Meditation to Take Back Your Life
Do you feel like you spend so much time managing your PMDD that you are losing touch with:
the things that are important to you?
the things that bring you joy?
the people you love to be around?
This absolutely happened to me. And it makes sense!
-
It makes sense that when when PMDD is taking over our lives, we want to do everything we can to feel better and get back to living.
And yet, that very process of finding ourselves living in survival mode, or diving into healing, can push us away from the things that make life feel fulfilling.
This meditation is inspired by an ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy/Training) exercise, sometimes called 'The Magic Wand' or 'A Miracle Has Happened', etc.
It helps us to get back in touch with our values, by guiding us through:
(1) Imagining the life we'd create for ourselves if we had no worries or burdens.
(2) Encouraging us to consider how we can bring a bit of that into our current day-to-day lives. -
Title: Meditation to Take Back Your Life
Episode number: 26
Date: 11.15.24
Meditation episode: Diane is the only speaker
EXCERPT (00:00:05)
Often in our experiences of surviving and managing with PMDD, we grow out of touch with our values. And what I mean by that is that we lose our connection to the things that matter the most in our lives, to the way we want to show up in the world, and to the ideas that we want to be led by in our lives.
And it happens without our even realizing it. We have been using our limited capacity to get through our days, to take care of our health and our responsibilities as best we can. This is a normal and natural response, and yet there may come a time when we want to feel like we can still live a rich and meaningful life with PMDD.
One step toward this is to grow back in touch with our values.
INTRO (00:01:04)
If you want to learn how you can live better with PMDD, this podcast was created for you. This is Mindfulness for PMDD with Diane. I'm Diane and I'm a registered dietitian and lactation consultant. I'm also a mom, a PMDD warrior, and a trauma-informed mindfulness teacher. And this is where I discuss topics related to PMDD through the lens of mindfulness and meditation, and where I share all about how mindfulness has gotten me to a place of greater peace and acceptance with my PMDD.
I also chat with people who have helped and inspired me along the way, so they can share their wisdom with you too. So let's get started.
SAFETY NOTE / DISCLAIMER (00:01:55)
The following is a mindfulness exercise or meditation. So if you're driving or otherwise distracted, I invite you to save it for a time when you can find yourself a moment of comfortable stillness and practice safely. If now's that time, let's get started.
MINDFULNESS MOMENT: TAKE BACK YOUR LIFE (00:02:14)
So this is a mindfulness exercise that helps us to reconnect with our true selves and to rediscover our own values by envisioning what our lives might look like if all of our difficult thoughts, feelings, sensations, expectations, and responsibilities magically went away.
This one comes from ACT, which is acceptance and commitment therapy or acceptance and commitment training, and it's often referred to as the magic wand exercise or a miracle has happened.
So let's begin by arriving here in this moment. I invite you to find yourself a comfortable position, either seated or lying down, closing your eyes if it feels safe and comfortable for you, or you might choose to gently lower your gaze to a single spot in front of you.
Wherever you are, see if you can notice the contact you're making with the surface beneath you. So maybe it's the feeling of your feet on the floor or the ground. It could be the chair supporting your back. Perhaps it's the bed or sofa cradling your body.
Taking a cleansing breath here and letting it all out, maybe even with a big sigh. Just make a noise, any noise.
Now, if it feels comfortable for you and safe, I invite you to take three mindful breaths in your own time or together with me.
So inhaling deeply,
and exhaling slowly and steadily.
Inhaling down into the lungs, watching the tummy rise,
and exhaling completely,
inhaling peace and ease,
and exhaling any thoughts about the day so far or the day ahead of you.
Now, imagine that a miracle has happened, and when you wake up tomorrow, all of your challenges with PMDD will be gone.
You will no longer struggle with PMDD or premenstrual exacerbation or PMS. You no longer live in a cycle of two weeks on and two weeks off. Instead, you are free to use your time how you want.
You no longer are unrecognizable to yourself. You feel freedom and ease in your mind and body.
Any rage and irritability are gone. You no longer feel anxiety or sadness, guilt, or shame. Troubling thoughts and memories have faded away, and you feel confident and happy.
Physical symptoms have washed away, and you feel energetic and strong.
There is no financial burden. Everything is taken care of, and you have everything you need.
And when you step outside, any feelings of vulnerability, social anxiety, or inadequacy are gone. You show up as your full and true self.
No judgments. No pressure, from outside or within. No expectations. Release them all.
Now there is only ease, self-compassion, kindness toward yourself and to others, presence in the current moment.
You and your loved ones are safe and healthy.
There is peace in your relationships.
So I invite you to take a moment here to envision what this life might be like then.
How would you choose to spend your time?
Who would you choose to spend your time with?
On what would you focus your energy?
Where would you be? Where would you go?
Where would you live?
What would you start doing?
Or what would you stop doing?
What would you do more of?
Or what would you do less of?
How might you behave differently?
What would you say to yourself?
What would you say to others?
How would you want to move through the world?
Take another few moments here to envision how your life would be different.
When you're ready, I invite you to begin to draw your attention back outward. You might start by wiggling your fingers and toes or taking a stretch here, finding that connection again to the surface below you.
And when you're ready, slowly open your eyes or lift your gaze and come back into the room.
This was a big one. So see if you can thank yourself for sticking with that exploration. And you might give yourself some time to reflect and process, however that looks for you. It might be journaling or going for a walk.
And, you know, this is one you can revisit from time to time.
And then, if and when you feel ready to expand on this exercise, you might consider how the life you envisioned in this exercise hints at your values.
Because our pain is where our values are. Our pain is giving us clues, is shining a light on the things that are important to us. It shows us what we hold most dear. And if we really are able to look and listen, it can help point out or reconnect us with how we want to show up in the world.
And then, if you are ready to go even a step further, you might consider how you might achieve even just 1 percent of that. So if you value living curiously or sharing generously, how might you be able to do even the smallest version of that, so that you can start right now steering your ship in the direction you want to go?
Well done, my friends.
OUTRO (00:13:25)
Thank you so much for listening. If you liked the show, please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. For links to everything mentioned in this episode, you can check out the show notes and you can find me, Diane DeJesus, on Instagram @mindfulnessforpmdd. Now, I invite you to pause, take a breath, and look around.
