Start Your Day With Calm - 20 Minute Daily Insight

Hello,

And welcome to The Daily Insight.

My name is Trish Tutton,

And in today's meditation,

We'll be focusing on starting your day with a sense of calm.

May this practice be of benefit to you.

So let's begin by finding a comfortable place to sit or even lie down.

So this meditation is about beginning your day with a sense of calm,

So you want to find a position where you can be physically relaxed.

If you know that when you relax,

You have a tendency to become sleepy,

Then make sure you're in a position where the spine can be alert,

Maybe sitting on a cushion or on a chair.

As you relax into your seat,

Make some space across your chest,

Roll your shoulders down the back.

And in your own time,

Let's begin with a few deep cleansing breaths just to help yourself arrive right here to this moment.

And as you take these deep breaths,

You can feel the cooler air coming in through your nose and feel all of the sensations as your breath releases.

Feel how with the exhalation,

The body relaxes and lets go.

Maybe you feel the jaw soften,

The shoulders drop.

Maybe you start to feel your breath down into your belly.

Take this moment to set the intention to create a sense of calm for the day ahead of you.

So often we rely on the external world to be peaceful for us to feel peace within.

Maybe we find our peace on a beach or when we're on vacation or when we're curled up with a good book.

But the truth is we create our own sense of peace.

And often our mind tends to worry.

It's important to remember that spending these few minutes creating a deep inner sense of calm is going to prepare you better for any catastrophe in life that arises than spending time worrying about it ever will.

So as we begin,

Start by noticing your current state right now.

In order to create a sense of calm,

We have to begin by accepting how we are right in this moment.

So let's begin by noticing the state of our body.

These areas in your body that feel relaxed,

That feel at ease.

Maybe there are other areas of your body that feel tight or tense.

Maybe there are some knots or some sore spots.

And whatever's here,

Whatever's true in the body right now,

Just accepting it as it is.

And now begin to notice the state of your mind.

Imagine that your mind is like a roadway.

Would it be a highway?

Would it be a busy city street?

Would it be a calm country road?

Without judgment and without any resistance,

Just notice how your mind is right now.

And finally,

Begin to notice the quality of your breathing.

This simple evidence of life flowing through your body,

The breath.

Become aware.

Is it long?

Is it short?

Quick or slow?

So by checking in with the body,

The mind,

The breath,

We're simply arriving into presence.

And can you notice if there's anything here,

A thought,

Maybe an emotion,

Maybe a sensation that you are resisting,

That you wish weren't there or that you might be trying to push away.

Imagine that this quality of resisting your experience is the opposite of creating calm.

So take a moment to see if you can relax with your current state,

Just as it is.

As a thought or an emotion or a sensation arises,

You might even silently and softly respond a gentle yes to them.

In this way,

Welcoming whatever's here with a quality of kindness and of compassion.

Whatever's arising,

Again,

A soft,

A gentle and a kind internal yes.

As you start to accept this current state that you're in,

You may notice yourself begin to relax.

As you release resistance to your experience,

Calm can begin to rise.

And as you start to feel this sense of calm rising up in your body,

Notice now the state of your breath.

You might notice that the breath is beginning to settle.

Whether the breath is relaxed and settled or if it's still a quicker pace,

Begin to anchor your attention on your breathing.

Imagine here that your mind is like a room.

An empty room with windows on all four sides.

And the windows have been opened.

And the breeze from the outside starts to flow in through all of the windows.

A gentle,

Cool breeze.

And this breeze gently moves the curtains that line the windows.

And every time you breathe in,

Imagine that this cool breeze that fills the room is cooling off your mind.

Feeling this fresh and calm quality to the mind.

And observing what happens here when you let that cool breeze cool off the mind.

Some breaths might be longer,

Just like some breezes are more intense.

Some might be more gentle.

You can stay with this visualization of the mind being cooled by the breeze of the breath through the nose.

And as a way of remaining with this present moment and releasing anything else,

We can use a mantra.

So as you breathe in,

You can silently and softly repeat to yourself,

I am just here.

And as you exhale,

You can silently and softly repeat to yourself,

And I am letting go.

Exhaling I am just here.

Exhaling and I am letting go.

I am just here and I am letting go.

I am just here.

You're present in the moment and I am letting go.

Letting go,

Relaxing and inviting peace and calm.

Bringing relaxation into your body,

Not resisting any tension or pushing it away.

Just continuously releasing the layers to reveal your natural state of calm beneath.

Continue to watch your breath.

Let your main focus be the breath and the background 5% is on the mantra.

I am just here and I am letting go.

And as many times as your mind wanders,

Simply redirect your focus back to the breath,

Back to the mantra.

And if the mind or the body is agitated or restless,

There's no need to get frustrated.

In fact,

This is the opposite energy to calm.

So see if you can release it as soon as it arises.

Each time you notice your mind distracted,

This is a good thing.

It's nothing to be angry about.

This is your awareness beginning to notice the habit of thought.

I am just here and I am letting go.

Taking a full breath in through the nose.

As you exhale,

Feel the body release and soften.

As you let go of the repetition of the mantra,

Welcome any amount of peace or calm that has become present.

And if there's still any tension or restlessness,

You can welcome that too.

And as we close this meditation,

Sharing some words from Eckhart Tolle,

He says,

Don't look for peace.

Don't look for any other state than the one you are in now.

Otherwise,

You'll set up inner conflict and unconscious resistance.

Forgive yourself for not being at peace.

The moment you completely accept your non-peace,

It becomes transmuted into peace.

Everything you accept fully will get you there,

Will take you into peace.

This is the miracle of surrender.