Talking To The Inner Critic

Begin our monday monday meditation session so rainy rainy monday so what i thought about doing today has to do with this whole quarantine thing and um we know that uh our routine compared to what we used to have when we used to work or well first of all it's completely different and second our mind is more available we are less distracted we're not doing something else uh which means that naturally our minds build stories and uh sometimes some of us at least i can speak for myself start believing in those stories okay so uh and this is uh this is an issue because as you start to believe you start to behave a quarterly your body is starts to feel a quarterly to the stories that are built so i remember many sessions ago i suggested do not bite the hook okay once you bite the hook you're hooked through the whole story and uh once you're there i find it a whole lot harder to get out of there unless something happens that you know diverge your attention so that's that's where most of people with uh anxiety depression that's where the problem resides okay so but what out what the exercise we're gonna do today is to avoid the interruption let's call it or avoid the thought before it starts to happen because what once it starts it's harder as i said to move out of it okay so as i said this is a an exercise it's a formal meditation sitting uh it is uh it is great to practice on a daily basis on your regular you know day like when you're doing something and you oops you notice that something's about to happen you retract you avoid it you you go back to do what you were going to do and the thought will go away and that's basically what we do when we are focused and concentrated on a single point what meditation is about is that we bring our our attention back every single time every single time and let the thought go away let the body the sensation distractions go away and uh we go along with her whatever we're doing i think the secret is that uh on a daily basis on a routinely speaking uh to find a place either in yourself or outside yourself like for instance i carry my malas i have two right now and uh i'm always with them and and i know that this is a place that i can go to when i find myself almost being hooked biting the hook okay so uh it's about practice it's about becoming a habit and uh as it as the more you practice the more it gets incorporated on your daily life okay so let's uh let's begin by finding ourselves a comfortable position either on a cushion or a couch or on the floor or laying down the whole idea is to have a dignified posture with your back straight open chest and breathe just breathe a deep inhalation through your nose and a soft and long exhalation through your nose once again as you inhale you notice the upward movement of the body take that as an opportunity to make yourself comfortable and to straighten your spine and open your chest and as you exhale you notice how your body relaxes so that is the downward movement and just surrender just let it be gently bring your attention to your body notice how you're seated what is touching the ground it might be your feet your sitting bones if you're laying down your back upper and lower back bring your attention to those contact points with the ground be aware of yourself in the present moment you may breathe gently and softly through your nose as you inhale a gentle inhalation and as you exhale a soft and gentle exhalation still noticing and bringing into a few into your field of awareness the the present posture how do you see yourself right now as you inhale just enough breathing not too much a very shallow inhalation to make a breathing almost effortless that's a little bit amount of effort to inhale in the exhalation process itself and not a not as much in the exhalation so what we're trying to do is equalize in both just settle yourself in this present moment your mind might be wondering trying to pull your attention away distract you as i always say that's that's totally okay that's what the mind does all you have to do is bring yourself back to the awareness that you are building within your body same thing with the body discomfort sensations outside the field of awareness let's just stay here for a while just just relax just being in the moment a soft and gentle inhalation and a soft and gentle exhalation allow yourself to disconnect from the world outside inside just be in this moment so eyes closed or open if you choose to leave them open just don't focus on anything just leave a lot of focus like gazing towards the floor softly and gently breathing so now gently invite your mind's attention towards the top of your head let's do a body scan to include more information inside the field of awareness so we'll be able to include our whole body in this present moment starting from the top of the head noticing the sensations not engaging with them just noticing might be a twitch it might be the air touching your hair don't scratch it don't just let it be it will go away the back of your head your neck your face any sensations that you might be feeling any muscle tension on your forehead just just let it go just drop it soften it your cheekbones your nose your mouth your jaw just make that extra effort to relax to drop it sometimes it feels as if your face is sliding off your skull it's a melting sensation your neck connecting with your shoulders notice any sensation any tension if so just just notice it don't don't try to get rid of it just notice and let it be your chest your arms upper lower hands and fingers noticing the weight of the hand the warm sometimes when i get to this point i notice that my face muscles are tense somehow so if you notice something that is already in your field of awareness you just let it go there's any intention for a body sensation like an itch you will notice it and return to your body your belly your lower back if there's any pain just let it be the sitting bones legs hips knees feet toes let's stay here just getting used to this new information that we brought a way to get acquainted with this new assessment and the more we know about it the more sensitive we become when there is any intention for a sensation the sensation can come from an outside stimuli it can be a pain or a breeze or anything coming from the outside world or it can come from your mind like a a rush in your heart or a warm feeling on your face once you know it's going to happen you can identify the source and the reason and the reason why and the just manage it before it happens just avoid it let it go not engage with it let's stay here for a while just getting used to our body the sensations we assessed all this new information that we got because shallow slow and soft inhalation a soft and gentle exhalation adjusting your body your spine open your chest if there's any sensation in your body just notice it and see how it goes away without you doing anything it would just go away now let us build our home our home base in our breath so gently let's invite our attention to our breathing and the sensation of the air on our body the rising and falling of your chest or your belly or the cold air touching the back of your throat or the nostrils or the tip of your nose so get used to this sensation make yourself comfortable just relax your attention into this place if you could just stop for a second and notice that you're not paying attention to the rest of your body just this single tiny little place it's a great experience whereas you were managing sensations body sensations you're not worried about that anymore you might be really engaging with this home base and that's the function of a home base there's a place where you can rest your attention while everything else happens but you're not there you can eventually notice any body tension and relax and soften and return to the home base one at a time mindfully now very gently very slowly let's take a look at what's going on in our minds some images sounds moments might come so if you can notice when it starts when it comes into your awareness it might be something that happened already this morning or during the weekend anything just bring into your mind's eye and notice when it happens notice when it happens starts to roll the film now let's do this experiment as you notice the intention to start you return to your home base and let whatever's happening happen but your attention is in the home base and you can go back again with the different thoughts and return to your home base let's do this and see what happens don't forget to breathe softly and gently dignified posture be gentle as you notice the intention to start something in your mind you just immediately go back to your home base and shift your attention at your own will do not bite the hook do not let your mind tell you what to do so one of the reasons why i reinforced the fact that you must or you should have a dignified posture is that it tells your brain who is in control it's about body language so always returning to the home base that's the place you chose to relax your attention no matter what happens now stay there stay in your home base just enjoying this moment and recollecting that some of the things you felt as long as two minutes ago you're not feeling anymore some urges some body sensations some thoughts are not there anymore just take this uh take this um quick pause just realize the impermanence of things that nothing is forever and that you're in control of everything so now slowly and gently take a couple of deep breaths inhale deeply give that stretch your body roll your shoulders back and forth your neck heads your head running you know wiggling your fingers just grab your hand start feeling your body slowly and gently open your eyes take this time to enjoy the moment don't need to rush if you want to stay there just stay for a while enjoy thank you so much meditating with me and i hope you have a a great evening tuesday and i hope i see you again on wednesday okay thank you namaste bye thank you you're welcome