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0:00 Kristin is the Vice President of Student Services here at ������Ƶ. She is a full-time executive, mom, 0:07 yoga enthusiast and mindset coach, exciting. She has been teaching and coaching 0:13 and has been mentoring since 1997. Kristen's role here at the university 0:18 is to ensure working adults have the services they need to juggle school and life. 0:24 So she's the person that talk to about juggling it all in this chaos, right? She inspires people to ditch mediocracy, 0:32 attain their goals and transform their lives. So we were very excited to hear from Kristin today. 0:38 Hopefully she can give us some invaluable tips on getting us through and juggling all of those hats. 0:44 So I welcome Kristen, Kristen go ahead and take it away. Thank you everybody. 0:50 - Awesome, thank you so much for having me. And for those of you who are nurses or support nurses, 0:58 thank you for the work that you do. There is something about those of us who are 1:04 in any kind of health and wellness industry where there is a under-representation 1:10 of understanding the energy that you give and that you put forth in your daily work. 1:16 So my thanks to you and my intention today is to be able to give back in some way, 1:22 shape or form one little small nugget that you can take with you to utilize for yourself 1:28 and to also share with others. I do have the chat going and this side screen for me and I see some participants, 1:35 people keep continuing to kind of hop in, so as you hop in, welcome aboard. 1:40 If you've got any questions please start to send them in the chat, any comments, anything that's resonating with you, 1:48 that helps me know where we're at and where we're coming from. So as I get started, I'm gonna ask what brought you here today 1:56 and how does stress show up for you right now? So that can be anything no right or wrong answer, 2:04 just feel free to put in the chat anything that is resonating with you right now 2:10 even if it's a, I just need a break. So we're gonna talk about Mindfulness and Meditation. 2:15 And I like to make sure you're in the right place, so you are in the right place 2:22 If you've kind of heard or practice mindfulness in some way and you're curious about it, or you're a master at it. 2:29 If you'd like to learn a little bit more and you wanna know how it can help you in your daily life, you want another tool to help lessen 2:36 to how things get to you in daily life. And you have a desire to reduce stress, lessen your anxiety and just in general, wish to be happier. 2:45 I will give you my little backdrop. I know it's been shared that I'm a yoga instructor and a mindset coach. 2:52 And I came to that through a series of events in my own life, and so there is this belief that I have 3:00 that we live in a world where wearing yourself thin 3:06 and doing what it takes at all costs, gives you the badge of honor, more than pausing 3:12 and stopping and understanding what you need to be at your best, so that you can give what more to others. 3:21 So we're gonna talk a little bit about what that means and the difference between mindfulness and meditation. 3:27 I wanna tell you that you're in good company because mindfulness and meditation particularly this year has soared. 3:33 I think some of the statistics I have on here from 2018, I'm curious how that's even changed 3:38 in the last couple of years. But since 2012, the number of people practicing meditation has tripled. 3:44 We've got about 76% of people who practice meditation for the reason of just general wellness 3:51 but we also see boosting energy levels and helping our memory and focus, being among the top reasons that people 3:58 turn to mindfulness and meditation as well. We also are seeing an increase of employers doing things 4:04 for employees to offer some mindfulness and meditation. In fact in 2018, there were 52% 4:10 of employers who saw the benefit and offered mindfulness training for their employees. 4:16 So it was also talked about that I am a mom. So this is my son. I think this is taken many years ago, 4:23 he's now going to be 18 in June and graduating high school. 4:29 I think he's mocking me here in my yoga and my meditation but we're gonna remove some of the mystery 4:35 out of mindfulness and meditation today. We're gonna talk about some of the benefits and challenges but the best part is we're gonna actually practice. 4:42 So I'm gonna ask that you be thinking about now where is that comfy place for you, 4:47 for you to be able to listen and to see, and to be able to be in a comfortable position whether that's on the floor, on a chair, 4:53 maybe you need to have some preparation for use because we're going to do some practice here at the end. 4:58 Any questions that you have along the way, put into the chat and we will answer them as we go. 5:04 So people may think that, okay I know there are the benefits of meditation, 5:12 I do things, I look at across my feed and I have some inspiration my way 5:17 and the things that I read, but reading things of inspiration, knowing that there are benefits 5:24 is not what's going to miraculously relieve any of our anxiety and our stress 5:30 nor are we be less exhausted. It's the actual practicing of it that we need to become committed to. 5:37 And so there is this notion that if I meditate, 5:42 if I am mindful, if I practice these things I'm gonna begin to eliminate 5:47 some of the stress in my life. That may be true to some degree but I offer a different alternative to that thinking. 5:56 Mindfulness and meditation is not about not having any stress or eliminating it from your life, 6:04 it is the art and the practice of knowing how to bring yourself back 6:09 to that centered place that exists when we are free from stress, right? 6:16 It exists when we're sleeping, it exists when we're on vacation, it exists when we're doing things that light us up, 6:22 that place naturally exists inside us. And so it is the art of bringing yourself 6:27 back to that place, amidst what's going on and the chaos of life, okay. 6:36 So we've got a question in the chat that says, is there a minimum or a maximum amount of time 6:41 that one should meditate at any given meditation session to get the full benefit? We're gonna practice some things that are just 6:48 for a few minutes. And I would argue that whether it's one minute or 30 minutes, it really doesn't matter, 6:56 that one minute that you do practice something is going to give you a whole host of benefits. 7:02 And the amazing thing is you can just keep coming back to it. So here you see a little Venn diagram because mindfulness 7:09 and meditation tend to be used simultaneously or in exchange for each other and there is a difference. 7:17 So meditation are, has several forms. There's love and compassion meditation, 7:22 there's consciousness meditation, there's transcended transcendental meditation. 7:28 Mindfulness is a type of meditation. And so mindfulness really is recognizing, 7:35 yes I have a full mind. I think some of you may have seen a picture that attends 7:42 to make its way across social media several times where it shows a person who's mindful, 7:48 meaning their mind is full and then there's someone who's being mindful like you see mind mindful here. 7:54 So it's recognizing that your mind is full, you're full of thoughts, you're full of worries, 7:59 you're full of anxieties, you're full of stressors. And at the same time, you pause for a moment 8:06 to be completely present in what's going on. And sometimes that being completely present is noticing I'm feeling fearful right now, 8:13 I have tons of anxiety right now, I'm noticing this stressor, my mind is going and it's allowing yourself 8:21 to pause for a moment and notice what actually is happening and going on. So you're present in that 8:27 and in doing that, it starts to dissipate and starts to wash away a bit. It's also getting into your sensations 8:33 and your taste, your smell, your touch. So I'm gonna ask you right now just to pause for a moment, 8:39 close your eyes and just notice the sounds around you. 8:49 For me, I don't hear anything but the little staticky of my computer sound. 8:55 Some of you might be hearing things far off in the background. So it's pausing and noticing what's happening 9:01 around yourself in your environment but then also getting into your body, and that's what we're gonna practice. 9:08 Benefits of meditation. There's a whole host of them, 9:14 some of them have been more scientifically proven than others. Although there is a plethora of anecdotal investigation 9:23 and accounts of how meditation has changed people's lives. The top 10 that you hear about most are 9:30 stress reduction, promoting emotional health and keeping our mind in the right place, reducing anxiety, 9:38 allowing us to have more focus and concentration which in turn lengthens our attention span, 9:44 increasing our awareness, noticing things around you which has an increased benefit 9:49 because the minute you're aware of something then you can actually do something about that, 9:55 you can choose an action. So if I'm aware in a moment that I'm being triggered 10:01 by what someone said, and that is causing me to feel like the moment I'm aware of that, 10:07 I can then choose to act a certain way about it. Versus if I'm not aware of it I just feel an act on impulse 10:15 and then I might have to like, oh wait I wish I would have not acted in that way. Improves sleep, helps blood pressure, 10:23 strengthens your immune system, improves your mood, increases your happiness. 10:29 So the one way that I would describe this is all of it is think about if you were to hike 10:37 and you were going on a pretty new trail, you could kind of see where the trail was 10:43 but there were some things in a way and you had to look really close and maybe there's some rocks or overgrown grass, 10:49 the path was it hasn't been paved that well, if you keep doing that trail over 10:56 and over and over again on a regular basis, that path becomes more clear and very easy to go to. 11:03 And think about the mind working the same way. We've got different pathways in our brain that take us 11:10 to the place of stress, that take us to the place of happiness, to take us to the place of anxiety. 11:15 And some of those pathways in our brain have been paved so clearly. And so cleanly now that they're really easy to get to. 11:24 And a lot of times it's those pathways to stress, pathways to fear, pathway to anger, pathway to anxiety 11:31 because our body's in this constant state subconsciously and we go to those places in our mind all the time. 11:37 Practicing mindfulness and meditation allows us to create new pathways. 11:42 Now I know how to go to that place of calm a little bit easier. When I first start out, 11:48 there's the overgrown grass, there's the rocks in the way, there's the I'm kind of on the pathway but did I miss it because it's new. 11:56 So the more you practice, the more you create clear pathways to be able to go to those places in your mind that help you 12:03 be in the state that you wish to be in and allow you to ultimately control your mind. 12:08 So meditation also helps us learn that the thoughts that we think and the emotions that we feel 12:15 have a physical reflection in our body. So how our mind is working so much of it is done 12:21 at an unconscious level without us really thinking about it but yet it manifests itself in our physical body. 12:29 And those are the things that we actually have as tangible evidence that something's going on. 12:35 You get a headache, you have tension in your shoulders and you need a massage. You had an overwhelmed, crying breakdown. 12:42 There's some physical manifestation that tells you, oh wait, I must be stressed about this situation 12:49 and I wasn't necessarily aware of it until it physically showed up in my body but meditation helps us learn to connect the mind 12:56 and the body together. All right, resonating, making sense? 13:04 Give me a thumbs up, give me any questions. All right, I'm gonna talk about different challenges. 13:11 So, so far it, yeah, sounds great Kristin, loved the idea makes sense 13:17 but how do you actually make this happen because it's easier said than done, just like everything? 13:24 So I'm gonna talk about four challenges that people tend to have in practicing meditation or mindfulness. 13:30 Patience, time, the busy minds and having diligence. 13:36 So let's talk about patients first. A lot of times, in fact it's happened to me 13:42 when I first started to meditate is that I have the urge to do something else. 13:47 I tell myself every morning, I'm going to sit down and I'm gonna meditate before my day starts. 13:53 But I have the urge to check Facebook, I have the urge to start working, I have the urge to want to stay in bed 14:01 but my kids are knocking at the door and they're demanding that I get up. So everything could be well-intended 14:08 but something doesn't go right because have the urge to do something else. So there's a few suggestions for how you can do this. 14:16 Yes, you need to be committed but if you have the urge to do something else, end the session early. 14:22 Craig had asked, what's the minimum or maximum number of time, amount of time that you need to be practicing mindfulness and meditation? 14:30 The correct answer is whatever works for you. So if you say I'm gonna start meditating 14:35 and I've never done it before and to say, you're gonna do that for 30 minutes a day, that's pretty self sabotaging 14:43 because 30 minutes is a long time to sit down. What if you did a minute, each day? What if you say, I want to try and do for three minutes 14:49 but if something happens and the kids start knocking at the door, I got a minute in at least one minute, end the session early. 14:56 The second one is acknowledged the feeling of impatience. So you can be sitting and practicing some breathing techniques 15:03 and you notice that you just are feeling impatient, it's hard to be still and that's uncomfortable. 15:09 Acknowledge the discomfort and notice it don't judge it, it's something to get curious about rather than 15:17 to beat yourself up about. Remind yourself of the benefits that can help and let go over and over. 15:23 So I go back to, and I do this with my yoga instruction too. It's not about letting go of everything 15:31 so you have zero distraction, it's about learning to notice the distraction is coming in. 15:38 I notice it's coming in, I'm gonna let it go. I notice it's coming in and I'm gonna let it go. 15:45 And if that's all you do, you're practicing mindfulness perfectly 15:50 because you're increasing your awareness, you're directing your attention to something specific 15:56 and you're directing it someplace else also. And it's going to keep coming back and coming back 16:01 but then later it'll go away for a little bit longer and then it'll come back and it'll go away, 16:08 it'll go away for a little bit longer. So it's a constant kind of ebb and flow 16:14 just like a constant ebb and flow of day and night. 16:20 How do you know if you're meditating correctly, if you're starting out? 16:27 It's a really great question, you're describing me so glad to hear it's normal at first, it's all about normal. 16:32 And there's no right way to meditate at all, there's no right way to meditate. 16:38 So think about what your goal is to meditate and that goal is gonna be different for everyone, 16:44 for somebody it might be, I need just 10 minutes to escape. So I'm gonna have my alone time 16:51 and if my alone time is just sitting and constantly letting my mind wander, 16:57 that is a form of meditation because you've separated yourself out of the rest. 17:03 So there, if we get into this adage, I've got to do it right, we're missing the point 17:09 because the only right way to do it is to notice and let go 17:15 and not have any judgment with it. Second challenge tends to be time. 17:20 There's always something more important that gets into the way always, this is true for anything we want to try and do, right? 17:27 I wanna have an exercise program, I wanna eat healthy like there's something. Time is always a really great excuse, 17:33 I don't have time. I always like to say, if you say you don't have time try saying it's not important 17:39 and see how that makes you feel. So if something is important to you then it becomes a priority. 17:44 So prioritizing how it may fit is very important that the perception that it's also part of your routine. 17:52 So when I talk about being your best self I talk about the fact that we work, 17:58 we live in a world where it seems we're deemed selfish if we take care of ourselves first, 18:05 and in reality I would argue it's the other way around. You're being selfish by not taking care of yourself first 18:13 because when I'm burnt out, when I am at my wit's end, 18:18 when I am overwhelmed and I am stressed then I'm not giving my family my best self, 18:26 I'm not giving my work my best self, I'm not giving my customers my best self or my patients my best self or my peers my best self. 18:34 So we often think about it in a very skewed way. Well, I need to be there for everyone else. You can't be there for everyone else 18:40 unless you their for yourself. And that doesn't mean you just, you know, well I'm not gonna take you to basketball practice, 18:48 I'm gonna take a bath instead. It's not about indulgence, it's about prioritizing what you know you need 18:56 in order to be at your best. And so the perception that having this mindfulness 19:02 time to yourself as being part of your routine is super important to take on, 19:09 getting your sleep is also important. So if you sit down and meditate, you start to get tired 19:14 and then that's a sign that you need a little bit more sleep and you're not gonna be able to have a good session if you're sleeping. 19:20 We prepare our bodies, right? People don't think that it's weird to get up and take a shower and brush their teeth 19:26 and to get themselves physically ready. We don't think that's weird at all, 19:32 In fact, we almost expect that of everyone but why is not preparing our minds 19:39 for our day, just as important. Why is not preparing how we feel on the inside, 19:45 Just as important as how we look on the outside. 19:51 Third challenge, busy mind. This is so true, Danielle. I see it, you can't pour from an empty cup. 19:58 That is so, so true, can not pour from an empty cup. Busy mind, planning, worry, wander, ruminate. 20:04 I sit down, as soon as I sit down, Kristen all I do is notice all the things that I'm worried about and that just creates more anxiety. 20:11 The more we quiet ourselves, the more we notice what comes up and that's what distracts us and causes more restlessness. 20:19 So again, it's not about the mind being empty but it's about consistently bringing yourself back. 20:27 I would also argue that we oftentimes move away from what's uncomfortable. 20:35 So a lot of people, I'll use sleep as an example, a lot of people complain that they have trouble sleeping 20:42 because when the day is done, I go to bed, and as soon as I start to quiet 20:48 that's when my mind starts to run. And so that used to happen to me quite often 20:55 I either I couldn't get to bed or I'd wake up at that like three o'clock, four o'clock hour and my mind would just be going. 21:02 And I was able to satisfy that by telling myself, I'm just sitting here worrying and ruminating on things, 21:10 now's not the time for that. I'll give myself an hour to worry and ruminate on stuff when I get up 21:15 but right now, you know, I need to sleep. And for whatever reason that knowing that I could give myself another time to worry 21:22 really helped me. And then I found when I was actually up and doing things, you don't worry about it. So having a busy mind, when you sit down 21:30 to actually meditate is something to get really curious about, it's something to notice, not to judge that I'm worrying right now. 21:38 What am I worried about? And if you need to, you can pause your meditation to actually write out, 21:44 these are the worries that are distracting me. This is a real thing that I keep coming back to and then you can figure out how do you want to tackle that? 21:52 And so it's not about trying to empty, it's about noticing and letting go. 21:58 Should you try to stay consistent once you start practicing meditation, same location, same position, same time of day, 22:04 eyes opened or closed? Awesome questions, Craig. So it really is your choice. 22:10 Consistency helps, yes because you're creating a habit and a habit needs consistency. 22:18 It doesn't matter if you choose to do it in the morning or in the night time, it doesn't matter if your eyes are open or your eyes closed. 22:25 Some of those are techniques that you can learn to live with. Now, if you follow a certain type of meditation 22:30 or a certain type of mindfulness they may teach you to do it in the morning. 22:36 For instance, I'm practicing at a meditation right now that says you should do it first thing in the morning and you should shower right before you do it, 22:43 get up shower and meditate, right. I practiced for a while and then I realized like, you know what 22:49 some days doing that right when I get up doesn't work, so I know that I wanna be consistent 22:54 and I do it every day during the workweek but it doesn't always happen in the morning. Sometimes it's in the morning, sometimes it's at night 23:01 but at least I've gotten it in. So you get to determine what your consistency is and you get to determine what your timeframe is. 23:09 Same location. Having a location helps. So having a space helps. 23:15 I have a meditation cushion, I can take that cushion with me anywhere. So it doesn't have to be the same location 23:21 but if you are doing it in your house knowing that here's your space and that space is dedicated to it, 23:27 just like you have a space for your bed, that's important because you're giving it commitment, 23:32 you're giving it some type of importance and you're kind of lifting it up 23:37 to be part of your routine a little bit differently, so having a place for it is helpful. 23:43 I have found the most success for myself by incorporating short mindfulness activities throughout my day 23:48 but would like to work out to longer meditations. I love that, Megan. So that's an excellent way to start 23:54 because you can build anything for a minute, right? Like my apple watch tells me to breathe for a minute. 24:01 And I don't, sometimes I hit dismiss, and I'm not being consistent with it but really a minute for anything that's doable, 24:09 that's doable. So if you start with a minute and then you gradually work your way up but don't make it hard. 24:15 It doesn't have to be hard and it shouldn't be a thing that says, if I didn't do it, I'm gonna then beat myself up for it. 24:22 Anything is going to be helpful and the more you do it, the more you practice, the more you're going to feel the value 24:29 and the more you're going to crave it. And then it's easier to do it for a longer period of time. 24:35 Last one, here is diligence, we've kind of talked about this all along. You do have to be committed 24:41 but a lot of times we sit and it's hard and we don't know if we're doing it right 24:47 because it's all internal, we can't see it, we can't feel it tangibly, 24:55 we can't go show another person. So we get wrapped up in these thoughts of like, 25:00 I'm not even sure if I'm getting what I'm supposed to be getting out of this. And you know, so then we just get up 25:06 and we give up too soon. I say, stay after the initial calmness. 25:12 So if any of you who are on here have tried mindfulness 25:17 or meditation, and you've had just a snippet of like, oh that feels different. 25:23 I feel different, I feel calmer, when you hit that point sometimes it's easy to then stop. 25:30 All right, I feel really calm. Okay and that was my stopping point. I say, push past that. 25:37 Once you feel that initial calmness, sit and savor it for just a second longer 25:42 and then you've allowed yourself to lengthen your time and get comfort in the discomfort. 25:49 You know, there is I wanna try and do this for 10 minutes. You could sit there and push through 25:55 and do two 10 minutes of absolute discomfort. Yes, you could do that. You could say, I'm gonna do it for 10 minutes 26:01 and three minutes into it, my leg fell asleep and I'm totally uncomfortable. That doesn't mean you have to sit 26:06 for another seven minutes doing it with your leg asleep. You maybe changed positions and say, 26:11 I'm just gonna do 30 seconds more. I'm totally uncomfortable right now but just let me give 30 seconds and see how it feels. 26:20 All right, we're gonna practice and we have 30 minutes left. 26:27 So we're not gonna practice for 30 minutes. I would love to get either your questions, 26:34 the things that you're concerned about the things you've tried offering up 26:40 any other tips to each other because you're all going to have your own experiences. 26:46 I'd love to get some of those going in the chat. Craig has a question. Are there any tips for meditation techniques 26:52 with people who have a health condition, example, asthma? You know what? 26:58 Yes there is. So we're going to do some, a breathing technique as part of our practice. 27:04 There's a variety of them. Any type of health condition can be worked around. 27:11 I would say that my largest tip is that if you do have asthma, you need to be careful 27:17 about the types of breathing that you do take on. So there are some, there's a variety 27:24 of breathing techniques but there's some that can be a little bit more intense. And so you wanna be with something 27:30 that makes you feel comfortable obviously, if all else fails, all you need to do is breathe normally. 27:37 And we're gonna breathe through our belly and practice that here in a second. If you've got other types 27:43 of limitations that may cause you to sit a certain way 27:48 or maybe you lay down and you can't lay down your back, so you lay on your side there's always a modification that you can do 27:55 so that you can be comfortable. So my biggest tip is to pay attention. What do you know about your body 28:02 and how do you then need to set yourself up to be comfortable? 28:08 You don't have to be sitting in a Lotus position with your hands crossed and some, you know 28:13 mudra or what have you. You can be sitting however is most comfortable for you, particularly when you're starting up. 28:22 Okay, so we ready to practice. Oh, we've got a couple more questions, hang on here. 28:30 Do you have any recommendations for books or resources that may help become more advanced in meditation? 28:35 Okay, I have a, there's a couple of apps that I'm going to offer you on your mobile device. 28:42 There's one called Insight Timer and there's another one called Headspace. I think huts made Headspace has become wildly popular. 28:52 And both of those offer free versions to where I think in the Headspace app, 28:58 you can actually do 10 each for three different stages. 29:04 So I think they have a three-minute a five minute and a 10 minutes, and it takes you through 10 sessions. 29:09 So you could really do a full 30 days doing that meditation Headspace app for free 29:19 and get yourself something on a daily basis for 30 days. And you can do them over and over again, 29:25 they also will send you some quotes that can pop up and give you as a reminder. Insight Timer also has a free version 29:32 and there's a variety of guided meditations. So if you find that your mind is really busy, 29:40 some techniques that I use, one is my breath and what I do with my breath and concentrating on my breath. 29:46 And another one is to do a guided meditation because if you're hearing somebody else's words then you're focused on the words 29:53 and you're less likely to have your mind wander. It still will and you still will bring it back 29:59 but it gives you something to concentrate on and that can be helpful. There are a variety of different books 30:05 that are on meditation that you can have, there's also different courses on meditation as well. 30:10 A lot of the self-help arena has areas of meditation. 30:17 I've always found that it's nice to have something that's more on audio because then you've got the practice with it. 30:24 I've read a couple of meditation books where they've got the guided meditation in the actual book and you have to read it, 30:32 and it's like, well I'm not gonna really read the meditation, I wanna do the meditation. So if you get the audio book, 30:38 then it can give you that guided that way. Excellent question. 30:45 In the racing mind, just reading here seek moments of peace feel like times. Yes, mind is always racing. 30:51 It's a really, really big problem for us. Randy says, I like to focus on body parts and visual color light coming into that area. 30:58 We're gonna talk about that, we're gonna do that. I start at the top of my head and worked myself down to the right side of my body, to my toes, 31:05 come back up and then go back down, I love it. So in the example, I see my head, right elbow 31:11 and visualize light blue shining in that area. Yes, so visualization can also be 31:17 a really great way to pave that pathway and to keep your mind focused on something, 31:23 so it's not complete space, right? And visualization works really well to be able 31:30 to also notice and get into your body. Because a lot of times we try, we get distracted 31:38 and if we pause and the minute we get in our body, your body's gonna tell you more. 31:44 It really knows a lot. And if we learn to listen to it it will tell you what is going on 31:51 before it becomes a problem so I love that, excellent. Love Headspace. 31:57 Yes, It's a great one. Okay, so let's practice. 32:02 I'm gonna ask for you to find a comfy space and that may be sitting in a chair at maybe laying down, 32:10 it might be sitting on a floor whatever that looks like for you, 32:15 let it be and find yourself in that spot. 32:20 And I'm gonna ask you to close your eyes. 32:26 And for a moment, I want you to just notice your body 32:32 in the space that it's in. Just notice that you're lying on the floor in a room, 32:42 you're sitting in a chair and feel the chair underneath you. 32:47 You're sitting on the floor wherever that is for you picture and visualize your body 32:53 taking up the space that it's in and notice the space that you're in. 33:01 And then I want you to start to notice your breath. So for those of you that really are wondering 33:09 what is one thing that's super simple I can do? This is it. 33:16 On the inhale notice your breathing in, on the exhale notice your breathing out. 33:25 Inhale your breathing in, exhale you're breathing out. 33:32 Easiest, simplest exercise any time of the day you can do. 33:38 I'm breathing in, I'm breathing out. I'm breathing in, I'm breathing out. 33:47 I'm breathing in, I'm breathing out. So if that works for you, you can hang on to it. 33:56 And as you notice on the inhale, you're breathing in. Notice how it begins to expand. 34:05 And as you exhale on the exhalation and you notice that you're exhaling and breathing out, 34:12 notice what happens as the breath releases. 34:18 As you inhale there's a natural expansion. I'm breathing in and on the exhale 34:25 there's a natural depression releasing, letting go. 34:32 I'm breathing out, I'm breathing in, I'm breathing out. 34:40 On the inhale Notice the belly as it rises, expanding. 34:50 And as you exhale, notice the belly as it releases. 34:56 So it's called diaphragmatic breathing where you breathe starting from your belly. 35:02 So maybe you put your hand there wherever it is that you are laying seated, wherever you might be. 35:11 And as you inhale, feel your belly press against your hands. 35:17 And as you exhale, notice your hands kind of release and sink toward your spine. 35:24 And then you're gonna start to deepen that. So as you inhale, you let your belly expand, 35:31 keep inhaling you notice your ribs start to expand, keep inhaling you feel that breath 35:37 all the way into your chest. And then as you exhale, I'm breathing out. 35:42 I release from my chest, I release from my ribs, I released from my belly. 35:49 As I inhale my belly expands into my ribs, into my chest. 35:56 As I exhale, I release from my chest and my ribs and my belly. 36:02 Breathing in, I breathe in, I breathe out. 36:08 And see if you can create longer fuller breaths. 36:15 I'm breathing in, I'm breathing out. 36:21 So your concentration and your awareness is only on your inhales and only on your exhales 36:30 and start to notice what happens at the very top of that inhalation 36:37 right before you exhale there's a space, there's a pause. 36:47 And what happens at the very end of that exhalation 36:52 before you take your next inhale, there's a pause, there's a space. 37:01 I'm breathing in and breathing out. 37:07 We're gonna do something that is called the 5-5-7 breath. We're gonna inhale for five, 37:15 we're gonna hold for a five and we're gonna exhale for seven. 37:22 So on your next exhalation, let out all the breath. 37:27 Then as you inhale counting one, two, three, four, five 37:37 hold one, two, three, four, five and exhale. 37:47 One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, inhale. 37:57 One, two, three, four, five, 38:04 hold one, two, three, four, five exhale. 38:13 One, two, three, four, five, six, seven inhale. 38:23 One, two, three, four, five 38:30 hold one, two, three, four, five, exhale. 38:39 One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, inhale, 38:54 hold and exhale, 39:11 inhale, 39:17 hold 39:24 and exhale, 39:31 inhale, hold and exhale. 39:47 Letting the breath come back to neutral. I'm breathing in and breathing out, 39:55 I'm breathing in, I'm breathing out. And just take a scan, notice how the breath feels different. 40:05 Nothing's good, nothing's bad, you're just noticing and you're noticing the difference. 40:17 So as you breathe in and breathe out start to bring your attention back to your body. 40:26 You feel the body against whatever is underneath you. 40:34 Notice the feeling of the weight of your body on the chair 40:39 or on the floor, wherever you are, feeling your body take up that space, 40:47 breathing in, breathing out. Notice your chest and your abdomen continue to expand. 40:58 Allow the air as you inhale to fill up your lungs completely 41:03 and begin to notice the sensations of what you're aware of. 41:10 I am breathing in, I'm breathing out. What sensations come to the forefront initially, 41:19 just notice. 41:25 I'm breathing in I'm breathing out. And as you breathe in, you breathe in space. 41:32 As you breathe out, you notice stillness. There's a sense of relaxing, 41:38 there's a sense of releasing on the excalation. 41:45 Begin to bring your attention to the top of your head, noticing the sensations in your scalp, 41:55 around your hair, the back of your head, the sides 42:03 and then bring your attention to your face, your brow, the temples, the corners of your eyes 42:17 and bring your awareness to your mouth. Noticing if your jaw is relaxed or clenched, 42:25 maybe you move it around and you let your lower jaw kind of sink and the corners of your mouth relax. 42:34 As you move to your neck, feeling the sides of your neck, 42:40 the back of your neck, into your collar bone, your collar bones spreads, your shoulders then relax. 42:51 You can feel the front part of your shoulders but also the back part of your shoulder blades. 42:59 And the very bottoms of your shoulder blades rest and settle, allowing your arms to relax 43:09 feeling the left side from your shoulder down to your elbow, to wrists and your fingertips. 43:21 Maybe your left palm is a little bit tingling, 43:26 bringing your attention to your right shoulder, down to your right elbow 43:32 into your right forearm and wrist 43:38 into your right fingertips and your right palm. 43:45 So your head and your neck and your arms are completely relaxed. 43:52 And then bringing your breath into your chest. I breathe in, I breathe out. 44:01 Can feel the right side and the left side of your chest releases, 44:07 the left side of your ribs and the right side of your ribs relax, 44:15 into your hips, the hip creases, the buttocks. 44:25 So from your head through your neck, the collarbone and all down your arms, into your torso. 44:33 The body's filled with space. Now breathe in, now breathe out. 44:41 Bringing your awareness into your left leg, the left thigh, the knee cap, the left back of the knee, 44:50 the left shin, the left calf, into the left ankle 44:57 all the way into the left foot, pinky toe, all the toes, top of the foot. 45:10 Bringing the breath into the right leg, the right thigh, 45:15 back of the thigh, the knee cap, the back of the knee, 45:20 into the shin, the calf, right ankle, right heel, 45:30 all the way into the right toes, pinky toe, all the way to the big toe in the top of the foot. 45:40 So your whole body from your head, your arms, your torso, the right leg, the left leg completely still. 45:51 I breathe in and breathe out. And as you breathe in and you breathe out 45:58 begin to visualize your spine. Your spine completely at ease, holding your entire body 46:09 whether you're sitting or you're laying down. And you can picture that spine as a hollow tube, 46:19 filled with space and breath. I breathe in, I breathe out, 46:28 as you breathe in, you're breathing in relaxation, 46:34 peace, space, calmness, stillness. 46:42 And as you breathe out, that fills that hollow too in your spine, 46:49 each inhale, breathing in more space, each exhale 46:55 allowing that energy in the tube to circulate more and more. 47:01 And maybe that tube begins to have a light to it, 47:06 maybe it's a widest shield, maybe it's a brighter blue light, 47:13 completely centered, completely calm. 47:18 We breathe in and breathe out. 47:23 And as you keep this, you can start to visualize that light in your spine, 47:29 start to spread to all parts of your body. 47:35 Taking it first to that left arm, down into the left hand. 47:45 And then that lights opens to the right side, into the right shoulder, into the right elbow, 47:53 down to the right fingertips. And that light starts to swirl around your rib cage, 48:03 into your hips, as it spreads into your left leg, your left hip, 48:09 your left knee, into your left ankle and to your left toes. 48:17 And then it swirls into the right hip, down the right leg and to the right knee, 48:24 into the right calf and ankle and to the right toes. So your whole body, I breathe in, I breathe out. 48:34 Filled with light, filled with calm, filled with what is naturally your center and you. 48:45 And as you keep that begin to feel the energy in your body, 48:54 begin to visualize your body laying on the floor 49:00 or sitting in the chair. Begin to notice your body (mumbles) 49:12 and noticing your body being able to be a part 49:18 of the room that you're in. 49:25 I breathe in, I breathe out. 49:30 Begin to notice the sounds in the room, 49:36 begin to notice any smells of the room, 49:43 begin to notice the floor underneath you and your body grounded in this space 49:52 that it is laying or sitting in. 49:58 And very, very slowly I breathe in, I breathe out. 50:07 Keep your awareness, keep your breath but start to open your eyes. 50:14 And as you open your eyes, you breathe in, you breathe out and you just notice 50:22 and you saver just for a moment, how you're feeling, how it's different, 50:31 notice what you see in the room and begin to bring yourself back. 50:40 (bell chimes) 50:58 It's always really difficult when I can't actually see people to know where you're at 51:07 and how you are doing and taking up the space. So I'm gonna linger in mind words just 51:14 to let everyone come back. And if there are any comments or any questions, 51:22 certainly feel free to begin to put them into the chat. And in the meantime, I will share 51:29 that we went a little bit longer than I anticipated, mainly because I was feeling it, 51:34 so hopefully you are feeling it too. And my intention today is that you could take one thing from today's practice 51:43 and session to be able to use for yourself, to potentially share with others 51:50 and to give back to yourself for the work that you do. So I hope that you were able to take something from that. 51:56 And I'm always here for you with any questions that you might have for me. 52:02 Thank you very much for letting me lead this. 52:08 - That was amazing. Thank you so much, Kristin. I feel so relaxed, I don't know about you guys (laughs). 52:15 That definitely- - Absolutely. - I'd love to add to my repertoire every day. Yeah, so much of that really was brought home to me. 52:23 Like before you go to bed, your mind racing with all the things you need to get done. I mean, this is just fantastic 52:29 and I'm sure the nurses all appreciate this. Thank you so much, everyone for joining us. 52:35 We have two more webinars this week for our Nurses Week that we'll continue on. 52:40 Next Tuesday do join us for Male Nurses Bridging the Gap where we'll from some great alumni 52:47 and nurses that have reached a very high places in their careers with nursing. 52:53 And then of course we have another mindful meditation series at 7:00 PM on Wednesday with Christopher Dennis 52:59 so do join us for that one as well. It seems like we got some great meditation enthusiasts today 53:04 and Kristen, this was wonderful. And again, this recording will be available to all the nurses who weren't able to attend today. 53:11 We thank you all. And one last thing, we did leave a couple of links in the chat for everybody, 53:17 do feel free to copy or click in them, if you'd like more information about the nursing degrees 53:23 and also the link to register for the next two webinars this week this coming week. Happy Nurses Week everybody