 Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the channel. And if you're new, my name is Scott St. Marie and here we do everything from meditations to living mindfully and just chatting about and gaining new perspectives about how to live through the day, live through difficult moments. And if you're brought here, the challenge for you and for me and for a lot of people is how do you cut off the workday? How do you detach? We have trouble with detachment and separating ourselves from one thing to another to another. And when we try to do that, that's where the difficulty comes in. Where I don't want to think about work. I'm not my work. I just want to forget about it. I'm home. Let me just cook. Let me just watch TV. I don't want to think about what Deborah said. I don't want to think about what I have do next week, what the person said to me, what I said to the person, how the meeting went, everything that I have to do. So one thing we need to pinpoint right now if this is going to work is what are you actually stressed about? You can't just say work. What specifically are you stressed about? Are you stressed about something that's coming up? Okay, but what about that thing? You doubt your ability to perform. You're worried about what other people will think. You're worried that you may lose your job based on this performance. So think about right now, if there is actually something that you're stressed about that comes from work, that comes from what you just did the last eight hours throughout the day. Because it can't just be I was on the whole time, lots of emails, lots going on. Sure, sure. But why are you still thinking about the emails and everything? There is some doubt in your mind most likely of performance, of if you did your best or not, if you messed up, if you made a mistake. So just notice that, that there may be some dissatisfaction, maybe with others and maybe with yourself. And don't judge what comes up when you're just sitting and thinking about this for a sec. Don't judge me like, yep, I really messed up, I just thought of that thing and that's why I'm stressed. Ah, shit. Just chill, just chill. We're not going full monk mode here. You're sitting with me and we're working this thing out. So when we try to detach and are identified and really want this sense of separateness from life and to compartmentalize really. Some people can kind of do that in our brains. And you, if you're here, you have trouble doing that. That's not a bad thing. But it means that sometimes you take a lot with you as the journey goes on. It's like leaving open your computer and never closing a tab, never closing a tab. You still got tabs open from 1986 or from 1999 and some from yesterday two minutes ago and some from last week. People used to think I was crazy back when we had our Pentium 3, our Intel and we turn off the desktop every single day, multiple times a day when we were done. And we let that baby boot up. That's the way you need to like clear the ram and the cash. And I still do that with my Mac and I still do that with my iPhone. I turn it off multiple times a day, even though maybe it doesn't need to. But there's this freshness that comes with that. And that's not a strategy for you to forget work. But it's something to think about as we're sitting here is when we sit, this meditation is, is trying to accomplish what you've been trying to accomplish and what everybody's trying to accomplish to chill with the past, to chill with the future and just be present. That's it. Work right now is just a memory. Work right now is just a memory. It's just a thought now. And it feels so real that it's still happening that your body still feels like you're at work, whether you're a virtual or not. Right? So this whole work like balance thing is no, you are the one who was there and you are the one that is here. And then you will be the one that's there again. And that there again at work will still be in the here now, but it'll be there then. You know what I'm saying? It's just you were present there. And now you're not. It's a memory. You're present here. It won't be soon. And it's just going to be a memory. And then you're going to be present tomorrow. And then it'll be a memory and you'll be sitting once again. See this, this thread that attaches all these different time zones. And regardless if it's about work, if it's about a weekend you had and you can't stop thinking about that, if you went on an amazing trip four years ago, you can't stop thinking about that. You had a difficult relationship years ago. You can't stop thinking about that. It's all a similar theme where how can we keep this here but still part of us? It's all within the circle. This here presence here, future here, but realizing that right now after work, you tend to be in your mind because you're still stressed and it feels so real that you're still at work and it's all coming through so fast and vivid. But to be in your mind and to be with your mind are two totally different things. And can you sense that difference right now as you sit with me? Did space just appear to be in and to be with? To be in and to be with? Right? So if you're lost in the forest and you're just tripping on tree branches and roots and you're getting stung by mosquitoes and wasps and bees or whatever is in there and you're covered with shade but you're really cold, right? And then I give you this nice balloon and it's just tons of helium and you're just whoo and you just float above the forest and you can still see what went on. You can still see the roots and the things you tripped on and all that but you're now above and you can see what happened but you're not in what happened. You're up here now. Okay? So this for me is a huge part of mindfulness and meditation. Been doing this for years and years and I'm by no means someone that can go in a cave for a year and reach enlightenment, not even close. But I think what we're all doing here is to realize our humanness and do not beat yourself up or judge yourself for being attached and thinking about work, thinking about the future and the worries you have for next week's thing. Can you see this is all part of it? It's all part of the journey, the challenge of you getting to know yourself. So there is the spiel, right? And you know, I had a long week too and I'm tired and I'm still thinking about what I got to do next week. So I'm in this with you and if we can just chill and close your eyes for a moment. Okay? I'm sitting on a meditation cushion because I'm so cool like that. But you can sit on a pillow, you can sit, it's just to take the pressure off your knees and you can kind of sit straighter. But if you don't need it, you don't need it. And you can even be in a chair if you need to rest your back on something. And if you're really exhausted, man, you know what, this is so frowned upon but if you need to chill on the couch and lie in bed for a bit, just don't fall asleep on me, all right? But if you really need that horizontal life, go for it. And what happens when you sit and you just close your eyes, let the tabs pop up. There's going to be things that just are going to pop up and just let them and just watch them, okay? And just sit. And if nothing's happening, nothing's happening. Don't judge the experience, just let yourself watch the experience. And as you're doing that, I'm just going to guide you through a few things, all right? And just sit. There's no waterfall and stream music. There's no ocean waves. There's no nice pan flute. We're just chilling in silence for a bit. Bring attention to your ears and just let the sounds around you, whatever it is, however subtle, let them come to you. You don't search for the sounds. You don't try to listen. You just sit and let the sounds come to you, whatever they are. And just say out loud or in your mind where you are right now and be more specific if you can. So where are you exactly right now? Good. So your only job, and this is quote unquote work, but with no strings attached, and I'm sorry you're not getting a salary from sitting here, but all you have to do, the only thing you have to do is to be here exactly where you said, exactly as you are. Don't try to change a damn thing. And as you sit exactly as you are, you're noticing your eyes just soften, noticing your lips, noticing your jaw relaxing. And with every softening and relaxation, it's taking that stress from work and moving it back to the past and you're making room for the present. Neck and shoulders, the muscles just softening and relaxing and that tension just like a fine mist just moves its way out of your body and moves back. Going down your chest to the center of your heart, down the left arm, all the way down to your fingertips, down the right arm, all the way down to those fingertips and all relaxing and all these parts are becoming relaxed because the present moment can hold all of it. Like you resting in your seat and the earth holding you, the moment holds your body and down the back cervical spine, thoracic spine, the middle lumbar spine at the bottom and your sit bones, your pelvis, just relaxing down the right leg, the thigh, the knee, the calf, the foot and the toes, all taking their turns and just releasing and the left side and the other side, the thigh, the knee, the calf, the foot, the toes, all taking their turns and relaxing. You feel very in your body as you now come to your breath and the air is only coming from what's around you right now in your space. The air comes from this moment and on the inhale it's peace, it's compassion for all you did today and on the exhales you relieve that tension, those expectations you have, maybe that others have of you, you breathe that all out as you continue to settle in this moment in your space, in your place, in your safety. Now if you can bring into consciousness your imagination, picture looking at work from a distance, whatever that looks like for you, maybe it's the building, maybe it's your chairs, your desk, maybe a meeting room, a school, a factory, wherever you work but don't be in it, just look at it from a distance. As you're not in it, you're just watching and what happened in there, happened there at work, happened there and just notice that without getting too close just keep your distance and just see what comes up and just sit and as you're noticing work from this distance, you're changing the relationship you have with work. When you see it from afar it no longer needs to grab you with such tension, it's a lighter relationship than you think and you can take from it exactly what you want and need, nothing more, nothing less and just acknowledge if this distance is a healthy thing for you and just coming back into the body where you are now is just like your distance from there, your body is now distanced from stress and whenever you feel comfortable you can just slowly than you normally would just open your eyes and you can do any kind of movement if you feel the need to move anything in your body take time to just stretch, move, look around and just note and just notice if there's any difference from when you first turned on this video knowing that the change in relationship is so possible with work and you did that and you can continue to do that, congratulate yourself for doing this, congratulate yourself for doing this because above all else that means that there's truly a sense of love you have for you, take care of yourself, we'll see you next time and please try this daily, weekly, whenever you feel like you need to create a little distance from where you once were. Bye-bye.