And welcome to tonight's. Session, and we're looking at accepting and directing and the meditation we're going to do is a longer seated meditation, as you can see on the diagram. But the real emphasis of this one is on this, incredible skill, if we can hone it, of accepting what it is, even if it's difficult.

Not just sitting with it, this is, this is quite an advanced meditation, really, because, Buddha, if we, those of you that have explored this stuff, I think one of the lovely things he came up with that I'm I'm sure has been stolen many times here was he was the first one, really, to describe the human mind as being filled with monkeys and that sort of sense that our thoughts swing from branch to branch, and they scream and chatter nonstop. And that's why, we had the sort of chimp paradox book, which is great. And also why your mind is often referred to as your monkey mind.

With so much kind of going on in our lives, particularly I think. At this point of our lives, as we, I don't know about you guys in the veterinary world, but, COVID has just made me so much more busy than I ever, ever intended to be. And it just seems to be getting busier and busier.

And it's understandable with that level of busyness that we get lost in our thoughts. And That I suppose is especially true when one of the monkeys, which we shall call fear or anxiety is particularly loud with warnings of threats. And thank you, Billy.

And we haven't actually started meditating yet, so I am pleased. Billy. Billy, we're doing meditating.

He is no lover of . Behaving well when. When I'm meditating, but there we go.

And we don't worry about that sort of stuff here, because it's just part of life, isn't it, and dogs are dogs and. We can get there. So maybe sometimes when we're a bit stressed, our, our monkey mind is too loud and it's kind of all the swinging from the trees is full of potential threat, real, imagined.

And if we try and just ignore that stuff, it sometimes feels like it gets louder and louder and. We need to think of that part of our mind, perhaps as being, our protector within, because that's what it's trying to do. It's such a primal instinct and such a sort of primal, response, you know, that if we're not careful, that stuff can dominate our thoughts.

And if it's left unchecked, we can get stuck with real negative thought loops that play over and over. I sometimes think of them as old mind stories. The old I'm not good enough, I can't fail, what ifs, and if we don't do anything about this stuff, these thought loops.

Gain strength and eventually we almost create a thought loop circuit in our brains and that thought loop circuit you could also perhaps think of as a habit. And that really unhelpful style of thinking becomes very, very habitual. And that level of habitual monkey mind.

Fear within Actually, that's what leads to us feeling and struggling to to to cope. So If we kind of think about that and we. Know what we know now that the human brain is an incredible creation, and just knowing what it's capable of can bring real hope that changes is possible.

And what we know from all of the research into neuroplasticity is that our brain's ability to find a different way to cope. So it's almost like, training that monkey mind of yours to be a little bit more helpful and to create new circuits. And the circuit I wanted to begin with tonight was to work on this.

Accept and redirect your mind. So we we redirect what's going on straight to the breath. And if we.

Can take this. Accept and redirect stance out into our daily lives, it it can become super powerful. And it works particularly well when we get stuck with stuff in our daily life that we can do absolutely nothing about.

And rather than ruminate about it. And so quite often that's because it's other people's behaviour that we can't, or other people's bad habits that we have tried many times to do something about and perhaps they irritate the life out of us. And what we can do with that is we can stop and we can say.

Do you know, I think I can accept this situation with Douglas. Exactly how it is, and I can still come to work and do a great job. Pause And then redirect.

So what am I actually going to do this afternoon, even though Douglas is in one of his really difficult moods. Well, I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do this. So it's taking the the accept and redirect that we're going to do in our meditation today.

And it's bringing it into our daily life and finding a radical acceptance statement that works for you. And the one that works really well for me, Dawn and I were speaking earlier about this sort of like, ubiquitous stressor that we all experience, which is that, we, we come in every day. To a tsunami of new email.

And if we fight with that, or if we ruminate about whether there's going to be lots of emails that we're gonna have to attend to, then we find ourselves getting into one of those negative thought loops outside of our workplace, maybe even at home when we're trying to relax. So what we can do is we come in. We see all of this tsunami of email coming through to us and we stop and we smile, and we quietly say to ourselves, do you know what?

I can accept this situation as it is. And I can still be smiley, happy, concentrated, and have a meaningful life whilst I'm at work. Pause Redirect.

And then we stop and we say, OK, what am I gonna do today to make sure that I get these emails answered quickly, so they don't bug me for the rest of the day? When am I gonna sit down and actually just attend to them? And we make a quick plan and make, we make a commitment to do it.

And by adopting that strategy, we create a new strategy that sits well with this new. This new much more helpful thought loop. So our first meditation.

Our main meditation, our only meditation tonight is, is, as I said before, quite a long one, and it is a a sitting meditation. And basically what that just means is it's a, a longer, meditation of the breath. And it is quite a substantial meditation, this one.

So we are looking at about 20 minutes. So it is really important that you get yourself into a comfortable position. But not too comfortable.

And just ask yourself, am I able to stay like this without wriggling and shuffling about too much for about 20 minutes maybe. And so, I'm just gonna ask you guys to . Get yourself into that comfortable but attentive posture.

And ideally we're sitting up without relying too much on any support. And if that is possible for you. Just get yourself into that dignified position.

Where your head Is balanced on your shoulders. And your arms and your hands are just resting in a comfortable. Position And will start So this is a time For allowing ourselves to switch.

From that normal mode of doing. And moving And reacting Initially To the stance of simply being. Just being attentive.

To what's happening within your own awareness. Right here Right now. And as you sit, I'm just gonna ask you please to just notice.

Any sensations of breath and breathing. That You can bring your attention to. Just noticing.

How your abdomen moves on each in breath. And out breath Noticing the movement of air. Through your nostrils.

Noticing that slight movement of chest. And shoulders I'm gonna ask you to bring your awareness. To whichever part of your breath cycle.

That is Currently most vivid. For you And that might be your tummy. Might be your shoulders.

Your chest. May be the movement of air. Through your nostrils.

And we move from that vividity. To noticing the entire cycle of breath. From the moment the air comes in.

And fills the lungs and extends the abdomen. The movement of the air going out. Bringing awareness to the pause.

The stopping point. In between each in breath. And each out breath.

And the next Edinburgh. Finding that discovery that. Do you know what, it's all one movement.

Even though the changing of direction. That we experience. Just notice where that pause is.

Seeing to what degree you can be aware of your whole entire breath cycle. Whilst recognising that each segment of the cycle is different from the other part. And this time Maybe More different than the last time because we're.

Concentrating on it and each breath cycle. Is absolutely unique in its own way. Not incredible, really.

And you'll notice as we bring this. Incredible level of attention to our thoughts. That from time to time.

Our mind just shifts away from breathing. It may be wanders into fantasy or memories or thoughts of the day. Worries that you might have, things that perhaps you need to do.

And Notice the absence of the word but there. And Without giving yourself a hard time. When you notice that that's happened.

Let's find that. Acceptance that we're looking for today. Gently And firmly and with acceptance Bring your awareness back.

To the sensations of breathing. Allowing the actual physical sensations of breath. To become the focus of your mind once more.

And we're looking at being aware. With that level of acceptance that I'm curious, where does my mind go? And then back.

Bringing the awareness back to the sensations of the breath. And notice the tendency. To want to control your breathing.

Let the quality of this attention. To breath be light. And easy.

One of simply observing. And noticing Try a smile there. A smile of acceptance.

So we're staying with our breath. And we're simply observing and noticing. As though you were on a Gently undulating sea just floating.

Where you're up with one wave. And down with the next. You don't control the duration of the wave.

Or the depth between the waves. You're just riding the waves of your breath. Gently Always gently.

With a smile Coming back to sensations of breathing. And you may notice. Sounds In addition to the sounds that come from Me just guiding this meditation.

Sounds of traffic or movement or Dogs barking maybe even. And just noticing. That when sound Pushes its way in.

Our attention meets it. And we stay with it just long enough to notice the quality of the sound. Sound is vibration, isn't it?

It's tone, it's volume, intensity. Being aware of the mind to label sound as being annoying or interruptive. And We just want to get to that point where we separate the actual.

Reception of sound as we get it. From the labels we put on it, that's it. With sound for a moment.

And if you've been Paying attention to sound. Well you've noticed that. You've Been noticing that perception of sound.

Once again now. Gently Just redirect your attention. Back to the breath Allowing your breath to be your anchor.

Of awareness So each time your awareness. Girls are wandering Just gently Escort it with a smile. No judgement.

Just bring it back. My attention has gone wandering. One of the chattering monkeys swung down from a tree.

Grabbed it and took it off somewhere. No frustration. We smile We retrieve our attention.

And we bring it back. We're gonna really Push our meditative practise tonight. I'm gonna ask you to notice a tendency to have an opinion about things.

About liking the way things are going. Right now, or I don't like Mike's meditation tonight. It's uncomfortable.

That too Can be an object of awareness. Just noticing. That perhaps we have.

These opinions about things more often than we need to. So that's my liking mind. Ah likes this.

And there's my critical mind. That would rather be doing something different. And that too can just.

Be noticed and labelled. Building that capacity to notice liking. Or disliking.

And you don't have to do anything about it. Oh my word, sit with that for a moment. So we can allow ourselves to find.

I like that. I dislike that. And I can choose not to have to do anything about it.

Now there's liberating. And as you notice this happening. Let go, accept.

Back to the breath. Back to the bra And maybe Your attention Shifts to bodily sensations. Aches or pains or tension.

And as you notice, These sensations of discomfort that happen for you. There's several things that you can do. With just the sensation.

And if it's a sensation that can be remedied by a wriggle or a shift. One way to deal with the sensation. It is to smile and allow yourself to shift or to wriggle.

But in doing that first. Become aware of the sensation. Notice precisely where the tension or the ache is.

Once you're aware of where that is. Let's now develop an intention. To move.

And let's move to ease that ache, that itch, that discomfort. Let's move mindfully. Full of intent.

To just make that motion. That's it. And as long as full awareness is brought.

To all parts. We notice that sensation, noticing it in its fullness. Being curious about it.

Be curious about why we. Fine dislike. Getting a sense of the actual sensation, is it tense, throbbing, or tightness or pulling or tingling?

And the second way of dealing with it. It's just to notice that it's possible to stay a little bit longer than normal. With that sensation.

And we are experiencing it as pure sensation without the labels of discomfort. Noticing your experience of it. Staying with it Without having To react to it.

Just for the moment. And if your attention keeps being called back. Just recognise you have these two choices.

You know, And we can form an intention to do something about it. And mindfully do something. But forming intention first.

Or bring your intention right to it. Bringing curiosity to it. Becomes mindful.

And wherever the mind goes. Wherever our mind Moves away to. We just noticed.

And when we're ready We come back. To our breath And finally Let's see if we can find. A friendly attitude.

Full of acceptance. To whatever comes into your awareness. So if your mind Is monkeyed away.

To a fantasy, a thought or a judgement, a worry. A sensation or a sound. Let's find in a friendly way.

We can accept this. Notice it smile. Back to the breath recognising that the entire cycle of awareness.

Is in play. Including Back to the bra And when we come back to the breath. We have nothing to do.

But ride the waves of breathing. Just seeing if it's possible. In these moments when your awareness has gone somewhere else.

To almost find a. Attitude of quiet congratulations. A recognition that This is mindfulness.

I am in the midst of a moment of awareness. And just easily bring your attention back to the breath. In that friendly nonjudgmental.

Why? And as this meditation. Comes to an end.

Let's just recognise that we've spent 20 minutes. Bringing intentional awareness. Of moment to moment experience.

20 minutes nourishing and strengthen your ability. To be with whatever comes your way. To accept it.

To stay with it. And then to redirect our attention back to our Anchor that is our breath. And we've done this.

With a smile With acceptance. And with no judgments. As we come to the end of the meditation.

Just allow your eyes. To just come up open a bit more. And permit yourself.

To shift or stretch. In whatever way feels comfortable. As this sitting meditation comes to an end.

Well done, everybody. So really, I love that meditation. I just think that there, I think I use the word liberating earlier.

There is something really liberating about noticing you. I don't have to like something and I don't have to actually dislike something, I can simply be with it. With no judgement You know, and I can accept something without judging it over much, and I can redirect my attention.

Choose to do something different. We can take that. So successfully into our daily lives.

So I just like to finish with a little apology. I'm so sorry. .

I think I missed our meditation two weeks ago. I can't quite remember why, . I think I was just lost in a Sunday somewhere.

So that's why we're doing it tonight instead. So our next meditation is on the 10th of October, so it's not long. And thank you all for participating.

I hope you enjoyed. Tonight's accept and redirect. Have lovely Sunday evenings.

And see you in a couple of weeks. Bye bye now.