meditation for people in support

The purpose of this meditation is to encourage you to take a step back throughout your day to reconnect with yourself, reconnect with your breath, and perhaps shift your mindset.

When you're ready, take a moment to put your feet on the floor if they're not there already.

Take a big breath in and extend your arms overhead, opening up as if you're just waking up.

When you exhale, you can release your arms down and release the air through an open mouth exhale.

You might open and close your jaw here, paying attention to whether any tension is being held there.

Continue breathing.

Now we'll take a moment to connect with the present moment, with the now through our senses.

So with eyes open, notice something that you can see around you.

Now notice how your body feels against your chair or whatever seat you're sitting in.

Maybe how your feet feel against your shoes or the floor.

If you're outside, you might notice how the wind feels against your skin.

Now bring your attention towards what you can hear. Can you identify one thing that you can hear around you?

From where you're sitting, is there anything that you can smell? Maybe someone's cooking in the next room or maybe you have a candle lit. Take note.

Finally, bring your awareness towards anything you might be able to taste (and it's okay if you don't taste anything). Perhaps you've had coffee recently, or tea. Continue to breathe.

Now, if it feels okay, close your eyes (otherwise you might soften your eyelids slightly). Check back in with your posture. Sit tall, extending your spine, and bring your shoulders slightly back, bringing the shoulder blades closer to one another. And you might slightly draw in the muscles in your belly to provide some support for your back.

Remember to breathe.

When you're ready, release all of the air in your lungs with a sigh, opening your mouth on the exhale, maybe opening your jaw to release intention, let it go.

Now, through your nostrils, take a slow breath in and focus on expanding your lungs out in all directions: side to side, forward to back. Release that breath with an open mouth exhale, fully emptying out. Let something go.

Take another full breath through your nostrils, perhaps holding your breath for a few beats at the top of your inhale. And when you're ready, release with an open mouth exhale, and maybe you hold your breath slightly at the bottom of this exhale.

Repeat that cycle again, inhaling through your nose with an option to hold and release with an open mouth exhale (option to hold at the bottom of that exhale).

Take a couple more rounds of this cyclical breath. And notice how your body feels after taking these breaths. Notice if your mind starts to shift (and it's okay if it doesn't).

When you're ready, return back to your regular breath, again paying attention to how you're feeling in the moment.

Now this is a tool that you can use throughout your day when you have a few minutes to ground down, reconnect with yourself. But know that we can also access this type of shift perhaps a little bit more quickly.

Maybe it's when we're feeling overwhelmed or stressed or we've been focusing so intently for what feels Like a long time and perhaps we're forgetting to breathe.

So now we'll move into an exercise that you can use throughout your day: maybe when you're walking up the stairs, perhaps when you're waiting in line, or if you're sitting at your desk; really any time. So the next time that you're feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or perhaps in a mood that doesn't seem to shift, try this on.

First, notice your mindset and the associated feeling in your body. If you're feeling particularly negative or upset, the first step is to notice.

Next, make an active decision to shift your thoughts towards one thing that you feel grateful for in your life. That could be your health, your pets, the environment you're in, maybe it's your family or your friends.

Stay with this thought for a bit longer. Perhaps bringing to mind fond memories associated with whatever you're grateful for.

Remember to breathe and then come back to noticing how you're feeling.

With this simple noticing, shifting, of our mindset, we might be able to get ourselves unstuck.

The most important thing to remember is that your job is to take care of yourself. You're smart, you're valued, and sometimes you just need a break.

I hope that you can return to your day feeling a little bit more connected to yourself, connected to the moment, and know that you can always access these tools if you're in need of a shift.

kelly hummell