A simple 20 minute meditation (for anyone who needs it)
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- Hey everyone, it's me, Drew Alfuolo, host of the Comment Section Show. Come join me and one of my iconic special guests every week on the show as we dive into the dreaded comment sections of our tagged videos and take down the most terrible men on the internet, period.

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Hello, my beautiful people. Welcome back to the Moments Podcast. I'm your host, Lexi. I have missed you. It's been a little bit. I just got home from a trip to Costa Rica, and this trip in Costa Rica is essentially a little yoga retreat. It's a teen empowerment or young leader retreat, and we do a lot of yoga. We do a lot of meditation. We get very zen. I always come home feeling re-motivated to share my story, a

what yoga did for me and how yoga saved me and how valuable I think it is to the world and why I think that we all Should be doing yoga and I'm warning you in advance. Leia is not leaving me alone. Leia is my dog, by the way She's licking and rolling. So if you hear a bunch of background noise, it's just her She wants to be on the podcast, but she can't be a guest because she can't talk. Anyways another day I'll give you the whole

entire yoga story but I do feel called to teach a little meditation I've done an episode like this before it's not gonna be long it's not gonna be anything crazy you can do it from wherever I just need you to be somewhere that you can lie down so I guess you can't really do it from wherever but you could do it in your room you could do it at home we do it in the living room you could do it in the kitchen who cares just somewhere that you can lie down and you can find peace and quiet for maybe

the next 20 minutes or so. I'm going to give you a little activity to do before and a little something to do after.

But for the most part, somewhere you can be still for about 15 to 20 minutes, maybe a half an hour. Find the time. And if you don't have it right now, come back to this episode at a point that you do. But yeah, I'm a yoga teacher. Fun fact, I have been for 10 years now. I don't consistently teach as much as I would like to. It's something that, like I said, every time I get back from this trip to Costa Rica, I tell myself I'm going to do it this year. But this year I really do.

feel different about it. I already was teaching my boyfriend. I was like, I've been practicing every day since I got back. And I got back like five days ago. This is longer than I usually last when I'm quote unquote committed to something. But that being said, I want you to find somewhere you can find some peace. Maybe your room, maybe your living room. Maybe I'm not going to say a sauna because that might be a little too hot for a little too long. But wherever you feel you can find peace.

and you can find a bit of stillness more than usual. This might be a challenge if you've never meditated before and I also want you to know before we get into this meditation sometimes gets a bad rap. A lot of people think that, oh, if you meditate, you're not worshiping God, you're not worshiping Jesus. When I first started doing yoga,

My family was really hesitant to let me do it because my family was super Christian. And, you know, we quickly realized that it is what you make it. Who you worship is up to you. Who you pray to is up to you. Yoga itself, meditation itself are physical things. And it's what you make out of it mentally that you will take away from it, if you get what I'm saying.

So you're not getting into anything crazy spiritual right now. We're just finding peace within our bodies. We're working from the inside out to create peace and stillness in our heart, in our mind, in our body, in our soul, in every aspect of our life. What we're doing right now is looking to find peace. And it's hard to do because we don't know how to be still. We are constantly consumed by...

everything around us. There are so many things going on at any given moment in any different direction that you look, whether it's through our work, our friendships, our relationships, our self-care, there's too many things to focus on. But right now in this moment, there's nothing to focus on except this moment. Now, if you're listening on your phone or if you happen to have a journal by you, I probably should have told you to grab this earlier, but I'd like for you to grab a little journal and

I want you to write on this journal one I am statement three times. Your I am statement is something that you feel you've been manifesting in your life, something that you're craving in your life, but instead of saying, I want to have this, or I want to be this, I am this, or I have this. I encourage you not to manifest any materialistic kinds of things into your life right now, any trips, any vacations, any fancy bags, but more so,

I am at peace. I am joyful. I am happy. I am comfortable. I am content. I am supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Whatever you want it to be. But something positive and something light and something empowering where I empower people, where I am truth, I am honest.

Maybe something that you've been struggling with that you feel is deeper rooted. I am kind. I do not judge. I want you to write whatever it is that you are feeling in your heart. What do you need more of in this moment?

Write that down three times, maybe five times, maybe ten times, however many times you feel fit. Maybe fill up the whole page. But we're going to do this practice before we even get into the meditation because I think it's important for you to get your brain, your mind, locked into what it is we're going to be focused on. What is our intention? What is our little mantra? How are we going to

to change throughout the next few minutes of this? What do we want to come out feeling? Start to think about these things. Maybe if you're really feeling like journaling right now, no pressure. If you want to skip all of this, you are welcome to skip it. But if you want to write and reflect, maybe before you meditate, you can write a couple paragraphs or so. Maybe write a page. What is it that's been on your mind? What has been consuming you? What has been eating you alive for absolutely no reason?

What is the thought that you can't seem to turn off in your brain? And simply, what are you feeling? And what have you been not prioritizing in your life? What do you want from this? Go ahead and pause it here if you want to take some time to write.

Quick little intermission, you guys. Confidence is so important, and it's something that we all struggle with at so many different points. And it's okay to be insecure once in a while, but the truth is we need to get comfortable in our own skin. And I absolutely love Apostrophe. They're a sponsor of this episode, and their goal is to help you feel confident in your own skin. Whether you're dealing with breakouts, signs of aging, Apostrophe is always going to help you love the skin that you're in.

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Welcome. Let's go ahead and get a little Zen, get a little meditation, a little yoga nidra, whatever you want to call it. Yoga nidra is essentially a meditation where you find yourself in the theta state, which is the state of mind where you're almost sleeping.

and you're not quite sleeping you're this is just the non-scientific way to explain what it's like but it's equivalent to getting three hours of REM sleep so this is really good to get caught up on rest of course I don't say do two hours of yoga nidra instead of getting nine hours of sleep I would never recommend that but most of us are exhausted whether it's physically or mentally this is a beautiful way to just give yourself some energy and it sounds you know um

Like they're opposites. You know, one, sleeping shouldn't give you more energy, but it does. It's the same way working out gives you more energy. And whoever you are, if you're on a bed, if you're on the floor, if you're on a yoga mat, if you're on a rug, I want you to just come lie on your back. And I want you to recognize that there's going to be some moments of silence throughout this little meditation, throughout these next moments. No pun intended. The silence is uncomfortable. When we find that silence, we just want to move.

all of a sudden we feel itchy or all of a sudden our mind is thinking about a million different things. And that's why the silence is challenging. Stillness and silence, though they sound like the most peaceful and relaxing things for us, are often the hardest for us to achieve because of how much we chase the chaos. So don't. Let yourself be here.

Let yourself embrace this. And I promise you, everything will be waiting for you right where you left it by the time this is done. Don't stop it halfway through. Don't give up. Ten minutes in, even though it won't be much longer than that. Stay with me. Stay here. Do it for yourself. Do it for your mind. Do it for your body. And if they aren't already, I encourage you to just close your eyes. Just watch the world go dark. Watch everything disappear. And come right here into this moment. This moment is for you.

for you to rest, for you to heal, for all of your manifestations to fulfill with inside of you right now. Now I want you to take a really big inhale through your nose, breathing in everything that you can, as big as you can. And as you exhale, I want you to sigh everything out. I know it sounds a little bit loud, sounds a little bit funky, but this is very empowering for us. I want you to do this five more times.

I want you to take five deep breaths where we inhale through our nose and we sigh out through our mouth. As we do this, envision yourself breathing in all the things that you crave in your life: abundance, friendship, comfort, joy, happiness, whatever it is that you're looking for. Breathe that in. And as you exhale each of these sighs,

releasing what is no longer serving us. Toxic relationships, toxic friendships, toxic conversation in your mind, judgment, negativity, doubt, fear, worry. Let all of that go. It's adding nothing for you. It is not serving you in any way, shape, or form. Now taking one more, all the way in and all the way out. Let it go. This is a beautiful breath to come to

whenever you are feeling heavy when there's a lot on your mind when you feel your shoulders caving in caving down come to this breath find yourself practicing this breath because it will make you feel a little bit lighter doesn't fix everything but sometimes all we can do is try our best and do the little things and they'll make a big difference now from here we're not going to close our lips but we're going to bring them close to closing what you want to do here is just breathe naturally

No focus really on your inhales or your exhales. Just let your breath flow as if you're not even aware of it. You don't even recognize it. You're just breathing as you normally would. And I know when we start to say, don't think about your breathing, we think about our breathing. That's just how things go. I digress. Let's move on. While you're here, now that you've found your eyes closed, your breath at ease, go through that I am statement three times in your mind. You can whisper it out loud.

You could scream it out loud or you could say it in your mind's eye. Whatever you feel is serving you. I sometimes like to whisper it because I like to put it out there. I like to put it into the universe. But a scream is sometimes a lot for me, especially when I'm in a meditation. But other times, when I need it, you yell it. You push that into the world and you speak it into the world because that has power more than you recognize. And now that you've said it three times,

If you notice your thoughts start to wander over the next few minutes, bring them back to this. Bring them back here. Recognize that throughout these next few minutes, it's likely that you're going to have thoughts that come in and out. You're going to get stuck on things, but I'd like you to view your thoughts as a cloud in the sky on a windy day. They will pass. They move.

Sometimes they show up really small, sometimes they're really thin, sometimes you can see through them. Sometimes they're big and dark and stormy. And they don't want to move. They don't want to budge. But they will. Every storm moves and every storm has its eye. Just allow the thoughts, no matter the shape or the size or the thickness, whatever it is, let them float by. Let the next cloud float by. Your thoughts are not you. They are not a part of you.

They are simply that. There is something that you think and a feeling and emotion that's going to pass. It is not you. Recognizing that no matter how long or how often you meditate, you're going to have a lot going on in your head. It is nearly impossible to find a state of mind where the world is turned off around you. The goal is always to do so, but not applying this pressure and this force to yourself.

that it has to be perfect to be valuable. Nothing is perfect. Nothing. So just recognizing that. Just starting at the crown of your head, I want you to relax any tension in your head, in your brain. Just visualize that part of your body releasing, sinking into the mat, sinking into the earth. It is at peace. And I want you, if they aren't already, close your eyes again. Let your eyelids be gentle.

Not too heavy, but rested. Let your left ear and your right ear find a little bit of peace. Somebody always has something to say. We hear things in every direction from so many kinds of people. We've all been hurt by somebody, whether that's a family, a friend, a boyfriend, a girlfriend. We've all been hurt. But those words don't have to hold weight over us. They don't have to determine who we are.

So let your ears find peace. And as you move forward through the day, through tomorrow, through the weeks after this, listen to what serves you. Always take criticism, but don't take pain. Don't hold pain. Don't soak it in. And as you're here now, just let all of that pain that's come through your ears, let it seep out. Just visualize it with me. All of the things and all of the lies that have been told to you that you still hold over yourself, that you still make a part of you.

that still affect the decisions you make. Let them go. There's no need to carry them. Relax your nose and your lips, letting them be still, letting them be natural. And as you visualize them resting, forgive yourself for the words that you've said that may have hurt another person. Forgiveness is one of the most beautiful tools that we can use in life. And not just forgiveness of others, but forgiveness of yourself.

And visualize yourself giving your lips a little hug. I know that sounds silly, but for all of the love that you have shared with the world, all of the love that you have given people around you, the way that you have spoke about your friends, the way that you have spoke about your family, all of the positive things that you've said about people that you get to experience in this lifetime. You have said words that have changed people's lives probably more than you can even recognize. So have an awareness of that.

Recognize that you are loved and you love so deeply. And you speak it and you share it with the world. And let them rest. Allowing your neck to ease tension. We store a lot of emotion in our neck. So visualize it all releasing from staring at our phones, our computers, our iPads. Who knows what it may be. Visualize it lifting and flowing and releasing both the shoulders. Just letting them sink into the ground. You should feel it.

yourself getting deeper and deeper into the ground, into the mattress, wherever it is that you are lying. Because with each movement down the body, we are resting even more. Letting the chest rest. Noticing it as you breathe. Is it moving up and down, up and down? It's probably subtle because your breath is subtle. But taking a moment here to recognize all of the work that is being done within our body that we can't even see.

Noticing all of the ways that our body is taking care of us beyond what meets the eye. It is a gift. That breath in our lungs is more of a gift than we'll ever, ever be able to properly recognize. And every day we wake up and everything we get to do is a blessing. And I know in the world it's heavy. It's not always easy to remember that. And I know at chapters, we struggle. But keeping that in the subconscious, in the back of your mind,

will help those moments pass by quicker. Coming to your heart, recognizing your heartbeat, again thinking about all of the love that you have to share with the world and all of the love that is within the world. How easy is it for us to forget how much good there is when we're so focused on what's going wrong? There are people being saved every single day.

There are people being born every single day. There's people falling in love every single day. Somebody's celebrating a birthday. Somebody's getting married. Somebody just had the best meal ever. Somebody had the best day of their life. Somebody went skydiving. There is love all around. There are good things happening. Let your heart focus and pour into those things. Don't let it break to the pain of the world. You have the choice to continue to grow and blossom and spread the love that is within you.

and I highly encourage you to do so. Allowing the stomach to rest, to release, recognizing that the stomach is also doing so much in you. The food that we eat is all being processed and in a completely not gross way. It's all what is fueling us to even be here, to be listening to this meditation. When we get to the stomach, when it comes to resting the stomach, I encourage you to just say thank you because it does more for us in many ways

then we know. And I think it's a beautiful reminder here that we need, we need fuel. You deserve food. There's nothing you have to do special to deserve it. You just get to have it. Allowing the hips to find peace, to find release. The hips also store a lot of tension, mostly emotions. We store a lot of sadness, a lot of trauma in our hips. And if you ever find yourself doing hip openers, maybe you'll cry.

And it's confusing because you might be like, why am I crying? It's because we're storing things. So while we're not physically doing a hip opener right now, I encourage you to just envision the kind of trauma that you might be holding in your hips. And do your best to just mentally release it. Mentally take it out of the storage box and get rid of it. Why store it there if we don't have to? Moving down to the thighs, just releasing them. Feeling them melt and sink into the ground. The knees...

the shins, the calves, our whole leg, just feeling them really melt. Letting your body be limp, letting the toes fall naturally, letting the fingers fall naturally, just falling and sinking into the ground. And now, for the next minute, I want you to come back up the body, thinking about each of those things that we just went over. And I'm going to leave you with silence for about a minute to think back through those things in your own way, on your own time,

and I will meet you at the crown of your head. And as you come back to the crown of your head, I want you to really envision a little crown on the crown of your head. And if you don't know where that is, it's the tippity tip top of your head. Put a crown on, a little crown that you deserve because you are so worthy and so valuable. Even when the world does not help you recognize it, you are deserving of all things. You are light. You are sunshine.

You are powerful, determined, wonderful, exciting. You're funny. You're goofy. You are all of the things. But most importantly, you're you. And in a completely not cliche kind of way, being you is a superpower. There is nobody in this world who is exactly like you. That might sound scary, might sound intimidating, but it is a gift. It is a gift. You are one of a kind. There is nobody who can compare.

And that's a truly beautiful thing to remember as often as you can. And if I'm the one to remind you every week, I will do so gladly. Now come back to those I am statements. Again, say it three times. Maybe a little bit louder this time. Maybe you feel it a little bit more this time. Maybe it's within you. And then slowly, just start to wiggle your fingers and wiggle your toes. Bring the awareness back to your body. Maybe rolling out the wrists a bit, rolling out the ankles a bit,

Just feeling your body again, doing whatever it is you need to do with it. Maybe it's shaking out the arms or shaking out the legs, recognizing that you just moved through a little bit of a meditation and it probably wasn't so hard. I hope it wasn't so hard, but I'm proud of you. I hope you're feeling a little bit lighter as the next few hours go by. Maybe you'll feel a little bit of a boost of energy. Maybe not. If you did this before bed, that's completely perfect too.

but slowly just making your way up to a seated position, maybe cross legs, a little crisscross applesauce. I encourage you to bring your hands in a prayer position at your heart. And as you're here, I want you to just recognize the peace within you. And as you begin to surround yourself with people again after this, recognize the peace within them. We all carry peace. We just have to look for it in each other sometimes. This episode of the Moments podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp.com.

Quick little intermission, you guys. We all know how important it is to prioritize the right things in our life. And maybe for you, that's prioritizing doing leg day at the gym or making sure you go for your hot girl walk. But how often are you prioritizing your mental health and making sure that therapy is a part of your weekly routine? If it's something that you've been open to, if it's something that you've been considering, I highly recommend BetterHelp. And thank you so much to BetterHelp for sponsoring this episode. And I'll see you in the next one.

I absolutely love BetterHelp. I love therapy. I have talked about it over and over and over again. And that is for a reason. It is the greatest thing ever. Having an outlet and a person to talk to about what you're going through and getting unbiased opinions and advice is so, so beneficial.

This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Whether you're selling a little or a lot,

Shopify helps you do your thing, however you cha-ching. From the launch your online shop stage all the way to the we just hit a million orders stage. No matter what stage you're in, Shopify's there to help you grow. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash special offer, all lowercase. That's shopify.com slash special offer. And thank you guys for meditating with me. That was fun. I had a really lovely time. I hope you enjoyed it.

that this made you feel just a little bit better. I hope it made you feel good. And if you want me to do more yoga, more meditations like this, I can absolutely do so. Just let me know what you thought of it. And we'll talk again soon. Have the best day ever. Bye.