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Transcript

🧘🏼‍♀️Meditation: The Power of the Relaxation Response✨ · ✨️Aligned and Thriving: For Teachers🌿

• 0:00
  Hello, my friends, and welcome back to Aligned and Thriving for
• 0:03
  Teachers. Now, today is not really a
• 0:07
  proper podcast episode. We're diving into something that
• 0:10
  could literally change the way your body handles stress.
• 0:14
  I just want to talk you through a process and get you to use it.
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  And it's called the relaxation response.
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  So if you've ever had one of those days where you feel like
• 0:24
  you're running on fumes, the classroom's been chaos, emails
• 0:28
  just keep pinging and your brain just will not shut off, well,
• 0:33
  that has been me many times. But the good news is there is a
• 0:36
  simple technique that's backed by science that can pull you out
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  of stress mode and put you into calm mode in literally 10
• 0:43
  minutes. And it's so easy that you can do
• 0:46
  it in your car, at your desk, or even just right before bed.
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  So what is the relaxation response?
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  Well, Doctor Herbert Benson came up with it back in the 1970s.
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  It's basically the opposite of your fight or flight response.
• 1:01
  So instead of your heart racing and your blood pressure spiking
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  and your body screaming danger, danger Will Robinson, the
• 1:08
  relaxation response tells your body, hey, it's OK, we're safe.
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  You can chill now. It slows your breathing, lowers
• 1:18
  your heart rate and just let your muscles relax.
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  And the best part, you can trigger this anytime you want.
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  So let's do this. Let's give it a try and you can
• 1:30
  always come back to this whenever you need to do it
• 1:32
  again. So here's how and I'm going to
• 1:34
  glide glide guide you through it and a quick just do a quick
• 1:38
  practise in a second. I'm just going to run you
• 1:41
  through the steps and then we're going to do a mini version.
• 1:43
  So step one, you're going to find yourself a quiet spot where
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  you won't be interrupted. This could even be your car
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  before you pick up your kids. Step 2, you're going to sit
• 1:56
  comfortably and close your eyes. Step three, you're going to
• 2:02
  start breathing slowly and naturally, nothing forced.
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  Step four, you're going to pick a word or a phrase that feels
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  calming to you, like calm, peace, or even a short prayer
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  that you could say to yourself. Step 5, as you breathe out,
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  you're going to repeat the word in your mind, calm, peace.
• 2:29
  And when your mind wanders because it will, just gently
• 2:33
  bring it back to the word and to your breath.
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  And do this for 10 minutes if you can.
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  But honestly, even two or three minutes will make a difference.
• 2:43
  So let's try a mini version right now.
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  If you're not driving, of course.
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  So close your eyes if you can. Take a slow breath in and out.
• 2:59
  Now pick your word. Maybe it's calm, maybe it's
• 3:04
  peace. And as you breathe out, just say
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  it silently. Calm.
• 3:10
  Breathe in and out. Calm.
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  Notice your shoulders dropping a little.
• 3:20
  If your mind drifts, that's OK. Just come back to the word and
• 3:26
  your breath. Let's do a couple more breaths
• 3:29
  together. Breathe in and out.
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  Breathe in and breathe out, saying your word in your head as
• 3:46
  you breathe. And that's it.
• 3:50
  You just gave your body a chance to reset in less than a minute.
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  Imagine if you did that every morning before you went to
• 3:58
  school or every night before you go to bed.
• 4:01
  Your stress levels will honestly thank you.
• 4:04
  So my challenge for you is to try the relaxation response for
• 4:07
  5 or 10 minutes today. Set a timer on your phone and
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  see how you go. Make this a part of your
• 4:13
  routine. Maybe in the car before you walk
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  into school, or before you start sitting on your phone and
• 4:19
  scrolling at night. And if you've loved this
• 4:21
  practise, share this episode or this little snippet with a
• 4:25
  teacher friend who needs some calm time too.
• 4:28
  Tag me on Instagram and tell me where you did it.
• 4:30
  Was it your car, your classroom, on your couch, wherever?
• 4:33
  Alrighty friends, breathe easy and I'll catch you next time.
• 4:37
  Bye.