Finding Answers: Diabetes Discussion & Meditation

So welcome,

My name is Patricia Daker and I am the owner and founder of Better Diabetes Life and that is a company that is dedicated to the support and insights and wisdom and understanding of the day-to-day aspects of living with diabetes beyond just blood sugar control because there's certainly a lot more to it.

I have a holistic approach of body,

Mind and spirit.

I'm a registered nurse,

I'm a board-certified nurse coach and I've been living with diabetes for over 30 years.

Almost,

No not over,

Almost 30 years,

It'll be 30 years in July.

So tonight,

As always,

On Monday nights at 7,

I come on live and we talk about the little nugget or aspect of living with diabetes beyond again just blood sugar control and diet and exercise but more of the motivation,

Inspiration,

Insight and a holistic approach.

So we'll be doing that tonight.

So tonight's topic is finding answers and the big hint is it's not always your doctor.

So there's so much that we need to know about.

So that's what we're going to dig into and unpack a little bit tonight and then once we get that piece done,

We'll follow up with a meditation and tonight is a little bit different.

I don't think I've ever done the same one twice but that's good because it gives you variety.

I think that's good.

Yeah,

So my bio is on here and if you want to learn more about my services,

Me,

What I do,

Any of that stuff,

You can access my website and that is your gateway to my social media,

My blog.

I actually have a new blog.

I was supposed to finish it today so I'm almost done but a new blog coming out so be sure to sign up for that.

Also as people are joining,

If you know somebody who could use some support with their diabetes management,

Please invite them to hop on.

I think it's kind of a different approach than we might find in your doctor's office or with your educator and it's sometimes refreshing for people to have a new perspective so please invite someone.

I will stay on for Q&A at the end if you have any questions.

Let's see what else.

Oh,

Please donate.

So Insight Timer always asks that I remind people and so if you can donate or feel called to,

Please do.

It's very much appreciated.

Lastly,

This is being recorded and so this will be edited and sliced down a little bit and posted on Insight Timer as well as my website so if you want to catch it again,

Listen to part of it,

You can do that.

All right,

So again tonight's talk is about finding answers and lord knows there's enough questions with diabetes,

Right?

So I see several people have gathered.

We're getting some critical mass.

So I always like to gather first.

I think before we jump into anything,

Let's just pause and we're going to shift from the world,

The outside,

All the crazy busyness,

The things we have to do and shift inward and focus on this group,

The people that are here with us,

Our collective energy,

Our collective mindset.

When we come together,

We're always more than we are alone and I think it's even more so when we share a common struggle.

So diabetes,

As best as we can deal with it,

Always causes some degree of struggle and I think it's very important that we gather and have an image and a connection mentally,

Spiritually,

Energetically with others who can support us.

So just imagine if you will,

Deep breath,

How is this in a room connected,

Your lone friends,

A safe place.

I want you to feel that safety and know that everything's okay.

There's no silly questions.

Everybody brings their own unique perspective and this is 100% a judgment free zone.

I just,

We want everybody to know that they are welcome and that we all try our best and there is no perfection in managing diabetes.

It's an ongoing attempt and persistence to do the best we can.

So again,

Tonight,

Talk about finding answers.

We'll set an intention.

The intention for tonight,

May you be at sleep.

May you relax.

May you connect with your inner and ancient selves and may you find the answers you seek.

Okay,

So with that,

Let's do a few breaths just to kind of relax.

In through your nose,

Out through your nose or your mouth.

At this point,

It doesn't matter.

All this is,

Is just really focusing on your breathing.

I want you to pay attention to your inside,

How you feel,

What you need,

What your thoughts are.

We're going to let the worries of the day just wait.

Breathe and relax.

We'll talk a little bit about what this relaxation actually does for us physiologically.

So tonight,

Our topic is finding answers and I don't think there's a person who knows someone with diabetes or those with diabetes or you know,

Met a friend who had an aunt who had a cousin who had an uncle who had diabetes that doesn't realize it's confusing.

So it doesn't play fair just when you think you get it figured out.

It changes when you do the right thing,

You get the wrong result and it's different for each of us.

There is no singular way to do this and there's no singular way to do it every day.

So every day is evolving.

So of course it's frustrating,

Right?

And so we're always like,

What's the right answer?

What do I do?

How do I handle this circumstance?

And it seems like there's just never enough support and right when you figure it out,

It changes.

So I want to talk tonight about how we find those answers and what tools we have and new perspective and ideas about what to do when you have things that you need to figure out and how that you can do that.

So we often get advice from other people from external sources,

Right?

We have a lot of information from doctors,

Nurse practitioners,

Educators,

Our family practice doctor,

Shoot drug reps,

People online,

Family,

Friends who get abundance of other people's ideas,

Which is good because that gives us a broader canvas to look upon,

To ponder and consider things.

But often that information that we get conflicts or what works for that person doesn't work for you.

So that sometimes adds to the confusion.

I know personally,

I've taken so many things to my doctor and I paint the picture,

Here's all my numbers,

Here's what I've been doing.

And they're like,

I don't know.

Okay.

If you don't know,

How do I navigate this?

Right?

And so it's just easy to get frustrated and overwhelmed.

So we have a lot of questions.

There's some small ones that we do.

Okay.

So every day,

What do I poke?

What do I eat?

You know,

Little things like that.

And then there's bigger ones that you think about,

Like big stuff.

How does diabetes impact my life?

What will people think of me?

If you're single,

How do I think about navigating dating?

Things like that.

It impacts your finances.

How am I going to afford all this?

So there's little questions that we have to answer just moment by moment as we think,

Oh,

Is my blood sugar high?

Is it low?

What did I eat?

How did I do that?

Right?

All these questions that we have.

So there's a lot of different ways that we can go about finding those answers.

I'd be on here all night if I tried to tell you all of them.

So we're going to focus in on one,

Just one,

Just one little answer.

And so tonight,

Like the truth that we seek and how we can find answers is in a very brief way to trust your gut.

I want to tell you why.

So from an evolutionary perspective,

When we think about organisms,

We started as little single cell organisms in the soup of the sea,

Right?

And we turned into bigger organisms and bigger things.

We had at the very beginning,

A little rudimentary digestive system.

We became a multicellular organism when things went in and came out.

At our base,

Base,

Base,

We had a digestive system.

You think of things like worms,

Very simple,

Right?

They're just simple.

Things go in,

They absorb the food,

Things go out.

Not a lot of logic or anything like that,

But at a primal level,

Our earliest evolution,

We had this digestive tract that went through.

And even though we don't think,

We think it just does its thing,

There's actually some wisdom to it.

So our digestive tract can signal us.

It tells us we're hungry.

We need to eat.

We don't have enough food.

Our blood sugar is low.

Time to expel what we don't need.

And we often don't think of that as wisdom.

They're just bodily functions.

But if we're not thinking about it,

Who's telling us these things,

Right?

There's some innate understanding that is within us.

And so this wisdom happens kind of through a very simple part of our nervous system.

So again,

Thinking from that cellular,

That very earliest part of us,

Those little organisms that we're related to,

They have a very simple nervous system and it's kind of secured around their digestive tract.

So in utero,

When we're born,

When our little egg and sperm come together and we form as life in our mother's womb,

We start with this very,

You know,

We've born in a ball and the ball kind of caves in and folds and we become like a tube.

And in that tube,

We have this rudimentary tract.

And so as this happens,

I don't want to get too much into an anatomy lesson right now,

But our embryo has three-fourths of layers.

So there's the endoderm,

The mesoderm and the ectoderm.

And each of those layers turn into different parts of our body once we're fully formed.

So the endoderm,

The innermost part,

Is our digestive system,

Pancreas.

Our mesoderm,

The middle part,

Is muscles and blood.

Our ectoderm is our skin and our neurons,

Right?

So there's just three sort of layers.

Interestingly enough,

That aligns very much with the holistic approach to health,

Right?

So when we think of understanding our bodies and how we work,

Right,

We have our brain,

Which is processing information.

We think of our brain.

So our brain is taking information in,

Making decisions,

Processing.

It's doing all that.

It's a knowledge center,

If you will.

Now we have our heart.

That middle layer is our heart and lungs come from that middle layer.

And that is our emotions,

Our connection.

The heart actually sends more information to the brain than the brain sends to the heart,

Which is kind of interesting.

But from that secondary place,

The heart actually has some sensation and wisdom in it.

Now we can think of the heart as an exchange system.

So if our brain is a processing and firing system,

Our heart and our lungs,

Which are closely attached,

Are an exchange.

Life comes in and things go out,

Right?

We are kept alive.

We live our lives through this exchange.

You know,

We live our lives in our brain through this processing of information.

Well,

Guess what?

Our gut has the same sort of thing.

So our gut is the center of transformation,

And it always just sort of blows me away when I think about it.

What happens in our gut is we take the world,

And most of it is non-living world,

Food,

Drink,

Milk,

Eggs,

Fish,

Whatever we choose to eat,

And we take the world outside of us and we put it inside of us and it becomes living us.

Crazy,

Right?

So we have these three layers that we start out with.

We process the world through our brain and our senses and our inputs.

We understand and connect and exchange with the world,

With our heart and our lungs,

Which that exchange kind of feels like a relationship.

But then we process and we,

I'm sorry,

We transform the outer world to our inner world,

To our life,

Literally through our gut,

Which is crazy,

Right?

So how do you think about that?

So in this knowledge,

We have knowledge of what goes on in our mind,

We have knowledge of how we feel,

But we also have this gut knowing,

Right?

And we have it in our vocabulary.

We trust your gut.

I had a gut instinct,

Right?

There's this primordial wisdom that comes very quickly.

You don't really even think about it.

When you have a gut reaction or a gut instinct,

There is no logic,

There is no meeting,

There's no collaboration.

You just know something often.

And it drives some of our basic needs,

Right?

So our need to eat and to drink,

Right?

There's these things that we need.

So there's an organic sort of wisdom in our gut,

But there's also some intuitive wisdom in our gut.

And again,

There's no place that it lives.

It just kind of feels like that.

And we find that we speak that truth.

I should trust my gut,

I knew it in my gut.

You think of those things.

And it's interesting how we speak that truth,

Right?

So when you think about answers,

Going back to answers.

So if you think about who you want to trust for answers.

So let's go back to our brain.

So brain input,

Right?

It's totally processing input,

What we see,

What we hear,

What we taste,

We feel,

Constantly providing input,

And it's processing it.

So that's one in our brain that everything that's processing is constantly changing.

So I'm not noticing stuff back there,

And once I turn and look at it,

I'm noticing this.

So the process,

What we're taking in,

Is constantly changing.

Also in our brain are a lot of our thoughts,

Right?

And we can have opposing thoughts that we agree to.

I like it and I hate it.

I want to be this and I don't want to be this.

I want good blood sugar controls,

I want to eat the food.

Like we can have so many conflicting ideas and thoughts in our mind.

So our mind,

And we can change our mind,

Right?

We talk about that,

Oh,

And we change our mind.

So that if we think of our mind as a source of truth,

Sometimes it can be rather fickle.

When we think of our heart,

Right,

We think of our heart as when we trust our hearts.

And you can have all the best intentions in the world.

You're going to do these things,

You're going to work out,

You're going to go do all this stuff,

And your four-year-old daughter comes up and says,

Mommy,

Will you read me a book?

And your emotions,

Right?

Or you feel secure of someone else's hardship.

So our heart,

Which is the sensing organ,

This exchange of information,

Right?

Think about heart exchange.

It can be persuaded pretty easily,

Right?

Somebody can tug on your heartstrings on what you thought was true,

All of a sudden,

You're not so sure,

Right?

So those two centers sometimes are not always trustworthy to some extent,

Right?

But when you get to our gut,

Again,

Trust your gut,

Right?

You have this instinct,

You have this knowing,

This deepness.

And if you think about your neural network,

Which is as old as,

Again,

Evolutionary to when we were just multicell organisms,

That part of us has been around a long time,

Seen a lot of stuff,

And it knows how to keep us alive,

Right?

Makes sense?

So when we think of our gut,

So long as we have a gut instinct,

We know things.

But sometimes after the fact,

You didn't do it,

You're like,

Oh,

I knew it,

I should have done that,

Right?

I should have would have,

You know,

Those are the kind of things.

So there's some truth there.

So let's kind of roll with that perspective.

So how do you access this truth,

Right?

How do we get there?

How do we figure out what the answers to the questions are?

So often,

You know,

We'll go to our mind,

We think,

And then our part,

We start thinking,

We start chewing it back and forth,

Back and forth,

Logic ideas,

Make a commitment,

And it's,

You know,

So,

And it's not a bad thing to have logic,

Right?

We have to look at our numbers,

We have to make assessments,

That's really good.

That's not saying that was wrong.

But when we're listening in to what our internal noise or internal dialogue or internal conversations,

It can be confusing of who's talking or who's got the microphone.

So let's go through that.

So if it's loud,

And it's obnoxious,

And it's persistent,

And it's shouty,

That's probably the voice of your ego or your mind,

You know,

And its purpose is to warn you of all the bad possible complications,

Right?

So it's constantly vigilant,

Vigilant,

Lee,

Watching all the inputs,

Looking at what's going,

It's leaking outwards all the time.

Right?

And it's going to be really loud and shouty all the time.

That's the voice in your head that kind of makes you crazy a little bit.

So just realize,

So how you deal with that is you first notice it,

Okay,

That's the shouty voice,

That's the guy that's just chatting in my head,

I call it my inner roommate,

Right?

So we're gonna put that guy aside.

That shouty voice too often,

The worry voice is your sympathetic nervous system,

Your 911,

Your fight or flight response.

And again,

Fight or flight is not the time to make really good grounded decisions unless it's to run or,

You know,

To get out of the way.

Most of those are reactionary.

Okay,

So then we have our heart and,

You know,

When you listen to,

When you're hearing a voice,

Your heart's gonna draw you,

It's gonna pull you,

It's gonna be one of those things where you don't want to go but it just carries you there anyway,

Right?

It's not gonna be as loud and the shouty and as critical but it's really gonna draw you,

It's gonna be one of those things that you feel compelled almost to do.

But your gut on the other hand,

You gotta get quiet to listen to your gut.

And so your gut might feel more like words like your intuition,

A whisper,

You might get an image,

An idea,

A dream-like thing,

A feeling or a sense,

Right?

Just get a sense of something.

That's typically your gut,

Right?

And our culture is very much about not listening to that,

Right?

We're so science and facts,

Right?

So if we go with body,

Mind,

Spirit approach,

We're very much focused on the body and physical,

Tactical things we can touch,

Right?

This is going a little bit into more of this inner world that's less concrete,

That's more about sensing,

Feeling,

Intuition,

Energy,

Things like that.

And we all kind of notice it's there but as a culture we're not very tuned into it and we're not very good at it.

So and you have me talk all the time,

I know this is I feel like I'm on a repeating cycle but we're going to talk about your autonomic nervous system,

Right?

So if the shouting voice is your 911,

That's your sympathetic nervous system,

That's the rescue that's facing outward.

That is not when you're healing,

It's not when you're listening,

It's not when you're nurturing,

You're in rescue mode.

So we need to get into our parasympathetic state and that's the opposite.

It is renewal,

Relaxation,

Quiet,

You know we're letting go with the meditative place and that's what we always do here with our meditation is we're trying to balance all the noise and worry and everything,

The distractions and the things that we have to do to manage our diabetes,

All very necessary and we have to do all those things.

But it's also good and necessary to balance our softer side,

Our quieter side where we can restore and pull our cup back up,

Right?

And so we need to get into this parasympathetic state to sort of be able to share and get quiet,

Listen,

And pay attention because you cannot hear your gut when you're watching tv,

When you're listening to a podcast,

When you're tik-toking,

When you're you know doing any of that stuff.

Every once in a while your gut instinct will be very strong and it'll kind of knock on your door but often somebody subtle or cues,

We have to go there and we have to give it space and we have to create somewhere for this stuff to kind of bubble up within us.

Let's see,

So how do we get into parasympathetic state?

We'll do that tonight.

It's breathing,

Right?

It's shifting,

It's using our own vital signs and bodily functions that we can control to shift us,

To shift our neurologic system from fight or flight into a parasympathetic state.

It's intention,

It's doing it on purpose and creating a time to be quiet and to listen.

It's focusing on the now,

So you can't trust your gut yesterday or tomorrow,

It's only now,

Right?

That only happens now.

You can maybe remember it or think about it or ponder it but literally the moment is now so it's a lot of meditation and getting into that now.

And then I think you have to trust,

This is the hardest part,

You have to trust that what comes up,

The ideas,

The images,

The smells,

Whatever the little inclinations are,

You have to trust that they're right,

Right?

Trust yourself,

Trust your gut,

Right?

It requires putting the ego aside so we have to tell the ego thank you for warning us of all the possible things,

Thank you for telling us what we're doing wrong,

We know that you are our vigilant person who's watching out for us,

You have to take a break because we need to do this.

We have to turn inward to our inner self,

This is not about the external world at all.

We choose to ignore some of the other noise,

Right?

We choose to be kind to ourselves.

We ask and listen for the answers and maybe it's kind of funny but I always think it's good to talk.

We've done some exercises here before where I'm going to talk to my gut literally.

So you can be from your place of your inner place,

From your consciousness if that's how you like to see it,

From your spirit self,

From your true nature,

Whatever you like to call that,

But you can have a conversation,

Hey gut,

Hey ancient wisdom,

Hey part of me that knows some of the answers that I've not been listening to,

You've got the floor and I want to talk to you,

Right?

Sometimes you have to give it permission.

Ask what is true,

What is true,

Right?

So our brain and our ego will always try to come to counter,

It's the ultimate sales guy,

Right?

It's going to tell you things,

Change things,

Make it look better,

Yeah it's not a big deal,

Do it later,

You know,

That sort of thing.

You got to just be okay with putting that aside.

So when we get in this space we notice thoughts when we're still.

So first of all,

And we'll do this tonight,

But we'll notice some quiet things.

You know,

We ask a question,

Think about something that you are struggling with or you'd like answers for.

So we breathe and we relax and we'll do this in a minute,

But you ask the question and then you get quiet.

And that's kind of the hardest thing for a lot of us is being quiet and listening.

And the other thing,

If that's really a challenge,

One of the things we can do is to notice what your ego wants to cover up or shut up,

Right?

So our ego sometimes doesn't really want to hear all this business that's kind of about our truth.

It's all looking outward and flashy,

It doesn't want our attention focused inward,

Right?

So that's something we can do.

If our ego,

What are the questions?

Well that's silly,

That's stupid,

That'll never work,

Like those kind of things.

So you go a layer deeper.

Why?

Why is that silly?

Why won't that work?

What are you covering up?

And then again,

Get quiet and listen.

Another thing,

So thoughts come up of what will people think of me?

What will they say if we're worried about the external world?

Again,

That's the ego voice.

So just notice it and notice what it is.

I think also sometimes there are things that we think and feel that feel too hard,

Or that's not for me,

Other people have that.

A lot of every poo-poo goes,

We put them away because I have an idea,

Something tries to come up and we immediately go,

Oh I could never do that,

Other people do that.

I have to be this way.

Be very conscious of those thoughts because again,

Something inside you is trying to tell you your truth,

Your purpose,

A life lesson to give you wisdom and you,

Your ego more than likely,

Is pushing it aside,

Right?

So whenever there's those not me,

Everybody else can do that,

But I can't,

You know,

Really really ponder that and think deeply.

Okay,

So before we get started,

So when we think about questions and answers,

Diabetes is so confusing and there's so many little things and each of you and I can have a conversation for a long time about all the different questions that you have every day,

Diabetes related,

Finance,

Any particular thing,

Right?

It's confusing enough on our own,

But then we get other people's input and it can get even more confusing because our lives aren't anyone else's lives.

So we have this internal conflict,

Right,

Of our,

Of what's going on in our mind,

What's going on in our heart and culturally we kind of dismiss our gut,

But from an evolutionary perspective,

Our gut,

Our gut nervous system,

Some of the most ancient parts of the mammalian,

I'll say that of animals,

Right?

When we all got all the way back to worms.

And so because it's so deep seated,

It's quiet and we have to tap into that.

So what I want to do is develop the ability to listen to it,

To put the ego aside,

To dismiss,

So just acknowledge the reason why the ego says why not.

We put the heart aside with all the things that other people need from us and want us to do and we feel obligated to and want to help.

All those are good things.

This is just a time for us.

So it's not things other things should never occur,

But we also have to make a space for us,

For our truth to come out.

So we turn away from the external,

We turn away from the needs of everybody else and we spend some time filling back up and listening,

Listening for those answers,

That primitive sense of self that's been there,

Again,

Since before you had fully functional arms and legs,

When you were an embryo,

When life started within you,

There was something that made your body form the way it did up until the point where you're aware and now we have language and TV and phones and all these other things,

But that innate wisdom can still be buried within us.

So for our exercise tonight,

We're going to do a meditation,

We're going to do some parasympathetic state,

And we're going to see if we can tap into our gut.

So we're ready to do that.

So this is the fun part.

I think before we get started,

You may want to let's think about what it is you need to know,

Like what are the questions,

But it doesn't have to be about diabetes.

Maybe it is,

Maybe it isn't,

Maybe it's about,

You know,

What's keeping you from getting to the next level,

Maybe it's about a relationship,

Maybe that typically it's about a next step.

You're here and there's something you want to desire,

Whether it answers or whatever.

If you want to go in that direction,

Often you don't know how to get there.

All right,

So maybe a generic and general sort of idea is what is our next step?

How do I need to move,

To do,

To be,

To get to where I want to go?

So that's what we're going to do.

So get comfy,

Close your eyes,

Relax.

We'll gather again.

I like this idea.

We've got a larger group now,

So as we come together as a group,

A group with a common interest which connects us,

A group with a common time and point now,

Here,

Together.

And as we gather,

We're safe,

We'll relax,

We're a lone friend.

We're taking time intentionally and specifically for us to fill up our cup,

To energize,

Replenish,

Restore,

Renew all the things that diabetes may take from us.

So we'll repeat our intentions and the intention for tonight is maybe be happy,

You relax,

Maybe connect with your ancient inner self and maybe find answers.

So we're going to do what I call poly vagal breathing.

I don't call that what it's called,

And it is a system of breathing that helps move us from fight or flight,

Nervous,

Anxious,

By stimulating our vagus nerve into the parasympathetic state,

Which is rest,

Relax,

Restore.

So we're going to do several rounds of breathing.

It's really simple.

All you're going to do is breathe in and out through your nose and we're going to exhale twice as long as we inhale.

I typically breathe in for a count of four and exhale for a count of eight.

As we breathe in,

Breathe in all the goodness and as you exhale,

Try to let go,

Let loose and,

You know,

Release anything you no longer need.

Pay specific attention to the airflow moving through your nose and the back of your throat.

That's kind of where some of the stimulation.

Okay,

So let's get started with that.

Relax.

Let's just relax.

One big breath first to get started.

Ah,

Just relax.

Let your jaw relax.

Swallow.

Let your throat relax.

Let your shoulders relax.

And we'll breathe in to a count of four.

In,

Two,

Three,

Four.

And out,

Four,

Three,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

In,

Two,

Three,

Four.

And out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

And if this is too fast or slow,

You can do three and six or whatever's comfortable.

Again,

In,

Two,

Three,

Four.

And out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

In,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Deep breath.

Out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

And let it go.

In,

Two,

Three,

Four.

And out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

In,

Two,

Three,

Four.

And out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Last one.

Deep breath.

Roll in.

In,

Two,

Three,

Four.

And out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Notice how you feel.

That active breathing actually helps shift you from an outwardly focused world state into an immutly focused self state.

This should feel good and comfortable and relaxed.

And this is how we begin to turn on our parasympathetic nervous system.

And this is a system that we really don't have a lot of control over,

But breathing and relaxing can certainly help shift our attention and work.

So we'll start with an affirmation.

I am here.

I am present.

I am breathing.

I am living.

I am deserving of peace.

I am wise.

I am capable.

I am in charge of me.

I am relaxed.

I am in tune.

I am curious.

I am listening.

I am safe.

And I am okay.

In this place of peace and comfort and safety,

I want you to think of what you want to know.

What are the questions and the next steps?

How do you move forward?

What truth do you need?

What clarity?

Think about that.

And we want to ask for something small and easy and obese.

Something little and tiny.

It doesn't have to be language.

Before we move our attention to our digestive system,

Let's move around our body,

Blessing and honoring the parts of us that are most impacted by diabetes.

So relax and turn your attention inward to your heart where it beats,

Stung,

Fully nestled in between your lungs,

Exchanging oxygen,

Carbon dioxide,

Bringing life to every part of your body,

Removing waste and toxins,

Functioning to exchange all the things it needs with the outside world.

Thank your heart and bless your heart.

Offer your heart peace.

And in this space of peace,

Relaxation directs every part of your body that has healing capacity to move to your heart and honor it with healing.

Next,

Move to your liver and it's in the right side of your abdomen above your waistline,

Nestled underneath your right wing.

Nestled underneath your right wing.

Bless your liver,

Which provides so many services.

Keeps us safe,

Keeps blood flowing,

Removes toxins,

Helps with digestion.

Bless our liver,

Give it optimal health.

Reimagine blood flowing fully,

Easily,

Helping to clean the body,

To keep us in balance.

We thank our liver for its work.

Next,

Move to your kidneys.

Your kidneys are located in your back above your waist,

Below your ribs,

Nestled in,

Protected by the bone rib cage.

We bless our kidneys with good and easy blood flow,

With protein management to keep fluids in the right place,

With optimal nutrition,

With optimal hydration,

And all the other elements that are necessary to maintain a good pH balance of the body,

A good hydration state,

And to help get rid of extra sugar we may need to.

We send all our healing and we welcome it to the kidney for any damage done by high blood sugars,

Allowing the parts of our body we don't even understand to repair,

Rebuild,

Replace,

Anything that's not functioning properly.

We thank the kidneys for their effort in keeping us whole and healthy.

I want you to focus your attention on your lower extremities,

On the inside,

Not the outside part that we think of when we think of our arms and legs,

But the inside part,

The muscles,

The bones,

The nerves,

All the parts that are working internally to move you,

To get you where you need to go,

To provide you stability and grounding.

In our feet,

That is the most remote part of our body.

We encourage our body to remove extra fluids to help blood flow return and overcome gravity.

For the tiniest little blood vessels to open and be restored,

So that even the remotest part of our body gets all the health,

Nutrition,

Oxygen,

And other goodness and immune products it needs,

And remove any toxins and wastes.

From the inside out,

We feel the life in our lower extremities,

Tingling,

Moving,

Circulating,

Helping propel us forward on our journey.

Next,

Move your attention to your upper extremities.

Once again,

From the inside out,

The bones of your arms and hands,

The muscles,

The tendons,

The ligaments,

The blood vessels flowing through,

Your upper extremities that do so much work to care for self,

To care for others,

And do so much work to manage our diabetes.

Bless these upper extremities.

Allow healing and energy and light to transfuse through them.

Thank them for their tireless work and bestow on them all the healing nourishment and fluids,

Oxygen that they may need.

Next,

Move your attention to your throat.

Swallow,

Relax.

Bless your throat,

Your voice,

All the different elements of your neck,

Your pelvis and your ear,

That they return to you and release any discomfort,

Any tension,

Any blockages.

May your voice be able to be spoken and you share and say what you need to say.

Allow this special part of you to be able to be heard and no longer be afraid and lose your throat.

Next,

Move to your brain,

That part of you that is sensing and tirelessly continuously processing and processing,

Laying down information,

Making judgments,

Interpretations,

Planning,

Thinking.

Allow a wave of peace and calm to wash into your bones and remind it that it is not alone because as much as your mind and your thoughts occur in your brain,

The rest of you,

Body,

Mind and spirit,

Are there as well.

And so bless your bones.

Restore wholeness and healing that's necessary by returning your brain to a childlike state of ease and comfort.

Lastly,

Move to our eyes.

Move your attention to these orbs that are the visual link between the inside and the outside.

Bless each eye.

Bless each retina with small tiny little blood vessels that can become occluded if our blood sugars are high.

Imagine light and healing in the back of your eyes.

Imagine blood flow opening up,

Nourishing every little cell.

Every part of you is whole,

Is quiet,

Is easy,

Is calm.

I want to pause here and notice your body.

Notice how you feel relaxed.

Relax your shoulders.

Notice the aliveness within you.

You might notice tingling in your arms and your goosebumps across your flesh.

A hum above energy.

All the new and the new and the new and little things doing their work and we are abilities to what they do.

But they are wise,

They are coordinated,

They are on purpose.

Every little emotion,

Every little chemical calculation happening without our knowledge.

And there is a deep inner wisdom that makes this happen.

And as we relax and turn inward,

We are reminded of this ancient wisdom within us.

We ask it our questions.

In your mind or in your mind,

What is it that you need to know?

You can think of it in the picture.

You can have a question of words.

Imagine what you need to.

Maybe even have that conversation.

Look at ancient wise men.

I have something I need to know.

Will you share it with me?

And for me,

We are going to be quiet.

There is no right or wrong way to do this.

Something may happen,

Something may not.

Something may happen tomorrow.

Maybe you will have a dream.

Who knows?

The how is not important.

It's asking the question,

Being open and at the right time,

Something might just come to you.

A small coincidence,

A thing for the city.

You might get an idea.

Typically it's a small little thing.

Don't dismiss it.

Some little thing.

Turn your light in.

Probably happen in your mind.

Maybe give you a minute to enjoy this.

Just be open to open to anything that you may need.

Okay.

So notice where your mind went.

What thoughts came up?

What did your ego want to distract you from?

What other influences pulled you away?

If something pulled you away,

What did it pull you away from?

These sort of inner truths and inner knowing are often vague and not well defined.

It's a little cub,

A little idea.

I just invite you to think about it.

See if it has meaning for you.

Watch for it.

It may happen later.

I want to go back to our affirmations as we wrap.

You can repeat in your mind or after me or say it aloud.

I am here.

I am present.

I am breathing.

I am living.

I am deserving of peace.

I am wise.

I am capable.

I am in charge of me.

I am relaxed.

I am intuitive.

I am curious.

I am listening.

I am safe.

I am okay.

I'll add more.

I am listening to my inner wisdom.

Take a breath.

Breathe it in.

See how you feel.

Start transitioning from your inner world back to your outer world.

Let your brain start processing what happened.

What lessons can be learned?

What does your mind want to do with this information?

Are you disappointed?

Are you curious?

Are you confused?

Did you get an answer?

Like I said,

It may not happen at first.

It's something you may have to practice.

It may be doing your meditation.

Coming back to present.

Coming back to now.

Coming back to today.

Coming back and gathering with this group of friends.

And we'll pause and stop and end the meditation.

So thank you for joining me.

For finding some answers.

And again,

In the world we live in that is a sea of information,

You can spend hours looking things up.

But it's never a bad idea to look inside.

There's wisdom there.

And it does take some time.

You may have to practice that a little bit.

It is something I have other tools that I use in coaching.

Other ways to kind of tap into this side of yourself.

So this is just one way.

And since we kind of do the body meditation,

I thought that gut,

Talking to our gut might be a fun thing to do.

It's very smart.

You gained.

You know what?

This is important work.

Diabetes is hard.

It's confusing.

It's stressful.

It's a toll on your body.

And you deserve some goodness put back in.

Right?

Because the world is hard.

The world is hard.

So this is a great place for us to be kind to each other,

To fill our cups back up.

And to be support and encouragement.

And do some activities that are kind of off the beaten path.

But as long as we're in peace and we're guiding our body to heal ourselves,

It can't hurt.

Right?

And feeling good feels good.

Thanks again for joining.

And I will be with you soon.

Goodbye all my Diet Buddies.

Bye.