Smiling at the Bus Stop
photo by vox efx via flickr creative commons
In yesterday’s post, I mentioned a guided meditation about standing at a bus stop. This was led by Justin Rosenstein, co-founder of Asana (collaboration start-up), and I thought it was so simple and effective that it was worth including here. Here it is:
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Close your eyes (1-2 mins)…
Picture everyone in this world you love…
Imagine looking at each of them and smiling…
Imagine helping them with something…taking care of them…
Imagine how they look back at you when you care for them…
Now open your eyes (1-2 mins)…
Look around…
Think about caring for every single person you see around you…
Then think about caring for every single person in your city…
Then think about caring for every single person in this world…
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This takes 2-4 minutes and can totally re-frame the way you’re thinking about a person, your day, or maybe even your life. Justin says he does it at the bus stop once in a while, and I tried it out yesterday before I had a conversation with someone who has been frustrating me. It shifted my frame of mind from one of dread and irritation to one of acceptance and care. Seriously, it worked.
If you’d like to give guided meditation and want to move beyond the one included above, here are three sites that offer great scripts:
And if you have kids, check out my earlier post about breath work for kids: Flowers and Bubbles!
What works best for you? If you have ideas or resources to share, I’d love to hear from you!
wellfesto 