Can a busy working day be a really good day?

You wake up and wish you could sleep more. But you get yourself going and you get the things done. The basics of self-care, work, appointments, if you have kids then their things are a priority and you are often thinking about their needs, their schedule, their joy. You get through the day, and there are good moments sure but... is this it?

What about your needs and your joy? What about the personal goals for your fitness, your creative project, your business ideas? There isn't time, there isn't space.

Can meditation really solve this?

Of course it doesn't change what needs doing and what you are responsible for but it can do a lot. It can give you 5 (or more) minutes of peace for a start! It gives you full permission to stop and nothing to do. It lowers your heart rate and reduces the stress hormones in your body. It creates space in you mind. It opens connection to your heart. It can make you feel, simply better.

Do you know that what you think about determines how you feel. Think about someone you love and imagine something amazing happening to them, they get a new opportunity or discover something they love and they really start to thrive. Picture it and see them happy. How does that make you feel? And then instead imagine that same person getting sick and depressed. How do you feel?

None of what you imagined from those prompts is real. You chose to think those thoughts based on the prompts. And the thoughts evoked different emotions in you so the thoughts you choose to think can create how you feel.

So here's the good bit. If you want to feel better then you can influence it through your thoughts. And as a general principle if your day starts well then you have a far better chance of it going well - whatever is on your plate.

A morning mindfulness session gets you into a good feeling. It creates space and perspective so that you don't just haul yourself back on to the treadmill and do the same old things, you have a choice about what you intentionally do and don't do, think and don't think. And in a world constantly demanding your attention being intentional is crucial. If we let the world determine where our attention goes then influencers, advertisers and news editors are choosing what you think about.

Ready to try it?

GUIDED MEDITATION WITH ANGELA