Wake Me Up: Morning Positivity - Morning Meditation to Slow Down | Passively Listen to Thoughts

Episode Date: March 14, 2023

This morning, consciously slow your mind and the world around you with this powerful meditation technique. Want to be more focused? Wish distractions would just melt away? Sign up for the WMU Focus Course! If you're interested in joining, all you need to do is sign up for the course here: https://wakemeuppod.gumroad.com/l/focus. Get ad-free access to the entire WMU catalog + bonus content + 25% discount on WMU courses by joining the WMU Premium Feed. Sign up and start your 7-day free trial at https://wakemeup.supercast.com/. Follow the show on Spotify - Apple Podcasts - Amazon - Podchaser Say hi or request an episode at www.wakemeuppodcast.com/contact. See visual guides for the yoga and stretches in WMU episodes at www.wakemeuppodcast.com/stretches. And find the podcast on Instagram and TikTok. **Only partake in the physical movements suggested in Wake Me Up episodes if you are physically able and in safe surroundings. All movements are done at the individual's own risk. Be safe, and always consult a doctor if you have any questions or concerns.** Have a wonderful day 😃 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wake Me Up is made possible thanks to the generous help of our advertisers and premium supporters. If you'd like to support Wake Me Up, listen ad-free, and get access to the entire catalog plus bonus episodes, then follow the link in the show notes to sign up for Wake Me Up Premium. Now before our episode begins, here's a quick word from our sponsors. Hey there, and welcome to Wake Me Up. I'm so glad to have you here today. This week we're talking about a really important topic, slowing down. I will be the first person to recognize that the mind is always working. It's a busy bee, even when we sleep.

So how do we slow down when our brain never stops? Well, the key is going from an active to a passive mind. That is, going from thinking or guiding the thoughts to listening. Basically, for all of humanity's existence, we've had tons of time every day for passive listening to our thoughts and the world around us. It's only in the past 50 or so years that our minds have increasingly been put on active duty all day long.

And the truth is, we're not well equipped to live that way. It leads us to multitasking, doing too much, stress, and overwork. And worst of all, we end up, missing out on the great things in life. So today, we'll practice slowing down through this technique of passive listening. It's a great way to ease stress and anxiety, to go about life more calmly and in control. And of course, it's a great way to slow down.

So go ahead and find a comfortable position that you would like to meditate in. I recommend that you meditate sitting up, but you should meditate in whatever way works best for you. And once you've found that position, take a deep breath in, and as you exhale, slowly close your eyes. Allow yourself to settle in.

Let go of any tension you're holding onto. Soften your face, release your jaw, and relax your shoulders down, and simply follow your breath. Notice the intricacies, the subtleties of each inhale, each exhale.

and the pauses in between them. By following the breath, you will begin to enter a state of perception, of listening. And this will be our anchor, our framework, for passively listening to our thoughts. Now that you're settled in

and you've begun to enter a listening state with the breath, take that same approach to your mind and your thoughts, listening to them, rather than actively trying to think on them or direct them. A thought you are simply listening and attentive to is felt very differently than one you are directing. There's a feeling of distance between the thought and yourself. It appears and disappears without necessarily bringing about another thought.

On the other hand, when we are actively thinking, Our thoughts are obsessive, and they're directed towards the next thought in the chain. These thoughts have common types, like things that other people do or say, things that you do and say, worries about the future, and the things going on in the world. When you are in active thought, your mind will constantly try to escape. to go in all kinds of directions. And as you make your way into passive thought,

this will happen. So don't worry, it's a phenomenon that is well known and it happens to everybody. When you notice it in yourself, simply note that you are thinking or daydreaming actively and go back to the observation of your breath without judging yourself for getting off track. In other words,

See the thought or thoughts that distracted you for what they are. A temporary firing of the nerves in your mind and then let them go. Moving from active thinking to passive listening doesn't happen immediately. It's not a switch you flip on and off. It's a dial that you turn bit by bit. So allow yourself to rest here for another moment, or so before we wrap up. Following the breath, simply listening, and trying not to act on any thoughts that do arise. All right, it's about time to wrap up our meditation now. So begin to bring

yourself back. Notice whatever's supporting you, whether it's a chair, the floor, or something else. Notice any sounds going on around you and take a deep breath in. biggest one you've taken yet. On your exhale, you can slowly open your eyes and just take a second to gather yourself. All right, so I hope you've found that enjoyable and helpful. And most of all, I hope you're feeling like everything has slowed down a little bit. Active thought is not a bad thing in and of itself.

Certainly, we need to use it throughout life every day. But if we are constantly in that active thinking, state, we will end up overstimulated, stressed out, agitated, and perhaps unsurprisingly, overthinking everything. When we can turn to that passive, listening state, we're able to let go of directing our thoughts and abandon the very human, self-centered point of view that we all take to at times. This allows us to be calmer, less reactive, and more calculated when we are actively thinking. So here's a little challenge for you.

Try this meditation once a day for a week and see what happens to your stress levels and your overall perception of life. And then write me a message and let me know what happened. I would love to hear if anything changed. But that's all for now. Tomorrow I'll be back with a series of positive affirmations on this same theme.

So I hope to see you there. And until then, go out. and have a fantastic day.