Perfect Week, Day 6: The Power of Yes

Hello,

I'm Tomek from Synergy Lab Sydney.

Welcome to day 6 of Perfect Week,

7 part program designed to support your everyday well-being.

Life throws at us curveballs all the time.

It is only natural that we get defensive,

Respond with anger,

Frustration and anxiety.

Even though the situation that triggered the negative response is long gone,

We still go over the scenario in our heads asking what would I do differently.

In such intense moments,

Our body is flooded internally with biochemicals that normally are associated with life-threatening situations.

According to the brain researcher Joe Bolte-Taylor,

It takes 11 minutes before those biochemicals are being broken down,

The wave passes and balance is restored.

Have you ever been asked to count to 10 when you get upset?

Evolutionary,

Our body is designed to withstand such tension for short periods of time.

These experiences are,

To some extent,

Beneficial as they have power to quickly reprogram our brain and help us adapt to the new situation.

What we experience today,

However,

For most of the time is a bit different.

Chronic stress has been scientifically proven to contribute to almost 80% of all our illnesses,

Including depression,

Heart problems,

Even cancer.

In stressful situations,

When we try to resist rushing thoughts and feelings,

We in fact engage our brain even more,

Contributing to the problem.

The 11 minutes become 11 hours,

And in some cases 11 days.

Mindfulness teaches us that by accepting what is already there,

We mitigate the damaging power of such intense emotions.

Today I'd like to invite you to practice with me the power of yes,

Gently accepting whatever comes your way,

Even if those emotions and thoughts might be difficult.

Now,

Make yourself feel comfortable.

If you are sitting in your chair,

Keep your back straight,

But not rigid,

Allowing unrestricted flow of your breath.

Your feet flat on the floor,

Grounding and centering you.

Let the gravity do its job and hold you down.

Keep your hands in your lap,

Resting easily.

Allow your eyes to close.

Now you are ready,

Fully be with yourself.

Give yourself permission to be with yourself.

Fully embrace the way you are,

With all your emotions and all your feelings.

If you're feeling happy,

Be happy.

If you're feeling sad,

Do not try to push those feelings away.

To settle down just a bit,

Let us begin by taking a couple of deeper,

Mindful breaths as I guide you,

Breathing in through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.

Are you ready?

In,

Hold and out.

In,

Hold and out.

In,

Hold and out.

And now breathe normally and relax.

Now establish a gentle connection with your breathing.

As you breathe in and out,

Notice how your body relaxes just a bit with every exhale.

Your breath is the gateway to awareness and you may use it in this meditation to center yourself and return to your awareness every time you drift away and disconnect.

Now notice how you can feel your breath differently in different parts of your body.

You may perceive your breath as it enters through your nostrils,

A gentle sensation of coolness in the back of your throat.

Perhaps you can feel expansion and contraction of your chest as you breathe in and out,

Or your belly as it rises and falls.

Choose one of those points as an anchor for your breathing,

As an anchor of your awareness.

This will allow you to connect with your breathing even better.

Give yourself a couple of seconds and tune in into your breathing using the anchor,

Either your nose or your chest or your belly.

Remember,

Once you choose your anchor,

Do not try to change it during the meditation practice.

It will simply distract you.

Now as you breathe in and breathe out,

You may notice that after a couple of breaths,

Your mind wanders.

You may end up in the past or you may find planning a future.

Regardless where your mind wanders,

Allow this.

Simply notice the quality of the feeling.

Notice the emotional state.

It is very easy to judge it at this point as good or bad,

Pleasant or unpleasant.

However this time I invite you to say yes to anything and everything that comes your way.

It may be difficult at first,

But then after a while you realize that without resisting,

All those thoughts,

Emotions,

Feelings,

Even bodily sensations,

They eventually go and being replaced by different ones.

It is not the objective of this practice to stay connected with your breath at all times.

Your breath is a reminder of your intention of being truly yourself right now,

With all the emotions and feelings.

Once you experience the emotion,

Then as you see it passing,

You may simply return to your breath and rest the awareness in your breathing until next emotion,

Feeling or sensation,

Comes.

And then you say once again,

Yes.

If you find yourself getting engaged with your emotional state,

When you see that you start building a scenario around this story,

This is a good time to simply return to your breathing.

You may notice that it is very easy to engage your intellect in a discourse about your feeling,

Your emotion.

Your intellect is designed to create those stories.

However you always have a choice.

Every time you notice that your intellect start building a story around the thoughts that you just experienced,

Simply acknowledge it and then return to your breath until the next thought appears.

Then observe it,

Acknowledge it,

Embrace it by saying yes.

Remember,

There are no good or bad thoughts.

There are only thoughts that you approach with gentleness and acceptance or with resistance,

Trying to push them away.

Every time you try to push them away,

You simply engage more and you involve more of your mental energy.

Saying yes to your emotions and feelings will allow you to gain freedom in any stressful situation.

First,

You recognize it and then without judging or trying to analyze it,

You say gentle yes.

As you move along with this practice and more thoughts,

Feelings and emotions appear,

You realize how impermanent they are.

Some of them may linger for just a bit,

But they eventually pass and they being replaced by another.

If you pay close attention,

You may recognize beginning and the end of the emotional flow.

This is a good time to return to your breathing,

Anchoring yourself in the awareness.

Every time you say yes to the next coming emotion or thought,

You change your brain structure so the next time that similar emotional feeling comes your way,

You will be able to respond with kindness.

The next minute or two,

Practice saying yes to everything that comes your way.

Now,

To conclude this short period of meditation,

Begin bringing yourself back.

First,

Acknowledge all the sensations in your body.

Recognize your feet resting on the floor,

Your hands in your lap,

Your sit bones and your back and your shoulders.

To even better connect with your body,

You may also gently wiggle your toes and then move your fingers.

Tilt your head also slowly and gently to the left,

To the right.

And take one deep mindful breath,

Breathing in through your nose,

Hold it and exhale through your mouth.

And when you're ready,

Open your eyes and this is the end of this meditation period.

Thank you very much for joining me in day six of the Perfect Week.

If you like this program,

Please share it with your friends and feel free to follow me to keep up to date with all the new programs.

This is Tomek from Synergy Lab,

Sydney.

Thank you for listening.

I wish you a wonderful and peaceful day.