Pre-Date Inner Voice

In this meditation, we're going to focus on your inner voice. It is designed to help you notice negative or judgmental thoughts, and to ultimately help you start to make friends with your mind. So if you are preparing for a date, there is a possibility that your inner voice might be going into overdrive. Thoughts that you aren't good enough, or that you don't deserve this, or that the date is going to go horribly wrong might be present. So whilst these can be quite common feelings to have before a date, it creates a lot of inner conflict and tension, and it can be really exhausting treating ourselves in this way. Another way to frame this is asking yourself, would you speak to a friend in this way? And the chances are, probably not. It is amazing sometimes how unkind we can be to ourselves. So it is really helpful to notice when we find that we are criticizing ourselves or judging ourselves, and to start to let go of those negative thoughts. And in doing this, we learn to be more comfortable being ourselves. And we move to a place of kindness instead of criticism. The technique we're going to do is called noting, where we simply label thinking as thinking and feeling as feeling. It may sound incredibly simple, but it starts to create a little bit of distance between ourselves and our thoughts, ourselves and our feelings, so that we don't get so involved in them. And it creates a more restful and kind state of mind. We are not trying to stop thoughts or clear the mind. We are learning to actually accept the mind however it is. Take a moment to get comfortable wherever you're sitting. And when you're ready, just starting with some nice, big, deep breaths, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. And with the next out-breath, you can gently close your eyes as you allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm, in and out through the nose. And in closing your eyes, just feeling the weight of your body pressing down against the seat or the floor beneath you. Start to notice any sounds around you, both those loud or quiet. Just settling into the space. And gently bring your attention into your body, and just check in with how you feel today. It is okay if your mind is very busy. In pausing, in sitting, we are giving our mind and body some space to settle. So as you sit there, I'd like you to place your attention on your breath. First, just notice where in your body you feel that movement. Just following that rising and falling sensation. Might be in your stomach, your diaphragm, even up near your shoulders. And in your own time, just start to count the breaths as they pass. One with the in-breath, two with the fall. And one and two. The moment you realize you've been...