2:00

And once you've settled in, just take

2:02

a nice deep breath, fill

2:04

all the way up through your chest and

2:07

your belly, hold

2:09

at the top, and

2:12

then exhale, release, and

2:16

just slowly close your eyes. Let's

2:18

take two more nice deep breaths together, just

2:31

to continue settling in. So

2:34

inhale with me, all the

2:36

way in, hold at the top, and

2:41

then exhale, release, just

2:44

let the air fall out. And

2:46

you'll find that when you do that, your

2:49

exhale becomes a little bit longer than

2:51

the inhale, and

2:53

that will cue your body to slow

2:55

down. Again,

3:00

inhale, even deeper, hold,

3:06

and then exhale, release, and

3:09

let go of any tension you're holding onto. And

3:17

just begin to let everything

3:19

go. Relax

3:22

the muscles of your face. Drop

3:29

your jaw, and

3:35

soften your shoulders down. And

3:47

just try to rest your attention on

3:50

the breath, whatever

3:53

pace, whatever depth feels

3:55

right to you. What's

3:58

most important. that

4:00

it feels easy, natural,

4:04

smooth, effortless.

4:16

And at some point, probably

4:19

at many points, your

4:22

mind's going to wander off to that

4:24

thing you have to do later today.

4:28

That conversation you had yesterday, and all

4:32

of these little things we have going on in life, all

4:35

around us all the time. And

4:41

when that happens, as

4:43

it inevitably will, just

4:47

acknowledge it and

4:49

let it go. Whatever

5:01

you have going on in life, whatever's

5:04

calling your attention, asking

5:06

to distract you, just

5:09

let it go. Because

5:15

most of the things that bother

5:17

us and call for our

5:19

attention are

5:21

relatively short-lived. They

5:28

come, and they

5:30

go. And

5:37

even though they may seem like the

5:39

biggest deal in the moment, we

5:44

often realize, in hindsight,

5:48

they weren't that big of a deal at all. So

5:57

if there is something that's

5:59

nagging at you, you, bothering

6:02

you, causing

6:04

you a bit of mental

6:07

internal tension. One

6:14

thing you can do to help with that is

6:19

to just simply zoom out on

6:22

your life. See

6:27

the long arcs of

6:30

what you're doing, the phases

6:32

you're in, the relationships

6:34

you're going through. And

6:41

the farther you zoom out, the

6:44

more and more you'll

6:46

see that most of our

6:48

problems are momentary.

6:55

And on the long timeline of life, being

6:59

at peace with yourself, being

7:03

comfortable and at ease with

7:05

where you're at and what you're going

7:07

through, that

7:10

will bring you the most contentment. Simply

7:16

accepting the present state of

7:18

things. In

7:24

fact, you can change it

7:27

to a degree, but

7:30

you don't control every aspect. There

7:43

will be many highs, and

7:46

there will be many lows too. Even

7:54

most of the time will

7:56

be spent somewhere in between.

8:03

And that's not such a bad place to be. If

8:16

we can simply learn to

8:20

look on the broader scale of

8:22

life, to

8:26

live in the moment, but

8:28

to see how that moment is

8:30

part of a larger arc. We

8:35

can find so much more peace, so

8:39

much more ease, so

8:42

much more comfort with

8:46

ourselves, our lives,

8:50

and just living in our own skin.

9:01

So whatever may be nagging at you, bothering

9:04

you, causing

9:06

you a bit of mental tension, maybe

9:11

just try to look at it in this

9:13

way. A

9:17

momentary, a passing

9:19

bit of tension on

9:22

a very long journey. And

9:31

somewhere down the road, what's

9:34

most likely is that

9:36

you'll look back at this issue,

9:38

this tension, and

9:41

it'll make you smile. Maybe

9:44

even make you laugh. So

9:53

just take one more moment here, and

9:57

appreciate this

9:59

sensation. of ease that you've been

10:01

able to create here and

10:03

now. Despite

10:06

whatever is going on in your life. And

10:12

just enjoy that feeling. That

10:17

sense of peace. All

10:30

right. Well

10:49

it's about time to wrap up

10:51

our meditation. So

10:54

begin to bring yourself back. Just

10:58

whatever is supporting you. Whether

11:00

that's a chair, the floor or something else.

11:07

Notice any sounds going on around you. And

11:12

that feeling of the air on your skin. Take

11:19

one final deep breath in. Hold

11:23

at the top. As

11:26

you exhale, you can slowly open your

11:29

eyes. Just take a second

11:31

to gather yourself. Well

11:42

my friend, I hope you enjoyed this meditation.

11:45

And that you're feeling a deeper sense of

11:47

peace and ease with where you

11:49

are in life right now. And

11:51

whatever you're going through and dealing with. Remember

11:56

that this sense of calm, this feeling

11:58

of comfort. in your own skin

12:01

is always possible, no matter

12:03

what's happening on the outside. You

12:06

can create this within yourself at any

12:09

time. So I

12:11

do hope you come back here whenever you need it. But

12:14

that's all I've got for now. Thanks so

12:16

much for choosing to be here. I always

12:18

appreciate it when you are. If

12:21

you enjoyed this episode, then please take one second

12:23

just to leave a comment or review and

12:25

make sure that you're following the show on whatever

12:28

platform you use. I

12:30

hope to see you back here soon on Wake Me Up and

12:32

until next time, go out

12:35

and have an absolutely fantastic

12:37

day.