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Hello and welcome to 12-minute meditation,

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a weekly podcast from mindful

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and mindful.org that offers mindfulness

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meditations backed by neuroscience.

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If you've been practicing, you know that 12

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minutes of meditation a day can yield benefits

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like increased attention, focus,

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creativity, calm, resilience,

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and compassion. The latest scientific

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research supports this knowledge. So

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on this podcast, we invite you to do your

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12-minute practice with guided meditations

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from today's leading mindfulness experts. There's

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a new practice each week and a

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new way to experience some of those

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benefits day to day. I'm

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Chelsea Arsenal and I'm the director

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of advertising at mindful and mindful.org.

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And earlier this year, we partnered with Whole

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School Mindfulness to create a series of

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guided meditations to support young

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people.

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And with the new school year beginning for many people,

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we'll be sharing one of these today. But

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that being said,

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anyone can benefit from this guided meditation.

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Today, Adam Ortman leads us

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in a guided meditation to cultivate

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kinder self-talk. You

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see, our inner voice often constructs

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a limited narrative that obscures

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the full picture of our experiences. By

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paying close attention to this inner voice,

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especially when it tends to focus on

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negative thoughts, we can begin

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to nurture a habit of self-compassion.

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Think of your inner voice as the story

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we tell ourselves, shaping

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your perception of reality, much

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like virtual reality goggles.

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Well, this practice encourages us to

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explore that inner voice, seeking

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ways to expand our perspective and

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experience a newfound sense

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of freedom. Adam Ortman

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has been a mindfulness and meditation teacher

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for people of all ages for

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over a decade. He has supported

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a number of schools in the creation and

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strengthening of their mindfulness programs

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and has led workshops and retreats around

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the US for educators seeking

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to incorporate Mindfulness into their

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communities and was a core consultant

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in the creation of whole school mindfulness You

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can subscribe to 12-minute meditation while you're

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on mindful.org or wherever

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you find your favorite podcast and

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if you are moved to leave us a review

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we'd be grateful and so will other

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listeners

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See your review helps them decide whether

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12-minute meditation is for them

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But for now for you

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Here's Adam Ortman

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Hi, my name is Adam Ortman I've

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been teaching mindfulness and meditation to

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people of all ages for over a decade And

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so today I wanted to bring you a practice

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that explores self-talk and

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the inner voice You

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can say that the inner voice is the

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language or talk inside of our minds

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that we use To tell the story

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of what's happening to ourself It

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can kind of function like virtual reality

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goggles Where when

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we put them on sometimes it's hard to actually

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see what's there It's like a version

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of reality that might not be the whole story But

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if we can start to see around the edges

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of those goggles Then our world

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expands we experience

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a bit more freedom things start

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to feel new and so

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this practice will be a process of exploring

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that voice and Exploring how to

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see around its edges Okay,

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so as we begin Encourage

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you to find a posture that feels comfortable

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for you We're going to be paying

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close attention in this practice. And so

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it's a good idea to find a posture that allows

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you to feel awake and maybe even

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a little bit energized. You

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can have your eyes open or closed. And

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for this first part of the practice we're

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just going to start to explore our

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inner voice as it

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helps us to pay attention. And

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so I'll encourage you to use some phrases

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to help you notice your breath. So

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as you breathe in I encourage

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you to think the words inhale

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body. As

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you breathe out thinking the

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words exhale body.

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So for a few breaths finding

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an inhale and an exhale that feel

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comfortable. See if you

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can keep this phrase inhale

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body on the breath in. Exhale

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body on the breath out. Sort

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of at the forefront of your mind. And

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then we can shift that phrase inhale

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belly as you breathe in. And

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exhale belly as you

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breathe out. And

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then inhale chest. And

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exhale chest. And

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then inhale nose. And

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exhale nose. Now

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I encourage you to choose your favorite

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phrase. body, belly,

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chest, nose, and

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stick with it just for a few moments.

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If you do this, you'll notice that your inner

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voice can be useful. It

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can help us frame what's happening. It

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can even help direct our attention to something

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we want to pay attention to. Now

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we're going to explore a bit more about

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this voice. So as I talk,

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see if you can stick with the inhale

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and exhale process, but

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we're going to play. And

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so as you think that word

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inhale and

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that word exhale, does

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it seem as though that voice is coming

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from a certain location? Is it

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coming from somewhere inside

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of your head, somewhere outside

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of your head? Where do

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you notice it? Does

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it have a certain sound to it? So

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does it sound like your voice, like

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somebody else's voice? Does

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it have a volume? Is it loud?

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Is it quiet? Does it change

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its volume? Now

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we'll see if we can shape it. So for

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the next couple of breaths, see

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if you can think that word or phrase

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in a really deep voice, like a voice that's

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deeper than yours. And

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then see if you can think that phrase

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in a really high voice, a

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voice that's a lot higher than yours.

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And see if you can think that voice in

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a singing voice. So

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singing however you'd like, sing

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the inhale in your mind and

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sing the exhale. And

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then back to whatever kind of voice

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you'd like, whether it's a voice that

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sounds like your own or something else. So

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when we do this, we notice that we do

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have some control over

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our inner voice when we choose to

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exert that control. We

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can shape it a bit. We can shape what it says

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and even what it sounds like. But

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maybe you've noticed as you've been doing

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this practice that

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the inner voice we choose is

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not the only inner voice. Maybe distracting

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thoughts have been arising

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for you. Maybe occasionally

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you forget the inhale and the exhale

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and some other voice comes in. Am

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I doing it right or when this is going

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to be over or

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something completely outside of

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what you're doing? So

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there's the voice we intend and

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then there's the voice that seems to play on

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autopilot. So

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we're going to do a final little. practice

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in which we see if we can tell the difference

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between the intended voice and the

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autopilot voice. And

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so before we get there, we'll kind of reset

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because we've been at this for a little bit. And

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so if your eyes are closed, I

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encourage you to open them for a moment. And if they're open,

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maybe look around. Maybe

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let yourself shake one hand and

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shake the other hand. Maybe

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let yourself roll your shoulders a little bit,

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sway your spine. Maybe

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roll your neck. Just

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kind of bounce out the energy from what

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we just did.

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Okay, great.

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And so we're going to find a posture again that

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feels energized, awake,

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helps us attend.

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And we're going to return to feeling the breath.

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And so maybe as you breathe in, you

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notice it in your whole body or your

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belly or your chest or your nose. As

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you breathe out, you feel that space in

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your body settling, softening,

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releasing. And

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so here, maybe just very,

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very softly the

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word in on

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a breath in.

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Very, very softly the

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word out on a breath

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out.

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But here, what we're going to be on the lookout

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for is

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any other voice, any

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other

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inner talk that might arise.

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Any talk that we don't actually intend,

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anything that's different from the in and

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the out.

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Any time you notice another voice like that,

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just pause for a moment and

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see if you can notice it. Does

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it seem like a kind voice? Is

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it a harsh voice? Is

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it neutral? Does

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it seem like nonsense? Does it not actually

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have anything to do with anything? However,

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that voice is just see if you can notice

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that it's not reality. It's just

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a voice. It's focused on one

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little sliver of reality

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when it could be focused on something else. You

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can choose whether you give that

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voice energy or not, whether

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it's pointing you in a direction you want

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to look or somewhere

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you really don't want to pay attention to. So

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just a moment with the in and

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the out of the breath. Just

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picking up on any time when a voice sneaks in that's not the in

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or the out. Just

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to notice it, not to silence it, not to give it energy, just

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to see if you can pick it up and do your

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attention. So

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when we have a voice in our mind that feels harsh, or critical, the fastest

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way to soothe it isn't

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with more harshness or criticism, or

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even by trying to silence it or push it

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away. The

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fastest way to soothe that voice

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is to notice that it isn't you,

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to offer it some kindness, and

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to come back to the present moment. So

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let's try that now. Letting

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yourself breathe in and out, finding

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a soothing breath. Any

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time another voice comes into your

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mind, maybe it's actually always there,

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notice it. Actually

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turn your attention to that voice for a moment

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and say inwardly, Thank

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you for trying to help. Thank

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you for trying to help. Offer

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that voice an inward smile, and

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then return to the present moment. And

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so here the present moment is just noticing

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whether you're breathing in or

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whether you're breathing out. And

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then maybe a next voice arises, or that

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same voice continues. Thank

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you for trying to help. An

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inward smile,

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and back to the present.

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So the more we practice noticing our thoughts

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in this way, the

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more choice we have over the thoughts we energize.

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We may not totally

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get rid of our inner critic, but

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that's not the point. Our

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goal here is to see if we can peek

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outside of the VR goggles

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and see that there's a whole world beyond

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what fits inside of our thoughts. We

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can visit it whenever we choose

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to. And

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so coming back into the

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room that you're in, maybe

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noticing the other sounds around,

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noticing what you can see and anything

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that looks delightful that

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you enjoy looking at. And

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noticing the settling

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quality of your own breath.

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Good job.

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Thank

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you for listening to this episode of 12-Minute

17:17

Meditation from Mindful and Mindful.org.

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I hope you enjoyed practicing with us. We'll

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be back in seven days with another meditation

17:25

for you.