1. Encouragement: The action of giving support, confidence, or hope to someone.

2. Mindful: Conscious or aware of something; focusing one’s awareness on the present moment.

3. Intersperse: Scatter among or between other things; place at intervals.

4. Ad Free: Without advertising; not containing promotional content.

5. Boost Visibility: Increase the likelihood of being noticed or discovered by a larger audience.

6. Secular: Not connected with religious or spiritual matters; relating to worldly things.

7. Nonattachment: The state of not being attached or excessively focused on material possessions or specific outcomes.

8. Down Regulated: Reduced in intensity or activity; a decrease in a physiological response.

9. Immersive: Providing a deeply engaging or absorbing experience.

10. Cocoon: A protective covering or structure, often metaphorical, that envelops and shields.

11. Lovingkindness: A sincere and benevolent attitude or action expressing goodwill and affection.

12. Radiant: Emitting a bright light or shining with joy, love, or health.

13. Compassion: Sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress, with a desire to alleviate it.

14. Transcending: Going beyond or surpassing; rising above limitations.

15. Nonattachment: The state of being free from attachment, especially to outcomes or possessions.

16. Nonjudgment: The practice of refraining from forming opinions or evaluations based on personal beliefs.

17. Vantage Point: A position or standpoint offering a clear view or understanding, often metaphorical.

18. Surrender: The act of giving up control or resisting; accepting what is without resistance.

19. Resilience: The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

20. Serenity: The state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled.

You welcome to episode 288 of Angela Watson’s Truth for teachers. I’m your host, Angela Watson, and I’m here to speak encouragement into the hearts of educators and get you informed and energized for the week ahead. Today, I’m doing a special mindful moment with you to help you find the calm amongst chaos. Visit truthforteachers.com for an easy to read, easy to share version of this podcast episode. In place of a sponsor message today I’d like to make a request from you, especially if you’re a longtime listener and supporter of my work. If you’ve never left a rating or a review for truth for teachers on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts, would you take a few seconds and leave a review? You can click through to do it right from your podcast player app, and there’s a link in the show notes, too. Every review helps boost visibility for truth for teachers, and that means more educators can discover it. Leaving a review, or even just clicking the star rating is one of the fastest, easiest ways to support the show, and your reviews mean so much to me. A huge thanks to everyone who has done this. You are so appreciated. For today’s episode, I want to offer a mindfulness moment or a meditation for you. This is something that I started doing for my new truth for Teachers Daily encouragement podcast. It’s something that happens on the podcast about once per week, so there’s five episodes a week and one of them is a mindful moment. So I sort of intersperse them with other uplifting and motivational messages. I don’t plan on incorporating mindful moments here on the regular podcast, but I did want to introduce you to the concept and let you know that if you like this format, you can get more on the truth for Teachers daily Encouragement podcast. So the way it works is new and exclusive. Ad free episodes drop daily from Monday to Friday. So that’s about 20 episodes a month that you get. Each one is just three to five minutes. It’s designed to listen to really in the pockets of your day. It’s an uplifting message. It’s something that is just designed to help ground you, center you, return you to yourself. You can subscribe to the Truth for Teachers Daily Encouragement podcast through Spotify for 399 a month, and then you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. You can also cancel anytime. If you’re already a subscriber of the Truth for Teachers Daily Encouragement podcast and you enjoy the mindful moments, I thought it might be fun to do a longer one for you here, the mindful moments on daily encouragement are just four to five minutes so that you can do them whenever you have time. But here I thought I would offer a longer meditation around 1015 minutes or so to allow you to take the practice deeper. So what exactly do I mean by mindful moment? This is simply an invitation to slow down and to be fully present in the moment and in your body. You don’t have to close your eyes if you don’t want to, and you’re not expected to enter a meditative state. That’s especially true for the daily encouragement mindful moments because they’re so short. Some folks do them while they’re sitting at their desks during a break at school. Some people just do them while gazing out the window. Before, after school, just walk over to the window, hit play on the phone, and listen to this short, mindful moment. Some people listen to the mindful moments in the car to help calm them while they’re driving. So it’s designed to just be a quick moment to get out of your own head and back into your body. It’s a chance to be fully present in the moment without our minds racing ahead to what we need to do next. The mindful moments are a break. I’m guiding you through a reflection on gratitude or nonattachment, joy or another concept that helps you return to a state of ease and flow. The mindful moments that I’m offering have their roots in secular Buddhism, which is a philosophy of life. It’s not a religion. It’s not a belief system. These mindful moments that I’m offering are not a religious practice or necessarily even a spiritual practice. Certainly you could incorporate them into your understanding of those things, but this is really about practicing presence and being intentional about what you’re focusing on. The mind is extremely powerful, and visualization is a really impactful way to help you feel more grounded, centered, and balanced. If you’ve never done this before, thank you for being here. Thanks for listening this far, for being open, for trying this out. See how you feel afterward. Does your mind feel clearer? Has your heart rate slowed? Has your nervous system down regulated? Is it easier to concentrate or to get things done afterward? Just notice what, if any, impact you feel this very first time you try it. If you have a meditation or a mindfulness practice already, welcome. I think it’s so wonderful that this is something we can do together, and I hope that you enjoy having a familiar and hopefully calming voice to guide you through something that’s maybe a little different than what you normally do. For today’s extended mindful moment, I thought I would focus on finding the calm amongst chaos. Since this is a practice that all of us need. I’ll be introducing music and nature sounds periodically throughout this time together to help create that sense of calm and relaxation. I invite you to find a relaxed posture in a comfortable place. You can close your eyes, if that’s feasible and is something you’d like to do, or keep them open in what’s called a soft gaze. This means you’re not staring at anything around you intently, just choosing a focal point area, maybe one that’s down near the ground so your eyelids are lowered a bit. Begin deepening your breath. Now taking an extended inhale to allow yourself to take in the present moment. And now an extended exhale to release any tension or worries. Another big inhale to really arrive here in the moment and prepare for this practice. And another big exhale to release all those distractions and worries. Continue this deeper breathing throughout our time together today, so that with each inhalation, you’re inviting a sense of calm and presence. And with each exhalation, you’re releasing any tension or distractions. Begin by acknowledging the chaos or turbulence that you may be experiencing in your life. It could be related to work or relationships, health or any other aspect of your life. Allow yourself to sit with the awareness of chaos without judgment, without resistance. Now imagine yourself as a giant rock in the midst of a turbulent river. The river represents the chaos of life, constantly flowing and changing. See it for what it is, an external force that does not define your inner state. Recognize that just as the water moves around you, so too can chaotic moments in life. See yourself as that giant stone in the river, unshaken, immovable, grounded in your inner strength and calm. As you meditate, consider the power of acceptance. Acceptance doesn’t mean resignation. It means acknowledging the reality of the moment without resisting it. Embrace the chaos as part of the ever changing tapestry of life. Contemplate the power of perspective. Consider that chaos is a matter of perception and interpretation. While chaos may swirl around you like the raging river, you have the choice to see it as a dance of energy and change rather than a threat. Now visualize yourself observing the roaring river from a higher vantage point. Maybe you’re on top of a mountain peak or a ridge or a large boulder that overlooks the river. In this visualization, you are both in the middle of the chaos, as the stone in the river And above it, you are experiencing the rushing, swirling water. But you can also detach from it and see it from the outside as a wise and compassionate observer. From this higher vantage point, this higher perspective, you can see the interconnectedness of all things, the eb and flow of the river, the ebb and flow of life. You can see the impermanence of the chaos. What seems like an uncontrollable, raging river to the stone that’s inside of it appears as beautiful. From far away, up high, you can see the turbulent places and you can see the calm places. You can visualize all the twists and turns of the river. From this higher vantage point, bring your attention to yourself and silently repeat these phrases either in your mind or out loud. May I be safe, may I be healthy, may I be free. May I live with ease. As you recite these words, let the intention behind them really sink into your heart. Imagine yourself still observing the river of chaos from your higher vantage point, with a warm and radiant light emanating from your chest, enveloping you in a cocoon of love and compassion. Feel the gentle embrace of this lovingkindness, soothing any wounds or fears or doubts that you may carry. Next, extend your lovingkindness to someone you care deeply about, maybe a friend or a family member. Imagine yourself from this higher point above the river, sending them love and care, envisioning their face, and silently repeat, may you be safe. May you be healthy. May you be free. May you live with ease. Feel your love and goodwill expanding beyond your own boundaries, reaching out to touch the heart of your loved one. Sense the connection between you growing stronger as you wish them well. Now, broaden your circle of compassion to include acquaintances, colleagues, students, their families, even those people that you may have conflicts with from time to time. As you ponder these phrases or say them out loud, imagine your intention spreading like ripples in the river, touching each person’s life. May you be safe. May you be healthy. May you be free. May you live with ease. As you continue this practice, gradually extend the feeling of lovingkindness to encompass all beings in the world, regardless of their background, beliefs, or actions. Visualize the entire planet bathed in the radiant light of your compassion and care, and repeat these phrases. May all beings be safe. May all beings be healthy. May all beings be free. May all beings live with ease. Feel the profound sense of unity and interconnectedness as you send lovingkindness to every corner of the earth, transcending boundaries and divisions. In this moment of meditation. Standing above the rushing river, you are a beacon of love, radiating warmth and goodwill to all living beings. The chaos of the roaring river and the landscape beneath you doesn’t impact you from your higher vantage point, you are above it, observing with nonattachment and nonjudgment. Visualize yourself standing there with arms outstretched, feeling the sunlight on your face and body and the warm light of compassion emanating from inside of you. Visualize your arms outstretched to embrace whatever you may experience next. This act of surrender allows you to release the struggle and resistance that often intensifies chaos as we begin to bring our mindful moment to a close, say goodbye to the peaceful vantage point above the chaos and bring your attention back to your breath. Use your breathing as an anchor to help you remain present and centered throughout your day. With each inhalation, feel a sense of calm and clarity filling your being. With each exhalation. Release any attachments to chaos or turmoil, allowing yourself to fully embrace the peace that you’ve cultivated within. Begin to open your eyes if they were closed, and make some small movements with your fingers and toes to wake the body back up again. Know that you can return to this meditation whenever you encounter chaos in your life. By finding calm amidst chaos, you empower yourself to navigate turbulent moments with grace and resilience. Your inner serenity is a source of strength and clarity that can guide you through the most chaotic of experiences, helping you emerge from the storm with renewed wisdom and perspective. Thank you for practicing mindfulness with me through today’s visualization. I hope you’ve enjoyed this time together, and if so, please check out the truth for Teachers daily encouragement podcast, which offers a new four to five minute mindful moment every week, interspersed with other uplifting and motivational messages. Have a great week. You can do this us. And remember, it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be worth it. Close.