Burnout Meditation | Calm Your Nervous System Without Losing Your Drive

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This is a somatic meditation that I've called Held Fire. It's for coming home to the knowledge that strength can be dysregulated to. So find a position where your body can stop working for a moment. Either seated or lying down. It doesn't really matter. Only that something in you can set down whatever it's been holding. Let your eyes close or your gaze soften. And begin to let the room fall away from the edges of your attention. Take a breath. Take a breath in through your nose. And let it fall out gently. Do that again. And notice if your shoulders drop even just a little. Keep breathing. Keep breathing. Letting the breath. Letting the breath. Letting the breath. Letting the breath be natural. Because you've been burning for a while now. Whatever brought you here today. Whether a deadline. A launch. A version of yourself that you're building toward. There's some part of you that has been on. For a long time. This is a place of rest. A place to connect and feel into whether there's a cost. To how you've been moving through your days. And to find out what it would feel like to be strong. Without being alone. Without being on fire. Bring your attention to your chest. Right at the center. This is where the drive lives. The part of you that wants to build. To matter. And to be more tomorrow than you are today. And there's nothing wrong with this fire. It has purpose. And it's built real things. But I want you to gently ask it a question. What are you afraid will happen if you stop feeding the fire? Don't rush to answer. Just let the answer. Arise. Is it a fear of falling behind? Or an old voice that only ever noticed you when you were producing? Maybe it's simply that you don't know who you are without it. Whatever came up. Let it be true without needing to fix it. Because you're not here to extinguish your fire. You're here to find out what's been missing all around it. First, we're going to ground the drive. Bring your attention down through your body now. Past the chest. Past the belly. Into your legs and feet. Wherever you're making contact with the ground beneath you. Feel the contact. Let it hold some of your weight. Even more than it usually does. Fire that isn't grounded burns fast and burns everything, including the one carrying it. Fire that's held by the earth still moves and creates, but it moves through a body that's allowed to be tired, allowed to slow down sometimes, and allowed to not know the next step, every step of the way. Notice where in your life the fire has been running without ground underneath it. Let your body recognize that. Notice the difference between driven and grounded. And let your feet, seat, and spine do some of the holding that your will has been doing all alone. Next I would love to add some water. I would love to add some water to this. Giving your system permission to cool. So let your attention move to whatever in you still believes rest has to be earned. That belief lives somewhere specific. Often in the jaw, the chest, the low back. Often in the chest, the low back. Not only in the jaw, the chest, the low back. take without having earned it first. Nothing is required of you in exchange for this air. It was never transactional and neither underneath everything are you. Let one more breath in be a small rehearsal for receiving elsewhere in your life. Taking a compliment, receiving a hand offered, or a moment of rest that nobody's going to reward you for later. See if your body can practice taking it in rather than deflecting it. Let your attention widen now out past the chest, past the breath, into the whole of your body at once. Fire held by the earth, cooled by the water, fed by the air, and held by the air. This is what a regulated center feels like when it's carrying real ambition. Not smaller or lesser, just supported and held. From this place, you can still want things. You can build and reach and become whoever it is you're becoming. The difference is that none of it will cost you your body anymore. Success and regulation were never supposed to be different instruments. Sometimes the nervous system just forgets. Only for a while that they could be played together. Success and regulation were never supposed to compete. Sometimes the nervous system forgets that they're not different instruments and that they can play together. So let yourself sit inside that for a moment. No task waiting on the other side of the world. You're going to find yourself in a state of shock. the other side of it. Just the felt sense of a fire that finally has somewhere to go besides burning through you. Now with your center regulated and your breath steady. I want you to invite an image into your mind. Imagine you were standing at the threshold of a vast quiet landscape at dusk. The air here is perfectly still, carrying the scent of damp cedar and distant smoke in the background. This is your internal home, a space that exists specifically to hold your complexity. Walk forward into this space. Feel the earth beneath your bare feet. Cool packed soil that feels ancient and supportive. With every step, feel the ground rising up to meet you, absorbing the residual hum of your ambition. You don t have to carry your momentum here. The earth is wide enough to take it all. Notice the texture of the grass, the slight dampness of the evening dew, and the profound sense of safety that comes from being physically held by something that cannot be shaped. This is your home. The earth is wide enough to be shaken. In the center of this clearing, there is a small, sturdy hearth. This is your fire, but it isn t a wildfire anymore, leaping at the walls of your chest. It s a steady, golden flame contained within a circle of smooth, rich smoke. river stones. Approach it. Feel its warmth on your skin. A nourishing heat that illuminates the darkness without consuming the air. This fire represents your drive, your creativity, and your becoming. See it for what it is. A tool, a companion, a source of light that works for you, rather than you working for it. To your side, you hear the soft, rhythmic sound of water. A small stream flows nearby, its surface reflecting the first stars of the evening. Walk to the water's edge and dip your hands in. It's surprisingly clear and the temperature your body needs. As you watch the water move over the stones, feel its warmth, your creativity, and your creativity. As you watch the water move over the stones, feel its warmth, rather than you working for it. realize that this is your capacity for rest and renewal it flows constantly whether you are watching it or not it doesn't require your effort to exist so let the coolness of the water balance the warmth of the hearth creating a perfect climate of internal balance finally notice the air a gentle breeze moves through the trees at the edge of the clearing bringing with it a sense of infinite space this is the realm of the air of the inhale the pure unearned gift of presence with every breath you take in this sanctuary you are inhaling the clarity of the sky and the expansiveness of your own potential the air here is thin and light removing the weight of expectation from your tongue from your chest you are allowed to simply exist in this atmosphere breathing in harmony with the fire the earth and the water see the elements working together now the stones of the earth hold the fire the water cools the air the air feeds the flame everything is in relationship having a conversation and you were the architect of this space right now you're also its guest so sit down by the hearth and let this integrated scene wash over you this is what it looks like to be powerful and peaceful at the same time and this is the home you can return to whenever the world asks too much of your fire and this is the home you can return to whenever the world asks too much of your fire whenever you're ready You can begin to bring gentle movement back into your fingers and toes, knowing that there's no rush and that you can return to this peaceful place over and over again. Let your eyes open or your gaze lift. And whatever you build from here, may it come from the fire that's held rather than the one that's running from something. Welcome home to yourself. And thank you for being here and meditating with me. Namaste. Copyright © 2020 Mooji Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved. No part of this recording may be reproduced without Mooji Media Ltd.'s express consent.