Breathe, Smile, Slow Down: A Curiosity Meditation

This guided meditation explores why some people avoid rest due to unconscious fears about collapse rather than concerns about productivity. We investigate both internal fears of personal collapse and external fears about what might happen if we stop micromanaging our lives.

• Get comfortable in an upright position to avoid falling asleep during the meditation
• Take genuine deep breaths unlike the shallow ones we take while rushing through tasks
• Approach the meditation with curiosity rather than expectations
• Visualize yourself truly resting without collapse
• Picture everything around you thriving even while you rest deeply
• Consider slowing down by just 2-5% in various aspects of your life
• Practice the affirmation "it is safe to be me" to reinforce safety in rest
• Notice what happens when you don't immediately rush after the meditation ends

If you think somebody might benefit from this meditation, please forward it on, and I'll speak to you again next week.

If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave me a review and subscribe! And if you want to learn more from me, come and say hello on Instagram @thecompletioncoach or via email at wendy@thecompletioncoach.co.uk or find out more about working with me on my website, thecompletioncoach.co.uk.

Chapters

• 0:05 Introduction to Special Meditation Episode
• 1:23 Getting Comfortable and Breathing Deeply
• 2:57 Exploring Our Relationship With Rest
• 6:22 Visualizing True Rest Without Collapse
• 10:43 Practical Steps to Slow Down
• 15:55 Affirmations and Closing Reflections

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

welcome to and what else? A podcast with me, wendy o'burn, also known as the completion coach, and today we're doing something a little different. It's a bit of a cheat sheet. This isn't a podcast episode, this is a meditation, so come back to it if you're driving at a time where you can actually get comfortable and relax, and if you're already there, then let's start to investigate. I'm going to do this meditation around one of the episodes I recorded recently about why some people do not need to have constant messages shown to them about rest, being productive or being worthy of rest and all the other things that fly around the internet, when, in reality, the people that I work with and the people that I have gone deep on this subject with aren't afraid to rest because they think it's unproductive, but they do have some unconscious fears about collapse, whether that's their own internal collapse of all the things they're holding together, or the external fallout collapse of something going on that they really think they have to micromanage and go fast and keep going with. Otherwise they fear something will happen, and so we're going to explore that in the meditation. So, when you're ready, get comfortable. I would ask that you try to remain seated so that you don't allow yourself to just drift off to sleep in this. And once you're comfy, in an upright position, I want you to close your eyes, take a moment to get one tiny bit comfier Just a slight adjustment that makes you feel like you 've really took a moment to be the comfiest you can be right now, and I want you to take a breath. And I want you to take a breath, a real one, the kind you don't take when you're halfway through a to-do list or thinking about somebody else's needs, but a really big breath in through the nose and out through the mouth, and have a big breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. And we're just going to get curious. Today we're going to release any expectations on yourself, any expectations on the experience, and instead we're just going to be so curious about what might land, about what might come through, about what you might need. And so settle in, notice your body, unclench your jaw, notice your feet and let your shoulders drop just one notch. Shoulders drop just one notch. Just allowing yourself that slight adjustment and, with curiosity, just noticing whatever it is that you need to notice. And as we take ourselves through this meditation we're just going to bring to the front of the mind how interesting it would be to see what relaxation could be like today, just allowing the curiosity around deep relaxation to come into the mind, to the mind, and as you bring your attention to the body, I just want you to notice where, and now, just notice your breathing. There's no need to change it, just notice it. And I just want you to wonder what happens when I stop, what happens when I pause or when I think about losing control and as we come into a deeper level of relaxation by intentionally using our breath, by intentionally using our breath, taking a deep breath in through the nose and exhaling twice as long through the mouth, inhaling through the nose and exhaling twice as long through the mouth. What comes to mind when you think About rest? What do I think might happen if I truly rest and just come back to noticing the body, the mind and the breath with curiosity? Maybe you've been the strong one for so long that you're afraid that you won't know how to hold yourself if you were to rest, if some part of you would collapse. And maybe your identity is built around your stability. Maybe your stability feels like it has to keep you moving. Whatever comes up feels like it has to keep you moving. Whatever comes up, whatever you need to notice as you follow my voice, stay with curiosity as you just picture you in front of you and as you picture yourself. I want you to picture yourself truly rested, really resting no multitasking, no mind chatter, no pretending, and just watch this version of you that is truly resting. And I want you to take this picture in your mind, this version, this imaginative scene of you in rest, and I want you to let that rest become the most glorious version available to you. And within this picture, you notice that everything around you is thriving. You are whole and full and you haven't collapsed. Nothing has fallen apart. The world has continued to spin and everybody and everything around you in this image is doing really well. And as you bring your mind's eye to that and as you let your body see that, I want you to purposely breathe some softness into your system and allow your body to soften just slightly. And then we need to bring your hand to your heart and another to your belly and just notice your breath. And I want you to think about the words, about the words, and I want you to think about releasing expectations on yourself and just notice what happens. And I want you to think about just slowing down the pace. Maybe that's just a couple of moments every day. Maybe you could slow down a process. Maybe you could slow down how fast I can talk. Maybe you could slow down your decision making just by 5%. Maybe you just slow down anything by 2 to 3 breaths. And as you witness this version of you, slow down and bring her back to your mind's eye and as you see everything in the picture, what do you need to notice? And as you see everything in the picture, what do you need to notice that your body hadn't known could be there? And as you bring your attention back to your hands on your heart and your belly, maybe you could be a little bit more curious as to breathing into the belly, slowly exhaling and then bringing your breath right up into the heart and then letting the breath truly go. And as you think about resting now, just notice what you need to notice and, with the idea of curiosity, start to wonder about how you could make a tiny adjustment to slowing down and getting creative as to how you can bring rest, step by step, into each and every day and just bring your attention to your jaw now and bring your attention to your belly now and bring your attention to your heart now. As you return to your attention to the breath, I want you to smile, to physically smile, and then I want you to make to physically smile, and then I want you to make that smile even bigger and I want you to say in your mind or out loud it is safe to be me, it is safe to be me, it is safe to be me. Come back to the smile, come back to the breath, come back to the body, and then come back to the mind and noticing whatever you need to notice in this moment, as you bring yourself back into the room and into this moment, I want you to repeat once more in your mind or out loud it is safe to be me. And now open your eyes and take a moment before you move into the day. Take a moment to just notice what it's like not to rush from this. Take a moment to just notice that sometimes a pause and sometimes a little curiosity is exactly what we're looking for, as always. Thank you for listening. If you think somebody might benefit from this, please do forward it on, and I'll speak to you again next week.