Welcome to everybody to October's Sunday meditation where you'll see, we're sort of having an emphasis on, resilience or as it's the buzz term at the moment, which I kind of like, is this bounce back ability. And I do like that because it suggests that And our way out of difficult times is to develop a bit of an ability to bounce back, but it's not one bounce. It's, you know, it's something that we need to do more and more and more of perhaps because there might be more and more and more sort of Issues of adversity, let's put it that way.

So I do like that sense, but also because I've just been down in Cornwall. And I kind of don't quite know how I got round to it, but I got chatting to a chap. Who happened to be a vet, and we were talking about my role with vets and, he hadn't used the, the webinar vet.

For, for, for mindfulness or for well-being yet. But we were just talking about it and he talked about how it would have been useful, sort of, at another point in his career when we had the when we had the, the, the, the, the sort of catastrophe when people had to slaughter a lot of their herds. And he was talking about that and he was saying that that that kind of nearly finished him off at that point and we were talking about sort of how he, how he coped with it and what he did for his resilience.

And I suppose as always I'm kind of thinking ahead, which isn't the most mindful thing to do, but I was, and I thought, you know, maybe the evenings are dark, becoming a bit darker. There's so much uncertainty about what we've the, the politics of the day at the moment and just the, the world feels, I think, like it's an uncertain sort of place, even more so perhaps than normal. And so I thought a real emphasis on, Thinking about resilience tonight might be useful for people.

So I hope you're going to find this useful, and there are still some people coming in, which is lovely to welcome everybody in. So let's just have a think about This whole sort of area of resilience. So there are two meditations we're actually going to be doing tonight.

The first meditation is one where we just try and find a sense of inner peace. And it's a really simple. Quite short meditation, but just one that you.

In times of strife and in times of difficulty. We might just find it quite useful to just sort of stop and find that level of greater resilience, I suppose. So let's sort of have a bit of a think about.

You know, our work and our play. And I suppose where I come from would be that. Possibly On reflection, what mindfulness has brought me is a much greater.

Ability to bounce back from times of adversity. I'd say this because as some of you may know, we've done webinars with me before. I used to suffer terribly from anxiety and depression.

But it's been about 14 years since I've Being what I would call sort of properly ill now, but from 14 years going back, you know, each year in work is usually work stress actually. Something would happen in work and very stressful work. My, my occupation was particularly then and something would happen where I would get down on myself about it and then become quite poorly.

And whether it's a coincidence or not, it was about 14 years ago that I kind of really started to use mindfulness for myself and develop my daily practise, which is something that I hold very dear and enjoy in that lovely, you know, properly enjoy stopping and Taking that mind for a break and Meditating on a daily basis. And I think that for me that Bounce back ability because the stuff still happens, you know, and for many of us, I guess our work as mine is, is a really important part of our lives. But as I know with a great many vets, it's also, you know, your, your work is also.

A place where you experience ups and downs. And although work as a vet, I know from talking to many of you can be or working in the veterinary industry can be a source of energy. I believe it can be a source of great creativity, I suppose, and certainly productivity.

But sometimes, Work can be a drain, can't it? And when we do get pulled down, when we are on that downward trajectory of the bouncing ball on the screen there, I think that's when work can be something of a drain. And if we are on that downwards sort of bounce, that's, I think, when we perhaps lose touch with our own capacities.

And motivation. So I'd just like to share with you some ideas, really, just 3. Before we go into the first one.

And I think the first one I'd like to share with you comes from A a sort of truism, I suppose. What you resist persists. And it's that sense of when we try and push away and try not to have unpleasant emotions.

Unpleasant thoughts and difficulties that Inevitably arise in the difficult situations that you guys find yourselves in where In pushing away we're reinforcing a habit of resistance, and although that resistance is sort of initially there to protect us. Paradoxically that turning to resistance always ends up hardening us against other feelings, love, joy. Smiles, warm, you know, and I think that That's, that's what we, we, we need to avoid, I suppose, because if we're losing the pleasant ones, we really lose touch.

And what I'd like to suggest is a great way toward greater resilience is to simply pause. And get better at just acknowledging that you know what? I'm experiencing some difficulty.

And in doing so, we learn to sort of Find a new way other than. Just resorting to our habitual resistance, and we begin to create some new habits of acceptance and a capacity to mindfully just be with. What is difficult knowing.

That this too shall pass because it does. And if we make space. Really quickly, it doesn't need to be a great big long meditative process to do this.

It might be as simple as just taking a, a deep breath, putting your hand on your, on your heart or your tummy, and quietly just acknowledging. Gosh, today is hard! You know, or You know, I am finding today difficult.

Find our own words. So to help us meet the difficulty. And then just notice the relief that you'll feel.

Through this one simple act. So it's that acceptance and acknowledgement rather than pushing away. And I would say that's my first sort of mindful tip.

My second one is actually weirdly, just to kind of give yourself a hug. And I know, you know, you might be sitting there thinking. Really?

But yes, you know, absolutely. If you want to, you can use the word hug and call it something else like A havening A havening touch, which is I suppose a a more scientific way of sort of looking at it. But I guess sometimes what we just need to do is to kind of.

Cross our arms over our chest. And just give ourselves a bit of a hug. And research has shown actually that by simply giving ourselves a really good squeeze.

Being in touch with ourselves physically, giving ourselves that wraparound hug for about 20 seconds, we actually end up releasing oxytocin, and that release of oxytocin will help just to reduce stress. And this is also really good. Strategy when you physically sort of hurt yourself, you know, you've ended up on the floor or you've banged your head or you've banged yourself or God forbid you've even been bitten or something like that, just to, once you've patched yourself up, just to stop and to give yourself a really good hug.

And the 3rd Big tip from me this week before we go into the first meditation. I You know, when all else fails, sometimes the best thing we can actually do is to resource ourselves by letting in the good, you know, and just by stopping and making a commitment to Actually focus on the stuff in a day that feels good rather than. Focusing on just the negativity that is around us.

And I think there's something there in the. And paucity of really good. Genuine sunshine that we get at this time of the year.

And you know, if we are sitting inside and it's our lunch break and you know there is a bright, beautiful autumnal sunny day, to just go outside and to let that in. To stop, to close your eyes, and to feel the sun on your face in the midst of our day. You know, it may just enjoy the softness of clothing against skin.

And listening to a favourite piece of music deliberately and on purpose. Drinking a cup of tea, mindfully, whatever it is. Just taking that time.

So my 3 tips are to acknowledge the difficulty. And find a sense of acceptance. Knowing that this too shall pass.

Secondly, let's get better at just, you know, stopping at those times when we feel a bit wretched and give yourself a hug. It's an evidence-based threat. And finally, it's that, attentional awareness that we have choice about, you know, we can either focus on everything that's a bit.

Dreadful and pulls us down, or we can deliberately on purpose find what brings us joy and pleasure and actually focus in on it and this resilience is something that we can build over time, expanding our sort of mindful bandwidth to be with discomfort. And just supporting ourselves and by just practising these three simple approaches that I've shared with you today. You may actually find that the next time life throws you something unexpected.

You actually bounce back. Just a little bit quicker. Than you have been before now.

So acknowledge and accept. Perhaps think about just stopping making space and giving ourselves a hug. And deliberately and on purpose letting in the good.

You know, focusing on the stuff that enhances rather than focusing on the stuff that depletes. And those 3 simple ways can actually take us quite a lot closer. So let's just take ourselves into the first meditation of the day.

So in a moment, you're going to hear the ing say bells just telling us that the meditation has started. But before you do, if we can just shuffle ourselves into a position. Making sure that you're comfortable but not too comfortable.

And that your Sitting with your Legs apart and their feet on the ground. And you're feeling supported. And that you look dignified.

And Let's just begin. So this is a meditation that helps us just to find. A sense of peace amidst a frantic day.

OK, so if you are able to just shut your eyes or Drop your focus to a spot on the floor. Just gently. Focus in on that.

And perhaps just take in a lovely deep breath as we breathe in. And now breathe out, just emptying your lungs as we do so. And again another lovely.

Gentle, restful. Deep breath in. And let it go.

And as we breathe in this time. Just getting a sense of kind of breathing in. Strength and resilience as we breathe in.

As we let go on the out breath. We're just letting go. Of any tension.

Breathing in again, breathing in that strength. And letting go and breathing out any tension. We might have in our bodies.

In our minds. Taking full. Deep breaths.

Breathing and strength. Just letting go. Of tension.

Beginning to allow your breath. To discover its own. Natural And hurried pace.

But just sustaining. That sense of Breathing in our strength. And breathing out our attention.

And now just stop. And focus. And as we breathe relaxedly.

Just quietly. Just listen to the world. That exists inside you.

Bringing awareness. To that inner stillness that you can find. Just noticing.

The clattering of our minds. Just noticing our. Mine's tendency to.

Quietly comment on. What's occurring? I'm accepting that it's just what minds do.

And distancing ourselves. From that constant. Dialogue.

And sitting back and Quietly observing the patterns. And the habits of your mind. Just labelling what you're finding.

Are you planning? For tomorrow when it's still today. Are you scheming?

About how you might deal with difficulties rather than just Allowing them Are you calculating how much time? You might have or you do have. For something else more pressing.

Shows up. Are you making judgments about you? And how this meditation is going.

Are you worrying? Or comparing Just sitting Quietly labelling with mindful curiosity. What's happening in our minds?

Particularly noticing when our thoughts. Chase after, our future. When we attempt to.

Control time by planning. I'm hoping Let go of all of that. Reassure yourself.

If I just Let go of all of that. I'm gonna be OK. Give yourself permission.

To love this moment, this moment now. Just to open up. And to just love this moment.

Without calculating what you could be doing instead or might do next or. What you should be doing. Encourage yourself that you deserve this time.

Away from our hectic lives. You deserve some time. Just a step away from That frantic mind.

Just noticing that you're breathing. Is unstrained Just focusing. And noticing that your breathing is deep.

And relaxing. And your breathing is. Slow and peaceful.

Your breathing is. And relax. And peaceful.

Just enjoy the quiet. Hearing the silence grow. As your mind lashes.

You create that card. Just say it. With the Soft goodness.

Of being in this meditative space. For just a few moments more. So I suppose I should have said 4 ways to greater resilience because I think the 4th way is to develop that mindful practise and to just take time out of each day.

And I suppose again, it might help you guys to think about what meditations to do. And I would really reacquaint myself with the The 3 stage breathing exercises that we've done on our mindfulness courses. And Because they're short, just like the one we just did then.

And just I think when we're having, when we are in times of difficulty, that's perhaps when we need to just accept the need to up our meditations. So spend more time meditating. And that will really help.

To build that sense of resilience during times of difficulty. But for me, I do find the winter months, harder. I do find this time of the year.

To have more of a sense of Harry Ain. Feel slightly less motivated perhaps. And that's where I think the mountain meditation comes in.

So I think I've shared this with you before. I kind of go take my time to meditate, but I don't really plan what meditation I'm going to do. I just sort of get into that space and I find the meditation that best.

Suits for where I am and sometimes it'll just be sitting in silence to the sound of bells works really well, but at this time of the year, if I was to do an analysis, I think I'd find that I spend an awful lot of time. Just finding my mountain. And so let's do that together now, and that's the URL for this meditation we're about to do, and the mountain meditation is really the go to meditation.

To build that sense of resilience, that sense of immovability, that sense of the passing of time around us. Whilst we just sit through. And manage and ride through the difficulties.

In that accepting mindful way, in the same way that a mountain endures and experiences the changing seasons. So once again, posture is really important for this one. And we don't use the bells for this meditation.

We just go into it. So I'm just going to ask you to find. In your mind's eye before we start, just a picture of your mountain.

Of a mountain that Perhaps you've climbed. Or when you close your eyes, find that inner picture of A mountain that we can use for this meditation. Yeah, I've got mine now.

I always go, you know, for Everest. You know, that, that sort of jagged, harsh snow. Topped Mind picture.

That works for me. You find your mountain. And let's begin.

The mountain meditation. And we begin this meditation. Bye.

Just allowing our mind. Just to get a sense, so. The temperature and the air.

And the conditions outside. In the weather As it is wherever you are. And then bringing our mind in this warm room.

But you're meditating me. Noticing the difference in the temperature. Noticing the sense of calm and safety we get.

As we bring ourselves in. And then taking on. Attention writing.

And once again just attach them to your breath. Finding your inner. Space that quiet.

And I'd like you now, please. To just bring up in your mind's eye. Your mountain.

Just hold it there. Pay attention to the lofty peak of your mountain. And perhaps like mine, it's snow covered.

Get a sense of the. Wild weather That besets that lofty heap. We take our attention down to the Sheer massiveness, the body of the mountain.

And that immovability and that solidity. And that's strength And we then noticed that the mountain. Anchors itself.

Into the land below. And You get a real sense of that. Anchored Concrete Stability.

And we think about this mountain. We think about our bodies and our minds. And our head Just allowing our head to become a head and our neck.

And our shoulders to become. The lofty peak of that mountain just. Extending our spine.

Just Reaching up into our own sky. And noticing that the weather. And the seasons shift.

But we like the mountain. Remain constant. And summer comes and Bakes are mountain peaks.

And autumn follows the summer. And then I'll Lofty peak is beset by wind and rain and hail. And the mountain just sits.

And allows it to make space for it. And then we find But the winter turns into spring. And the seasons change.

And the mountain becomes. Suffused with colour and flowers. And although the circumstances change, we don't.

Reset Ever present, Strong And immovable. Because our response to the seasons. Our response to the stuff of life.

Is to allow it. Make space for it and allow it to happen around us. As we move forward in our lives.

Taking that sense of the mountain. We now move our attention down. To the core, to the centre of that mountain.

And we find that incredible sense of strength and permanence. And we see if we can feel that. You know to.

In our heart and our stomach. Feeling that strength there. In our arms and in our face.

As we become this mountain. Around which stuff happens. Weather changes.

Seasons come and go. But we remain constant amidst all this adversity. And then we take our attention down.

And we noticed that we too like a mountain. Are rooted If we push our feet down onto the floor below us. We too are rooted.

Into this present moment now. In this moment now. We're OK.

And the stuff of life just happens. Around us. I just ask you now to take that physicality.

To take that accepting. Resilient stones. Imagine taking that into your day tomorrow.

No matter what shows up with our day tomorrow. We can take the mountain. And that sense of us being our own strong.

Immovable mountain. Into whatever shows up. And I'll die.

When we're. Holding on to the physicality and the. Sense of acceptance.

And strength Very gently. Just returning. Just returning back.

And well done, everybody, well done. And I guess I suppose if I went back to the three ways. And went back to this whole concept of bounce back ability.

It's one of the issues that we'll be exploring in the course that I'm going to be doing with a webinar that which is just helping us. To, bring some of this knowledge, some of these strategies into our workplace. And our workplace course, which is starting on the 8th of January.

Is aimed at just helping. Each veterinary practise and those who attend the course, to have a whole range of strategies and skills and approaches to take back to your workplace so that you can become. Something of a first responder.

But a first responder. Who has a real emphasis on staying. Staying well and staying happy and finding the happiness and the joy that is there in the jobs that we do as well as understanding how we can manage and work well with those of our colleagues and ourselves, of course, as we struggle with the adversity.

But of course shows up. In our various work roles. So just to ask you perhaps to have a think about that because I suppose one of the pathways to greater resilience is to remember our colleagues.

And to never be too proud to You know, just actually find someone that we trust, someone that we like and say. You know, I'm struggling. And that too, and please don't forget the the vet helpline as well.

You guys have these really good resources which I would strongly recommend. That you use. But also maybe give those three steps to mindful.

Resilience ago. Do you remember? Just that Shift from pushing away to accepting.

That movement towards giving ourselves a real proper hug and the last one about where we take our focus. So I'm hoping people found that useful, interesting this evening. It's been nice for me too.

And We'll let you know about the next course. If anyone's got any thoughts, anything they'd like to share, of course, please do send through and, the wonderful dawn will always let me have any queries or any questions or any thoughts. But thank you all for attending tonight and look forward to our, our next one.

In November. Have a lovely, lovely evening. And speak soon.

Bye bye now.