Welcome Zen , friend . I hope , wherever you are , you are doing well and I am glad you have joined me for this week's Drop of Zen , our short guided meditation designed to help you feel more calm and grounded . We are in the end of October as I'm recording and it's been really busy For me and for the clients that I see as I work with young people , especially as a therapist specializing in working with children , teens and families . A lot of kids are in the thick of it with schoolwork and projects and tests and quizzes , and that means parents are in the thick of it helping to manage their children's moods and their overwhelm and their workload and sometimes out of school commitments like sports and things as well . So if you're feeling it like I'm feeling it and like I know many other people are feeling it too , then let's take a little time to hopefully feel better , calmer and a little less overwhelmed when we finish .
Speaker 1So let's get started by finding a nice seat or a place to lie down in , somewhere where you can be comfortable and really start bringing your attention to yourself , to listening to my voice through this guided meditation . If you're driving or doing another activity , please come back to this later and let's begin by closing your eyes or just gaze down softly , maybe place one or both hands on your heart center that always helps me to start tuning in and let's take three nice deep breaths in , so at your own pace . A nice deep , full breath in Pause , at the top , and as you exhale , gently exhale through your mouth , let the air go nice and slowly . And then two more times a deep , full breath in Pause and a long , slow , complete breath out . And then one more time nice , deep , slow breath in Pause . Long , slow , complete breath out .
Speaker 1And then just let your breath up and flow at its own pace and just notice what it feels like in your body right now . Is your heart beating quickly ? Do you feel tension in your body ? Do you feel tightness ? What are you noticing ? And then I'd love for you to ask yourself zero to 10 , how overwhelmed am I feeling right now ? And just see what pops up into your head .
Speaker 1Don't think of an answer , just listen for an answer . And then I'd love for you to ask yourself what are the things causing me overwhelm right now ? And again , just listen for that answer . Maybe it's housework , maybe it's getting your children to and from activities . Probably it's a combination of a number of things . Maybe it's work . Maybe it's a to-do list that feels like it's never ending , and just keep listening to see if more things pop up . Maybe there are things causing you overwhelm that you weren't even really aware of . You don't need to judge anything , but just allow it and notice it and then ask yourself what are the things causing ? What do I need to help me reduce this overwhelm ? And again , just listen for that answer . Don't think your way into it .
Speaker 1Just allow yourself to get quiet , to be present and wait for an answer to come up , and whatever it is , just allow it , even if you think , ugh , that's not doable or that's not reasonable . Just allow it to come up . Maybe you're getting more than one answer and then you can ask yourself is this in fact , something that I would like to put in place ? Is this something I can do ? And if it's a number of things that came up , maybe you just ask what's one thing that I can do to help reduce my overwhelm ? And then , if your answer is no , then that's okay . Just honor that you're feeling overwhelmed . It's a normal emotion that comes up for us as humans . And just remind yourself it won't last forever If something did come up that you would like to do or maybe it's like a new scheduling system you can put in place , or carving time out to get things done , whatever it is , ask yourself when can I do this thing ?
Speaker 1And if you can pick a day and time , great . And if it feels like I just don't even have time to do this right now , that's okay too . Just , honor where you're at , know that you're doing your best and our best changes all the time . And now I'd love for you to imagine that you can take all of the overwhelm and put it in a box or a container and just imagine what that would be . Is it a big , giant brown cardboard box ? Is it a giant Tupperware container ? Or maybe it's something little like a jewelry box , I guess , depending on how much overwhelm you have , just go ahead and put it in a box and then pick a safe place that you can put it in , where you can be with it again if it's helpful at any time , or examine it at any time . But we're just going to put it aside for just a minute or two , and once you see that box of overwhelm put aside in a safe place , I'd love for you to return to your body .
Speaker 1Notice what you notice , notice how you feel . Remember yourself that this feeling of overwhelm will not be here forever . You've been here before . You've gotten out of that space , ask yourself is there something I can do for myself , to care for myself ? And notice what comes up . It might be taking a hot bath , it might be spending time with a friend , or it might be something bigger , like creating a boundary , saying no to someone getting off a volunteer organization or giving up something at work . If that's possible , be asking your children to do something that they are capable of doing themselves . Just notice what comes up for you and then , if you'd like to set an intention to do that thing , to care for yourself , go ahead and do that now .
And then we'll conclude by taking three nice deep breaths , just like we did in the beginning . Take a nice deep breath in A long , slow breath out two more times with each exhale . Imagine you can let go of a little bit of tension with each inhale , bring in a little peace and calm . And one more time , nice deep breath in full of peace and calm and let go of some of the tension in your body . And then one last question . Just ask yourself how big does my sense of overwhelm feel now ? Is it smaller than when we started ? And know that you can come back to this exercise anytime , when you're ready . Open your eyes , bringing your attention back to the present moment . I'm so glad you joined me here today . Until next time , friend , I hope you'll continue to take some time today and every day to do something kind for yourself . Thank you , bye .