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[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the morning ritual podcast here.

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[SPEAKER_00]: We uncover how small daily practices hold the key to a more aligned life

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[SPEAKER_00]: Rituals help us turn the mundane into the meaningful.

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[SPEAKER_00]: They help us remember our values and visions and realign us with who we really are.

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[SPEAKER_00]: This is not about overnight transformation.

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[SPEAKER_00]: It's about intentional living, having presence over production.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Each week, we hear from teachers, artists, healers and creators about the rituals that keep them grounded, clear and aligned.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Their stories remind us that living intentionally isn't just possible, it's transformative.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So take a breath and settle in.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome back to the morning ritual.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So I am a tad under the weather.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I was going to sit down and record a solo episode for you.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But my voice is, it's not voice in right now.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It's not there right now.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm using this as an opportunity to share a meditation from my sub-stack channel.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So in case you haven't heard, I am reserving this podcast for interviews.

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[SPEAKER_01]: for solo episodes, for conversation, and all the practices live on my sub-stack.

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[SPEAKER_01]: They're still completely free, and I thought I'd just use this opportunity to give you a little taste of what to expect from the sub-stack, and just offer a practice up.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Today's practice is a meditation for steadiness and ease.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, I hope you enjoy.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Welcome to the morning ritual sub-stack, your hub for ritual for practices that help you just come back home to yourself, to calm the nervous system.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And yeah, give you a little time for yourself.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So this is a practice called kaya styram, kaya meaning body and styram meaning stillness.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So stealing the body in an attempt to steal the mind.

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[SPEAKER_02]: While our mind is never completely still, what we'll do today is bring the body into complete stillness.

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[SPEAKER_02]: and then just observe the mind and we'll observe the mind with a mindful awareness.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So that certainly does take practice but a mindful awareness being one that is curious.

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[SPEAKER_02]: One that is open, one that is just bearing witness to what's going on.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So if your mind is coming up with judgments or judging your experience, see if you can open up to curiosity, okay?

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[SPEAKER_02]: But first we get into the body.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So this practice can be done seated or laying down.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So go ahead and get comfy.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And then I invite you to just close down the eyes if they're not already.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And let's find the breath.

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[SPEAKER_02]: We're gonna do a couple of sign breaths just to start.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So inhale through the nose and exhale out the mouth.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And twice more like that, breathing in.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, slightly deeper breath in, fuller inhale towards your belly.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And don't be afraid to make some sound, exhale.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Lovely, so this practice of stillness does require a little bit of discipline.

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[SPEAKER_02]: You might find the desire to move.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Let's see if you can resist the urge.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, we start down at the feet, so feel your feet.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And from your toes to your ankles, find stillness.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And from the ankles to the knees, steady and still.

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[SPEAKER_02]: From your knees to your hips, allow your thighs to land into stillness.

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[SPEAKER_02]: As you soften through the glutes, let your hips become really heavy and completely still.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Feel both of your legs simultaneously, steady.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Bring your attention to the left hand.

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[SPEAKER_02]: From your left fingertips to your left wrist.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Let the left hand land into stillness.

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[SPEAKER_02]: From your left wrist to your left elbow, your left forearm is still as a statue.

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[SPEAKER_03]: from your left elbow to your left shoulder, the upper arm is steady.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Now feel and sense your entire left arm just landing into stillness.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Bring your awareness to the right hand.

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[SPEAKER_02]: From your right fingertips to your right wrist, fine stillness.

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[SPEAKER_03]: From your right wrist to your right elbow, the forearm is steady.

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[SPEAKER_02]: From the right elbow to the right shoulder, the upper arm is completely still.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Now feel your entire right arm still as a statue.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Feel both arms now.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Feel both arms just land into stillness.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Invite your shoulders to just soften away from the ears.

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[SPEAKER_03]: and arrive into stillness.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And then feel your entire back.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Feel your entire back, steady.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And last but not least, we have the head.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Softening the tension around the head and the jaw and neck.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And see that the head just rust and stillness.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And then sense your entire body, feeling the body completely steady and still.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Moving beyond the layer of the physical body and entering the pranamaya koshah, koshah meaning layer, pranayama meaning breath.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So as we travel beyond the layer of the physical body, let's find the breath and just observe your natural breath right now.

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[SPEAKER_02]: trusting your breath knows where to travel and it knows how to get there and you can just bear witness to the process.

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[SPEAKER_02]: spend just another minute here watching your natural breath, allowing it to flow in and out.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Moving beyond the breast body, the layer of the breast, and observing at the layer and the level of the mind.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So taking that mindful open awareness, just notice what's going on with the thoughts.

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[SPEAKER_02]: There's no good thought or bad thought just notice like you are just watching a movie screen.

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[SPEAKER_02]: If you find that you've really immersed yourself in a thought, see if you could step back and become the observer again.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Really nice, so back through the front of my Akosha, the level of the breath, bring your attention back to the feeling of the breath.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Back to the feeling of your physical body and start with the feeling of your entire body, which is still

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[SPEAKER_02]: Still, still, still steady.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And as you deepen the breath, imagine you're filling your entire body with a fresh breath.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And as you inhale, watch the movement that happens in your physical body.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So as you deepen your breath in, what expands?

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[SPEAKER_02]: And as you take a breath out, what softens?

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[SPEAKER_02]: And try that twice more, so breathing in, what expands?

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[SPEAKER_03]: Breathing out, what gets the opportunity to soften?

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[SPEAKER_02]: We're tying, so now you're becoming aware of the movement of the body as you breathe.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So maybe it's the belly expanding and softening.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Courageous and then bring a bit of intentional movement to the body and start really small and notice how that feels.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So it could be really, really little with fingers and toes.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, maybe you grow that movement a little bit, whether you're seated or laying down.

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[SPEAKER_02]: It could be nice to take the arms overhead and take more of a stretch here, freeing up the breath again and hailing the next hailing.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, then we can close the practice by sitting.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So if you're laying down, you might just come on up.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And we can just, you know, we went through the layers of body and breath and mind.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And as you looked in words, you may have noticed, may have noticed something.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know, it's all information.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So keeping that awareness and maybe using that as a way to set a little intention for yourself to carry with you for the day.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So maybe there's something you noticed that you needed, maybe you need.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know, a little more compassion or maybe you need a little more energy right now.

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[SPEAKER_02]: But an easy way to set an intention is just ask yourself, like, how do I want to feel as I go through the rest of the day?

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[SPEAKER_02]: So, you can think about that right now.

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[SPEAKER_02]: How do you want to feel as you go through the rest of the day?

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[SPEAKER_02]: And then use that to find one short phrase or one single word to set your intention.

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[SPEAKER_02]: and we'll seal it in by just taking one hand on belly and one hand on heart.

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[SPEAKER_02]: You might close the eyes and we're going to take three signed breaths and imagine you could just inhale that intention straight into the body, breathing in.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And then exhale, clear and releasing.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Twice more breathing in that intention.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Can exhale to release anything that doesn't help you feel that way.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And just one more time breathing in, breathing out.

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[SPEAKER_02]: awesome.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So have a wonderful day.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Thank you so much for joining me here.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And yeah, if there's anybody in your life who could benefit from these practices, feel free to just send them the link to the Substack.

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[SPEAKER_02]: It's totally free.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And if you are interested in going deeper, you can become a paid subscriber to get access to our monthly gathering, which will be held on Zoom and also some

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[SPEAKER_02]: Alright see you soon