Meditation and Stress

To think that we're too stressed to train the mind is like thinking that our head hurts too much to take an aspirin. In setting to meditate, we treat the symptom whilst understanding the cause. So this is one of the most popular reasons for people not trying meditation. They say they're too stressed. Well, if we applied that same logic to anything else in life, we wouldn't do anything. We wouldn't even eat our food, is that I'm too hungry to eat. It doesn't really kind of make sense. So if we dig into it just a little bit, we start to see that we might feel in that moment, while it's not going to immediately alleviate my stress. It's almost as though we're so caught up in the stress, that it's hard to imagine that anything could make a difference but we have to start somewhere. And sometimes that means sitting still, right here, right now, not going anywhere, not distracting ourselves, maybe even being a little bit uncomfortable at first in being fully present with that stress. But if we're able to do that, then we start to see things changing. We start to see things moving, and we give ourselves the opportunity rather than being caught up in the stress to simply witness the stress. And it's that shift in perspective that allows us to not only for the treat the symptom, but to also understand the cause. We start to see that sure, there are some things, some physical things that we can't change. But a lot of the stress that we experience comes from how we react to things, how we perceive things, and the way that we approach our life. And in witnessing those things, it gives us the opportunity to change those things. It's not that we're trying to change who we are. We're not trying to be a different person. We're simply witnessing those moments when we create tension in either the body or in the mind. And in that moment, we're letting go of it. We're learning to let go of that. And every time we let go of it, we're reducing the tension. We're reducing the stress, and we're finding a greater sense of ease in both body and mind. So just making sure that you're sat comfortably, making sure that the back is straight, is upright without being forced in any way. I'm going to start with the eyes open, and some big deep breaths breathing in through the nose, out through the mouth. As you breathe in, noticing how the chest expands as the lungs feel with air. And as you breathe out through the mouth, how the muscles soften as the body gives way. And with the next exhalation, just allowing the breath to return to its natural rhythm. As you close the eyes, feel the weight of the body pressing down and just settling to the space around you. To remember it allowing sounds to...