Social Media Detox Meditation 05

Transcript

Hi and welcome to your practice.

You might have heard the saying that comparison is the thief of joy. How very true that is! And yet it’s very easy to compare ourselves to others on social media, which can go one of two ways, but becomes a big problem when it dents your self esteem. In this respect, social media can become quite toxic. Whether it’s scrolling through Instagram and seeing what looks like a vast gallery of perfect faces or perfect bodies. Or maybe jumping on LinkedIn and seeing and reading about people who are more successful, who are succeeding in life.

We judge ourselves and chances are we are critical of ourselves.

It can create a feeling of not being good enough, of needing to catch up or to change ourselves in some way, creating a gap with who we are and who we want to be.

It can also alter what our desires are for our own lives, encouraging directions that others may wish for us.

Who are we deep inside, without this outside influence?

The aim of this practice is to take a step back and observe your thoughts with a little more clarity and a bit more perspective, rather than comparing and judging.

With practice, we can see thoughts for just being thoughts and feelings for just being feelings. We are NOT our thoughts and we are NOT our feelings. We are more than all of that.

Sitting comfortably for this.

Settling in with a few rounds of deep breaths.

Breathing in through your nose.

Breathing out through your mouth.

Feeling the body soften as you exhale.

Allowing the breath to return to it’s natural flow.

Breathing in and out through your nose.

Feeling the weight of your body connecting with the surface beneath you.

Noticing sounds around you.

Noticing how the body feels in this moment.

Scanning through the body, checking in with how you feel.

Scanning from the top of your head, down to your toes.

Noticing areas of tension.

Noticing areas of ease.

When your mind wanders off, just bring it back to scanning through the body.

Notice the general mood; how you feel in your mind.

Without making a judgement, just becoming aware of how things are in this moment, noting and acknowledging.

Then becoming clear about why you are doing this practice today, setting your intention. Maybe not just for yourself but also acknowledging how your practice benefits those around you too.

Becoming aware of the body breathing.

Noticing the breath.

Without changing the breath in anyway.

Following the breath.

Watching the natural rhythm of the breath.

When you realize you’re lost in thought.

Notice that your mind has wandered and you’ve become distracted.

If it’s a thought then note it, as “a thought”, and then come back to following the breath.

If you’ve been distracted by a feeling, that note that, as “a feeling” and come back to the breath.

It’s natural for the mind to wander, it’s designed to think.

Every time you notice, note the distraction, thought or feeling and then gently move your focus back to the breath.

Fine tuning the mind to pause rather than running off down the path of thinking.

Keep coming back to the breath.

Letting go of any focus now.

Let your mind think, let it wander, let it question, letting it do what it needs to do.

Bringing your awareness back to your body.

Feeling your body connecting with the surface beneath you.

Pause for a moment and notice how you feel after your practice.

As best you can, take this idea with you into your day that you are not your thoughts and you are not your feelings. Notice the freedom that creates for you when you don’t engage with negative thoughts and feelings and it creates a sense of quiet confidence instead.

Thank you for joining me and I’ll see you back here for the next meditation.

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