Mindful Mondays|Week 10: Jubilation

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In today’s mindfulness practice, we are going to talk about celebrating our trauma recovery wins. If you are feeling stressed or overwhelmed, this practice may be difficult today. It may also be just what you need. Either one is okay. Just do your best, and maybe you’ll be able to try this again at another time in your journey. Just sitting today and spending time focusing inward is a win.

Let’s get started. Find a comfortable place where you won’t be distracted. Close your eyes if that feels safe. Settle down into your sit bones and feel the support of the ground or chair beneath you. Take a few calming breaths to find a good center.

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Jubilation is a feeling of triumph. It’s even beyond Joy because it’s a special type of rejoicing and cheer that comes from a victory, good news, or something successful. In our trauma recovery journey, often the healing looks like “5 steps forward, 3 steps back” then “2 steps forward, 2 back” then “6 steps sideways and 2 steps diagonal”. There is no straight path to recovery. We’ve talked before about the layering effect that trauma placed on us, which means there is a layering pattern to removing that and finding wellness. With that said, it’s very important to make room for celebration when you do have even small wins along the way. The more you are able to praise yourself for tiny steps, the more your brain starts to rewire with that jubilant positive reinforcement.

So for today, are you able to think of something in the recent few days or weeks for which you can find jubilation? This may be a healthy decision you made or a boundary you stuck with. Maybe you recognized a trigger reaction, paused, and chose a different response. Perhaps you did some self-care, said ‘no’ to someone who was demanding something of you, or a therapy appointment you made. These are all those small victories in our healing path that we must not take for granted. Allow yourself, just for a few moments if you are able, to recognize the little hurdle you jumped, and find a few minutes of jubilation.

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Maybe you are thinking about something that you are particularly proud of. Can you find a smile to match your happiness? Are you able to congratulate yourself?

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Maybe you have been able to think of a lot of accomplishments recently. That’s something to really find pleasure in. Go ahead and tell yourself what a great job you are doing. Let your gladness run over. Don’t be shy to relish in your successes.

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Now let’s take just another moment to find our breath. Come back from the jubilant party in your head and back into your body. Observe your breath; calm the rhythm if you got excited. Slow your heart rate with smooth exhales.

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Welcome back — to your body, to the room, to this environment, to noises around you. This practice can go with you every day. At any moment that you become aware of a small shift in your trauma responses, a small win of trading harmful coping skills with new healthy ones, a small choice to talk to your coach or therapist, or a new relationship being built — each of these things are to be celebrated and to take pride in. Taking the time to allow yourself a Jubilation Moment will help reward your brain which will product more recovery victories!

Mindful Mondays|Week 8: Hope

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Begin by finding a quiet space to sit with no distractions just for a few minutes. Sit comfortably but alertly with a spine that is straight and supportive. Take a nice long slow deep breath to help your mind recognize that we are sitting for some mindfulness now. Get any last wiggles out of your fingers and toes. Slowly roll your head from side to side or in circles or looking left and right. Whatever helps bring you to a place of stillness.

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If it’s safe to do, close your eyes. To calm your mind, spend a few moments just watching your breath. Find a focus point of your inhale and exhale — perhaps the rise and fall of your belly, the cool air going in and warmer air coming out of your nostrils. Just place your attention somewhere inside or around your body that helps you stay anchored to the present moment.

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It’s completely normal to have been swept away by thoughts or worries or fantasies. Just take another slow deep breath, and without judging yourself come right back to the focus point of your breath and body.

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We humans are known for being preoccupied with thinking, listening, and figuring out problems. Our mind is wired to keep going, even when we are sleeping. This space is time for your brain to practice attention by staying steady on the breath. So come on back to your focus point and let the breath keep you sitting in the present.

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Today I want to ask you, while sitting here in the present moment, to think about how you got here. Take a moment to contemplate the path you’ve been on, the struggles you’ve had, the diagnosis you’ve received, the old life you’re healing from. To get to the place where you have joined me today sitting in your mindfulness spot focusing over and over on training your mind to come back to your breath and body, there was a journey to get here. Something turned you on to meditation, or maybe you still don’t love it, but you do it because you know it’s helpful. Where you’ve been and how you are here now — that is to be celebrated.

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Now that you’ve imagined that past self and watch yourself coming to who you are today, I want you to place your hope in yourself. Trusting yourself that you are on the right road back to your authentic self. Just like with this practice, you are bringing yourself home over and over again. This feeling, knowing how far you’ve come, this can give you hope that growth is possible and that you are only going to heal more, love yourself more, and continue on this trauma recovery road. You’ve done it this far; have hope that your practices and goals will continue to thrust you forward with momentum. Hope will help you keep coming back to your true self whenever you stray. Hope will give you the energy to push forward even when it’s a dark day. Think on this Hope for a few moments.

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Coming back to the breath, take one more cleansing breath. If you feel okay to do so, allow a smile to wash over your face.

Congratulate yourself for being hopeful for a healthy future. Let hope guide you in your journey when it’s hard to keep going.

Feel your sit bones on the seat below you. Wiggle your fingers and toes. And when you’re ready, come back to the room and open your eyes.

Enjoy the rest of your hopeful day, and cheers to your hopeful tomorrow.

Mindful Mondays|Week 4: Dream

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Today I want to talk about Dreams. Not the nocturnal ones.  The heart ones, the depths of your soul ones, the passion and purpose ones. 

Let’s start by sitting comfortably in a chair, the ground, or on a cushion.  Take an extra moment today to really get comfortable.  Anything that you need to make yourself 1% more comfortable in your body, while maintaining alertness with your mind.  Feel your sit bones sinking into whatever you are sitting on.  Feel your weight completely trust the ground beneath you.  Close your eyes if that feels safe for you.

We are going to focus right into the belly today, placing our attention right in the area of the diaphragm at the top the gut.  While you breath, notice the expansion and contraction of the belly.  Let your tummy totally relax, totally release – even if spills over. That’s okay.  If you aren’t noticing an expand/contract sensation, you are probably breathing in your chest with your lungs.  I want you to shift that to breathing diaphragmatically.  See if you are able still your chest and lower your shoulders.  Try not to let those areas rise and fall with this breathing.  Just your belly. 

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If you got lost in thought, that’s okay.  Just gently nudge yourself back to focusing on your belly.  Observe it fill up like a balloon and fall back in slowly with the exhale.  Don’t force the breath; just watch it. 

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Today I want you to think about a dream you once had.  Maybe when you were a child, or maybe more recently.  Think about something that you wanted to do, what career you wanted to pursue, someplace you wanted to go see, something you wanted to create, a trade or skill you wanted to learn, a hero you desired to be like.

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Try to sense the feeling this dream gives you in your belly.  In the depth of your being, in your gut.  Imagine yourself at the age and place and time when you began dreaming this dream.  What do you feel in your body?  What does the place smell like?  What color does this dream have?  Do you feel silly wanting this dream?  Does this dream seem impossible?  Did something happen after this dream that prevented you from obtaining it yet?  How does this dream make you feel now, whatever age you are, thinking back on it? 

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Maybe you chose to focus on a dream that you haven’t thought of in a long time – like a childhood dream of wanting to be a dinosaur.  Or maybe you are thinking about a dream that crops up in your mind from time to time, maybe asking you to revisit it.  Either way, what happened to those dreams?  Are they still somewhere in your body?  Did you feel a nudge or a tingle or sensation when you began thinking about this?  What is your dream trying to tell you about yourself now? 

If this dream was dreamt, there was a reason for it.  I wonder if there was a shifting from moving toward your dream, like focusing on your belly breaths, to focusing on real life and following societal expectations like when you got lost in thoughts in your mind.   It can be hard to come back to your gut, back to the original ideas you had as a creative child or a budding invincible teenager or even as a college student with the whole world in front of you.  Somewhere along the way, you may have lost not just a dream or two - but the actual desire and permission to dream.  It is very common for life (the good and bad parts of life) to get in the way of dreaming at all. 

I invite you to shift from your attention on your Dream back to your belly rising and falling with the rhythm of your breath.  Take a few more moments to come back into your body and remember your present state of being in your diaphragm.

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Coming back into the room now. Hear the sounds around you.

I invite you to take a few more moments after this meditation to sit and contemplate some dreams you maybe gave up on or haven’t considered in a while.  Ask yourself some questions about your dreams and see if there is something an old dream wants to share with you.  Maybe see if there is a dream that’s still within your grasp.  You could start turning it into in a goal now using your current healing, resources, finances, adulthood, strength, energy, and time. Maybe you’ll be able to resurrect that old dream.  If it wasn’t possible at an earlier stage of your life, it may be now in this state of your trauma healing journey. 

If this has been a difficult meditation for you, I welcome you to speak with your trauma coach or therapist about what bubbled up for you today.  This week we will focus on wounds of childhood and how its very normal for trauma to squelch youthful dreams and suppress juvenile creativity.  If you care to share with someone what came up in your soul today, I’d love to hear from you.  In the show notes, there’s a link to my website.  Click on the “Connect” tab and feel free to send me a message. 

Be kind to yourself as you return to your day. Let’s take on more deep breath and open our eyes slowly. 

Mindful Mondays| Week 1: And

*Author Note* If you prefer to listen or watch instead of or along with -
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Welcome, my name is Sara from Full Circle Wellspring. And today is your Mindful Monday. Let’s get started. Today I want to talk about the word: And. A small little three letter word. 

So get comfortable. You can lay down or sit in a cross-legged position on the floor or in a chair. Somewhere you can be comfortable for just a few short minutes. To still your mind, take a few deep breaths to help you arrive here right now. 

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Let’s return our breathing to natural rhythm. 

Let’s focus on this New Year together. What a great time and place; an opportunity we have for a fresh start. This year I’d like to challenge you consider the word “and”. 

Right now you’re sitting here focusing on your breath or a bodily sensation — feeling the warmth of your hands or feeling your belly rise and fall with the breath. While you are breathing, your body is also breathing you. Breathing is an action of Being AND Doing. Same thing with our thoughts. We can be watching our thoughts, creating our thoughts, AND our thoughts are always happening. 

In our trauma recovery journey together, we are whole. We are a complete person worthy of love and worthy of respect, AND we can also love ourselves enough on want to continue on improving our mind, body, spirit. On improving in our trauma recovery path. We can be happy right where we are, AND we can be looking forward to even more improvement. You can be feeling very healthy and happy in a career AND also challenge yourself. You could be feeling really happy at this moment AND also grieving the year that passed. Maybe a lot of things happened that you haven’t quite processed yet. AND all that is okay. 

Let’s continue to feel our breath a few more minutes. Don’t force the breath. Just watch it. Observe it while it does its thing. Let’s pay attention to where we feel the breath the strongest— maybe the nostrils, right above the upper lip, or maybe you want to focus on your seat in the chair or on the floor. Let’s just take a few minutes and remember the duality that we have in this life. We can breathe, AND we can also be breathed. Let yourself be breathed right now. 

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This year maybe we challenge ourselves especially in the complexity of our trauma recovery journey to remind ourselves that things don’t have to be mutually exclusive. You can do hard things, and you can also give yourself space to rest and recover. You can feel multiple emotions at one time, and that’s okay. Try this week to see how it feels to eliminate one of those other three letter words “but” with the word “and”. See if that doesn’t change some of the perspective in your heart. I know for me personally when I catch myself saying “but”, and I can change it to an “and” that I’m reminded of the flexibility that life has offered me by giving me multiple options and opportunities. I’m not limited, and I’m not a victim. And we can do hard things. We can do challenging things. We can grow, and we can also take time to rest and reflect. We can find that balance. It’s not an easy journey. Trauma recovery never is, and I’ll never promise you that — AND you can find support and encouragement here through it. 

This has been your Mindful Monday. I am your certified trauma recovery coach, Sara, for Full Circle Wellspring, and I look forward to our next time together. 

When you are ready, re-acclimate your body to the room and open your eyes slowly and enjoy the rest of your day.