Welcome to this 15-minute guided meditation on working with an on-call rotation.
In this 15-minute practice,
I will ring one bell to start the practice and three bells at the end of the practice.
Take a moment to find your seat.
Allow your body to relax and start to settle into your posture.
Feel your connection to the ground through your legs,
Your feet,
Or your sitz bones.
In this meditation,
We're going to work with some of the triggers and stresses that arise with being on call,
Being a first responder.
Regardless of your profession,
Your industry,
There's a certain amount of stress that comes with needing to be always available.
We're going to work with that today.
Take a moment to continue to settle.
Just start to notice anything that's going on in your body.
You might notice muscle tension,
Relaxation,
Coolness,
Or warmth.
But intentionally try to focus on physical sensations arising from the body.
Throughout the practice today,
If at any point it becomes uncomfortable or too hard,
You can always rest your awareness in your body's physical sensations.
I want you to bring to mind a time when you were on call.
Maybe you received a page.
Maybe you were needed.
Maybe you were performing some activity and knew that there was a risk that someone might page you.
Just take a moment to really embody the way that you felt in that moment.
It might feel really uncomfortable.
Maybe you feel nothing at all.
Regardless,
Bring that image of that moment when you received that page into your mind.
And on your own breath,
Breathe in the thoughts,
Feelings,
And emotions that charged that moment.
And on an out breath,
Soften.
On an in breath,
Gently reliving the moment of need.
On an out breath,
Holding that moment gently.
Breathing in and breathing out.
On each in breath,
Diffusing the emotional charge.
And if at any point you find that your mind is wandering,
If you find it difficult to focus,
Just gently bring your awareness back to your body,
To that physical sensation of touching the ground.
And allow your awareness to rest there for just a moment before resuming the practice.
Breathing in that difficult memory.
Breathing out.
Breathing out.
Breathing out.
Now I'd like you to bring to mind a different scenario.
Bring to mind a time when you were on call and nothing happened.
You went about your day without any interruptions,
Without any demands for your time.
Bring that moment clearly into your mind.
Breathing in that magnificent,
Uneventful day.
Breathing out any aversion you have to being on call.
Breathing in the effortlessness of that moment.
Breathing out the weight of that burden that you were carrying.
Breathing out the stress of that moment.
And as we start to wrap up our practice,
I just want to remind you that this simple breathing practice,
Breathing in the moment,
Breathing out our aversion to it,
Can be helpful whenever you find these difficult emotions arising.
There's no doubt that the demands of being on call will continue to be a burden.
But what we can control is the way that we carry that weight,
That burden,
And the way that we do or don't allow it to impact the way that we interact with the rest of the world.
You
