three,

Four,

Exhale release eight,

Seven,

Six,

Five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Just continue in your own rhythm,

Whether it's inhaling for four,

And then controlling the breath on the exhale for eight.

What we're doing here is we're just calming the nervous system,

Sending a signal to our brains to calm our bodies,

Calm our minds.

Just continue to double the length of your exhale,

Just for a few more minutes,

Loving your breath as it allows you to calm your body and calm your mind and bring you into a place of responsiveness.

Just continue breathing,

Elongating that exhale until I tell you to stop.

Burton.

You you Really good and just releasing that breathing pattern and allow your breath to return to its normal rhythm And just feel that difference any noticing any changes in your body Now let the judgments and opinions of the mind Be judgments and opinions of the mind You,

Your essence,

Your spirit exist beyond that Your only job is to get back in contact with your true essence self the core of you That is the thinker of the thoughts,

The thinker of the judgments and opinions,

The experiencer of the experiences The real work lies in your inner connection If you're quiet when you meditate if you truly open your heart Just quiet your mind and open your heart Quiet the mind,

Open the heart How do you quiet the mind?

You meditate How do you open the heart?

You start to love that which you can love and just keep expanding it You love a tree,

You love a river,

You love a leaf,

You love a cat,

You love a human Just go deeper and deeper into that love until you know that which is the source behind all of it Feel that love Now what I'd love for you to do is from this safe place of love and responsiveness I want you to bring to mind a challenging situation that you're experiencing Just know that you're in a safe place Just bring to mind that challenging situation that you're dealing with now or from the recent past What I want you to do,

I'd love you to name the emotion or the feeling that you're experiencing in that situation for example I'm feeling jealous or I'm feeling anxious and it's absolutely normal for multiple feelings to be involved at the same time So it could be sadness and anger,

Resentment and disappointment,

Maybe stress and anxiety or maybe even guilt Just name the emotion that you're experiencing Shine a light on it and then what I want you to do is to sit peacefully with it Don't judge it,

Don't get angry with it,

Don't run away from it or shame it Just sit still with it like it's a welcome guest Sit with that emotion,

Be present with it and also be gentle and compassionate to the part of you that is experiencing this What I'd love for you to do is in your mind's eye to imagine this emotion,

This feeling almost as if it's a child,

Maybe even a child version of you And I want you to ask that emotion like you might ask a child We need to ask them what will help We need to listen to what the emotion needs or wants Like how a child might have a need or a want and just ask what will help For example,

If you feel fear,

How could that perceived threat be managed?

Or if you feel sadness or grief,

What could help you heal the loss?

Just be present,

Just ask that emotion what would help And then what I'd love for you to do is just mentally in your mind state the feeling and the need silently to yourself For example,

I feel hurt and I think what would help is appreciation or acknowledgement So just be present to the emotion,

The feeling that is passing through you,

The energy that is passing through Recognize the need or want of that energy,

That emotion Just acknowledging what will help to move that energy through Just think on that,

Just repeat that in your mind a few times Making just a mental note to yourself to take this action after this meditation Really good Now let's practice cultivating non-attachment,

Non-judgment and non-reaction These are the three secrets to self-mastery,

To self-realization and ultimately liberation So whilst you have your action plan,

Let's practice another way Just bring back to mind that challenging situation and we'll just try things on differently So whilst you know you have your action plan that you're going to take,

This time what I'd like you to ask yourself is with that same situation,

With that same emotion,

What would love do?

Or even you could ask what would water do?

Because when you throw a stone in a river or a pond,

The water reacts absolutely perfectly,

It doesn't overreact,

It doesn't underreact,

It just receives the stone Our goal is to have that kind of mind and that kind of body so bringing to mind that situation,

Just ask yourself what would water do?

Can you try to visualize and apply that same non-reactivity to your currently challenging situation?

Try to visualize it,

Try to feel it,

Playing out how that situation might play out differently in your mind and what that feels like And as you play out that scenario of non-reaction,

Non-judgment,

I just want you to tune in and notice how your body language changes,

How you're holding yourself when you apply this non-reaction,

This non-judgment,

Do you notice that your chest is slightly more open,

Maybe you're sitting more upright?

Just noticing,

Just making a mental note to yourself to repeat this body language almost to put it on like a suit,

Remembering what it feels like to apply non-judgment and non-reaction Next time you experience those feelings or that situation,

Just remembering the possibility of what it feels like to be non-reactive,

Non-attached,

Non-judging,

Be neutral,

Be responsive,

Choose your response.

Trality is not apathy,

Trality is an action in itself,

But a choice,

A choice to be non-reactive,

A choice to be non-attached and non-judging,

Choice to be neutral This non-reaction means that everything in you that you don't need you can let go of So you don't need loneliness,

You couldn't possibly be alone,

You don't need disappointment or envy because you already have all that you need and you don't need doubt because you already know,

You don't need anger,

You are full of love,

You don't need worry because the universe has got you,

You don't need guilt if you've done nothing wrong,

You don't need sadness because happiness is your birthright and you don't need resentment,

You are weightless and free.

Just cultivating this place of calm and our responsiveness,

Repeating silently in your mind the following,

I am love,

I am one,

I am free.

Keep repeating that in your mind,

I am love,

I am one,

I am free.

I am love,

I am one,

I am free.

Just keep repeating that in your mind for the next few minutes.

From this place of calm,

We choose our response,

I am love,

I am one,

I am free.

You are not your thoughts,

You are the thinker of the thoughts beyond all thoughts and that essence is love,

That essence is one,

That essence is free.

I am love,

I am one,

I am free.

I am one,

I am free.

I am one,

I am free.

I am one,

I am free.

I am one,

I am free.

Just releasing those mantras for the moment and just allowing yourself to float and just rest,

Rest in existence,

Rest in being,

Rest in bliss.

I am one,

I am free.

I am one,

I am free.

Just recognizing that I am not my thoughts,

I'm not these stories,

I'm not controlled by my memories,

I am the existence that exists beyond thoughts,

Beyond the judgments of the mind.

I am pure essence,

Pure spirit,

The thinker of the thoughts,

The experiencer of the experiences.

The reality is always neutral,

It's neither good nor bad.

Just acknowledging that everything I see comes from my own mind,

Everything I feel comes from my own mind,

Everything I know others to be comes from my own mind.

So acknowledging that I have the choice to respond to the world and not react unconsciously by coming from this I am presence,

This pure spirit,

I just invite you now to again love your breath,

Breathe in and come back to you,

Come back to your center.

And just bringing your hands together at heart center,

Invite you to bow in gratitude to yourself,

To your higher spirit,

To all the other meditators within this room and in the world who might be meditating with us together in this now moment,

Just wishing them all namaste.

Just being grateful to yourself,

The one that brought you here,

The one that is connected to all that is,

Aham brahmasmi,

I'm all that was,

I'm all that is,

I'm all that will ever be.

And when you feel ready to and only in your own time,

Just lowering your hands down,

Gently coming back into the room,

Just taking a moment to take a sip of water and to note down anything in your journal,

Any insights,

Any downloads from your higher self that you received during that meditation.

Thank you so much for meditating with me.