So welcome to people and . Yeah, nice to be back doing it. It felt really odd because we've done.
We've done, I think, 14 weeks in a row of always doing some mindfulness on a Sunday evening, and then I was away on my holiday and Got to the Sunday evening and, there was no, I mean, I did some anyway cause I always do some, but, it did feel odd not to be doing this with you guys. So it's really nice to be back and, Yeah, and a welcome to those of you who are coming in now and welcome to the people that access this Sunday evening. Mindfulness via the webinar.
We are in very, very, weird sort of times, aren't we? We've just got this. And I think that there's a real sense of, I had to sort of call the people in my family together today and just say, you know, guys, I think we're all going to have to start being more mindful again.
About the distancing, about washing our hands because I'd really noticed that. Me included, we had all got quite sort of, not completely lax about it, but we weren't doing it nearly as much, you know, the washing hands business that, you know, when you plonk a shopping bag down on the kitchen table, you know, then wiping the kitchen table and Northamptonshire now is, because I'm back in the NHS, I get these scary figures and we're 11th in the country at the moment, highest levels of COVID infection. And, it, it, there is this almost a mindfulness, you know, the, the definition of the word Buddha means, roughly sort of translates to, waking up.
You know, coming back to life, that sense of, you know, really waking up, and there is a sort of sense that it feels like, and sometimes we think of living our lives without mindfulness as being a bit like sleepwalking because we never really pay attention to anything deliberately and on purpose and you know, mindfulness keeps us safe and so paying attention deliberately on purpose without judgement. You know, it really works for this, this, this very strange sort of time because especially when you go away on holiday to a, a part of the world which almost feels like COVID never got there, and although people were sort of socially distancing, you know, you're on holiday and, it just didn't feel like we were in the middle of this, this situation. And Yeah, so I think there's been, something about mindfulness being a very protective thing that we can all do.
So it is really lovely to be sharing this all with you tonight because I think the other, the, we've been doing this together for quite some time and it does feel like we have, a pretty select group of us now, don't we? And because you're all, I always think of you guys now as being sort of hardcore mindfulness, Mindfulness, practitioners. And so tonight's, we're just doing one meditation tonight, but it's, I'm not sure you should ever describe a meditation as being meaty, but it is, it's Yeah, it's, it's one called Stopping the war.
And As the slide says here, that whole idea of stopping the war is also something of a metaphor to represent, and I know I do this when there's stuff going on and we end up getting into a bit of a struggle with some of the inner stuff, you know, irritants, frustrations, difficulties, and If we're in the middle of a struggle with stuff and we get into a bit of a fight with ourselves, it is almost like a war inside our own brains and . I'm about to start a pain course with the NHS for people who are . Who who have got stuck on opioids for, for their pain and this meditation is one that we use on, on that particular course because there's a really good evidence base that if we are struggling internally, it impacts our ability to manage pain and some great studies now showing the usefulness of a mindful stance towards pain.
And so I thought tonight what we would do is the stopping the war. Inside our own minds meditation, and this isn't an easy meditation by any means, but you'll notice it's quite different and it's a sort of combination of breathing space, body scan, letting go, and lots and lots of mindful curiosity and . The overall aim though is to aim aim towards us getting much better at letting go of any internal struggle.
An internal struggle is what exhausts us and keeps us tired. And as soon as we learn to let go of that inner struggle, life just becomes so much easier. And we become so much happier.
And this is one that when we do the pain course we say you need to do it every day for at least 10 days to get the real benefit from it. So you guys aren't struggling with that level of addiction or pain, I'm assuming. So, my hope is that it'll become another meditation and as I have been doing, .
As I have been doing, what I will do is, record this one and see, see if if I'm recording it, I'll ask Dawn to send it on to, or to put it up where you guys can, where you guys can find it. And I think that will, that will add to the sort of canon of all of our meditations that we've done over this, over this period. So, What I'll ask you to do with no more ado is just to Make yourselves comfortable and this meditation even sort of gets us to think about how we do that.
So I'm going to shut up and start recording, and I hope this really, really helps everybody. I hope you enjoy it as well. I hope you enter into it with this real spirit of curiosity, because that's the way this meditation, needs to be done.
So the meditation is called stopping the war. So if we Just take a few moments. To allow yourself to become comfortable.
Wherever you're sitting. Or maybe even lying. And For a few moments now, make any small adjustments to your position.
And your posture that you may need. Because this is a Longer meditation. We're looking at about 12-13 minutes perhaps.
And the importance of Making these adjustments is that we need you to be at ease. As you begin this exercise. So what we aim for is a posture that's secure and grounded.
But comfortable. And now Allow your eyes to close. And without deliberately changing the pace.
Of your breathing. Let's all just begin to gently. Bring our attention.
To the flow of the breath in. And out of the body. Just attending to our breath.
Not judging it. Not changing the pace. Just Breathing.
I'm breathing. And with each breath We bring an awareness deliberately on purpose to the truth. That each breath is another new moment.
And we exist in these moments. And now just bring your attention to the soles of your feet. Finding them Push into them Connect with the soles of your feet that do so much work.
And now take your attention. To the very top of your head. And now Just scan Everything in between.
From the top of your head. Down over your face. Your neck, your jaw, your shoulders.
The chest, your torso, your legs. Just coming back to the souls of the feet. And return your attention to your breath.
Simply following the breath. And as you're breathing in, just knowing. Here I am.
Breathing in. And now I'm breathing out. Beginning to Perhaps notice the sensations.
But at present, In your body. When we scanned it, we may have found. Feelings of tension.
Or pressure Or discomfort. And now choose. To bring your attention.
To wherever that tension, that pressure. That discomfort sits. You'll find it.
No judgement, it's just tension. It's just pressure. It's just discomfort.
And once we find these. Sensations. As much as you can.
Bring an attitude of willingness. To these experiences. Being willing To just find and sit with tension.
Willing To just allow pressure. Discomfort And now let's find our breath again. And choose now.
To breathe in Especially into those areas of the body. That present you with. Perhaps discomfort or tension or maybe even resistance.
Just a few moments where we. Choose to take our breath. Directly to the parts of the body.
Where there's discomfort or resistance. It's just breathing. Letting go.
And breathing back into wherever that sits. And I wonder, Can we all just make space? For these experiences.
Without trying to make them go away. Bring part of your attention now. To the feeling of resistance.
To the struggle that You're experiencing around. Discomfort. Tension.
Pressure Notice the tension that's involved in fighting. These experiences moment by moment. So now as we meditate together.
When meeting each and any of these sensations throughout the body. Open yourself to the experience. Let go of the fight.
Bring gentle, loving attention to your breath. And let yourself be. Exactly as you are in this moment now.
As you exhale, Let go of the attention. To physical sensations entirely. And with the next available natural in breath bring your attention now.
To your thoughts and emotions. What thoughts are flowing through your mind? What feelings are moving.
Through you. And let's try and find an open Receiving attention. Especially to thoughts and emotions that You would Typically struggle.
To push away or. Not to have And as much as you can, In this moment now. Allow yourself to soften.
Around these thoughts. These feelings. And in the same way as we did with that physicality.
Make space for these events in the mind and in the heart. Be curious. Can I?
Let go of this war within myself. Even for just. This moment, let go.
Find peace. Tranquilly. And return your attention to the flower of the breath.
To your feet on the ground. To your seat in the chair. And you're back.
As you feel straight and supported. And as you breathe in, Again, using the breath. Using the breath to bring attention to the struggles in your life.
What battles are you fighting? Just bringing awareness to the presence of these battles that we find ourselves. Engaged in If you struggle with your body, Bring awareness to that.
If you struggle against any emotion. Just notice it. If thoughts intrude.
They wage war with you and you wage war with them. Bring that gentle awareness to this struggle. For a moment.
Gently allow yourself to feel the weight. Of these struggles and these battles. Just soften Around even this experience.
Allowing yourself to bring an open. Compassionate attention. To these struggles and Let them go.
Just let go. As you exhale. For a moment, allow yourself to feel a complete willingness to be exactly who you are.
Right here, right now in this moment. Allow yourself to accept the totality. Of all that life has brought you and all that you have brought to life.
Just question, Isn't it time now? To stop waging this war within ourselves. And allow yourself to choose to let go of struggle.
And with courage and commitment. Just accept who you are. And how you are right here.
Right now. Bringing attention to the souls of the feet. Bringing attention.
To the top of the head. And now to everything. In between.
Returning to the breath. Simply following the breath. As you're breathing in, I'm breathing in.
As you're breathing out. I'm breathing out. And when you're ready, Open your eyes.
And allow yourself to let go. Of this exercise as well. And resume.
You'll die. Well done, everybody. Yeah, it's a really important meditation, that one.
And I would say that it, it is one that when I remember being taught this meditation, Principally for use with people struggling with pain as much as anything, but I think it. It kind of Has relevance for so much more. The advice we were given at the time was it's one to be done, every day.
For about 10 days. And when I did that, I Trying to do as I'm told by the. The masters of mindfulness that taught me.
I, I just found that extraordinary, and it really honed my ability to stop that internal struggle. And I would just recommend that if you've enjoyed that, you recognise the importance of it. And Maybe give it a go for the rest of the week at the very least.
And I look forward to next Sunday's. Meditation with all of you from the veterinary profession. I have great weeks.
Have a lovely Sunday evening. And I'll see you all. Very soon.
I'll send the presentation, the audio file on to Dawn. Goodnight now.