How Are You Doing? Guided Meditation

How are you doing right now? So as I ask you this question, take a couple seconds and really ask yourself, how are you doing right now? And just notice, is it just a description? I'm feeling happy, I'm feeling sad, I'm feeling bored, I'm feeling inspired. But whatever your description is, give yourself a few more seconds to just drop into the experience and feel a little bit of the nuances and just allow yourself to spend a couple of seconds feeling where you are. And the reason why that's so important in what we're going to be doing next is because it's one of the two central questions that are most important in my life experience to ask ourselves on a daily basis. Now, in our culture, we weren't taught in elementary school and most of our parents didn't teach us that asking yourself, how are you doing? Is a critical question. Because if we're not in touch with how we're doing, we really don't have the raw materials, we don't have the contact point to actually care for our own lives. It is one of the great human tragedies that we haven't been supported in our culture to take a great interest in our inner experience so that we have a chance to get the clues and cues as to what it is that we need to satisfy our lives on a daily basis. So the first question that I'm encouraging all of us to ask is, how are you doing on a minute to minute basis, an hour to hour basis, on a daily basis, whatever your capacity, whatever your curiosity is, to really allow that question to percolate as something that's a part of your spiritual or psychological practice. And when you ask yourself how you're doing and you have that contact point, don't be satisfied with just an intellectual description. Actually take some seconds and savor the experience, recognizing in a certain way that's more of who you are than what you do or what you accomplish, that's really a sense of your own internal reality. Now, why is that important? Because it really is the guiding point to what will satisfy and fulfill and inspire you in your life. Which leads us to the second most important question, which is, given that I know now how I'm doing, or at least I have a beginning idea of how I'm doing, how can I most support myself? How can I actually give guidance to myself or care for myself in a way that will be meaningful and supportive of this day. Now, see if this makes intuitive sense to you, for you to ask yourself, how am I? And how can I support myself? And then as you're looking at that, realize how often do you really do that during the day? And if you're one of the people who actually asks the first question, how am I doing? Do you really ask that second question? Oftentimes in my life, when I ask somebody, how you doing? I end up feeling half empty because even knowing how you're doing isn't quite enough. Because you can say, well, I feel sad. Well, then you just stay sad. But really what's needed is to take an interest in how can we activate some kind of healing as well. So when you're in touch with a part of how you're doing, then look at a couple of possible ways that we can support where we are. One of them is to ask ourselves questions like, how can I support you? What is it that you need when you're, let's say, frightened or you're sad or, or you're feeling disconnected, how can I really be of guidance to you? And you take a great interest to activate your intelligence. A second possibility is you can ask your heart, is there any quality that you can send to me if I'm sad? Can you just be gentle with me? Can you be kind towards me? Can you be merciful towards me, knowing that I'm not being sad on purpose? So some people, some of you will be more oriented towards asking questions. Some of you will be more oriented towards accessing a part of your merciful heart and being able to go in that route. And then there might be a third possible way of supporting yourself where you're just coming back with suggestions, where you're just coming back with a certain kind of what we might call wisdom, guidance. So the suggestion might be, be as gentle as possible, be as kind as possible, relax as much as possible even though you're anxious. So again, this third, these three practices of guidance or wisdom, being one, or asking yourself questions as two, or some kind of accessing your heart, are all ways in which you can really support your inner life. Now imagine yourself during your ordinary day, recognizing when you wake up in the morning. I want to take an interest in how I'm doing because I recognize that's going to give me an idea of how I can maximize my day and be most fulfilled. And then include the second possibility. No matter how I'm doing, I always want to care for myself and support myself. So I want to ask myself, how can I be most supportive? How can I be most nurturing to myself to today, These two questions are the foundation for the most healthy emotional, psychological life and the most spiritual, heartfelt and compassionate life, both of which are the foundations for a greater, peaceful world.