Find Purpose in Unemployment

Hi, and welcome to Finding Purpose. So wherever you are on the journey of unemployment you may well be asking yourself what it is you wanna do. Of course, we don't always have the luxury of choosing what we wanna do next. Sometimes we just need to find work but sometimes even in those situations it can be important to stop, to pause and really understand or to connect with our sense of purpose. We spend so much time at work, it's important that we find a way of relating to that work so that it feels that it has meaning and purpose to us. So this particular exercise is designed in that way. It's a meditation, but it's also a reflection a way of quieting the mind so we can better understand the mind. And we're gonna be asking ourselves a couple of questions to reflect on during the exercise. I think it goes without saying, but this one exercise alone isn't going to be the whole story. It's really important that you go on and try other techniques and practice these on a regular basis, sort of, so you feel the benefit but we're gonna begin today's exercise in the usual way. So you can do this sitting up, lying down whatever feels more comfortable for you. And we're gonna start with our eyes open with just a soft focus, aware of the space around you. So as you settle, the focus just taking in the shapes the colors, not really looking at one particular thing and just taking a couple of big, deep breaths breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. And as you breathe in, focusing on that feeling the body expanding with air and as you breathe out, just noticing how the muscles soften And you can just gently close your eyes with the next out breath. So just take a moment to pause, check in with the body, often we're so caught up in our thinking, thinking ahead planning that we're not really aware of how we feel right now. So just noticing how the body feels today, any sense of restlessness or stillness, heaviness or lightness in the body. And as you become more aware of those physical sensations just starting to become aware of the breath the rising and falling sensation. To no need to breathe in any special way, just noticing whether you feel that movement in your chest, in your stomach noticing if the breaths are long or short. And if you can't feel anything just gently placing your hand on your stomach just so you can feel that movement. So just settling body and the mind in that way, we're just gonna stay with a breath for just a little bit longer don't worry if thoughts arise in the mind just allowing any thoughts to come and go for now. And if you find it easier as you follow those breaths just gently counting the breaths...