How To Figure Out What You Actually Need Right Now | Meditation with Sebene Selassie

0:04This is the 10 % Happier Podcast. I'm Dan Harris.

0:18Happy Sunday, party people. How we doing? One of the most venerable cliches in the world of personal or spiritual growth is listen to your gut, get in touch with your intuition. Okay, sure, fine. But how do you actually do that? Today, the great meditation teacher, Seb Inay Selassie, is going to walk you through this process in a guided meditation. Seb is our Teacher of the Month over at danharris.com. That means she's creating custom guided meditations for all of our Monday-Wednesday episodes during the month of October. For the most part, these guided meditations are only available to paying subscribers over at danharris.com, but we're dropping this one down the feed for free.

1:01As Teacher of the Month, Seb is also doing some live guided meditation and Q &A sessions. We do these every Tuesday at 4 Eastern on video. The next one is October 14th, and it will feature me and Seb together. If you want to join, danharris.com. Join the party. Speaking of parties, if you want to meditate with me and Seb in person, we are teaching a weekend-long retreat from October 24th through the 26th at the Omega Institute, which is north of New York City. One of our subscribers recently pointed out that I've mentioned the meditation party retreat a few times, but have not given a lot of detail So let me just say a little bit more There are four sessions one of them's friday evening the next one saturday morning then saturday afternoon and finally One on sunday morning.

1:46We do a mixture of meditation conversation and q a with the audience There are also some opportunities for small group discussions with your fellow attendees In between the sessions, you've got plenty of free time You can go hiking, play basketball, volleyball, pickleball, tennis, yoga, tai chi, meditation, more meditation if you want it. Also on Saturday evening, we do a dance party, which is voluntary. Nobody's forced to attend. There's a link in the show notes if you want to sign up. Okay, we're going to take a quick break, and we'll be right back with a guided meditation from Seb. Many of us have a hard time truly tuning into ourselves.

2:25Maybe we worry about what others think about us, about our work, our ideas, our new haircut. When honestly, those people probably aren't even considering us. They're worried about their own jobs, thoughts, and new outfits. Or perhaps with all the opinions out there in the chaos of our current world, we can have a hard time understanding what it is we believe or how we want to respond. When we use meditation to turn inwards, we can actually tune into our own sensory experience and touch our inner knowing, a knowing rooted in an innate wisdom. This wisdom may not answer all the questions of the world, but it allows us to meet whatever is happening with more clarity and kindness.

3:15In this meditation, we'll use mindfulness to practice tuning into that inner knowing and learn to trust the wisdom that's always available to us. Let's try it together.

3:32Find a comfortable position wherever you are, sitting, standing, or lying down. Let your spine be naturally straight without being rigid. Feel free to close your eyes or soften your gaze downward. Take a moment to arrive here, noticing any sounds or sensations of the room or space you're in.

4:05Let's start by sensing the body. Notice where you're making contact with what's supporting you. feel the weight of your body settling into that support.

4:22Now take a few deep breaths, and with each exhale, let yourself sink a little deeper into this moment.

4:43Notice any sensations in the body Subtle or strong Maybe there are movements Vibrations Pulsing or tingling Perhaps you're aware of the breath entering and leaving the body.

5:04Simply allow your awareness of sensation to help center your attention for a few moments more.

5:30Now, I want to invite you to bring your awareness even more inward.

5:45Notice when I invite you to turn inward, where does your attention go? There's no right answer, maybe to your heart area, your belly behind your eyes or somewhere else

6:07and it might be somewhere else another time but wherever it goes now this space can be one way to connect to your deeper knowing not the racing thoughts in your head but the quieter wisdom in your body

6:31again invite your awareness inward and let's rest in this awareness for a bit sensing this space or place in the body simply being with whatever is present

7:12Now, without thinking too hard about it, try dropping this question into this space. What do I need right now? Don't search for an answer with your mind. Just let the question settle and listen with your body.

7:49Notice what arises. Maybe it's a word that comes to mind or an image or simply a feeling. Whatever comes up first before your mind starts editing, try trusting that. If nothing comes, that's okay too. Sometimes the answer is simply, I don't know, and that's a valid response.

8:21Feel into whatever response came up. Does it create expansion or contraction in your body? Does your breathing deepen or become shallow? Does it feel true in your bones? And what else do you notice? Our bodies have ways of knowing that our minds don't always understand.

9:03Now let's ask another question. What wants to emerge in my life? Again, let it drop into your inner knowing and simply listen. You don't need to force an answer. try staying open and receptive.

9:43Whatever arises, whether it's clear or confusing, exciting or scary, Notice how it lands in your body. This is one way your inner wisdom can communicate with you.

10:00Sometimes it's a gentle knowing, sometimes a firm conviction, sometimes just a subtle sense of yes or no.

10:26Now take a few moments to simply rest in this connection with your inner knowing. You don't need to do anything with what came up. Just appreciate that this capacity exists within you.

11:16As we come to the end of this practice, feel your breath moving in and out, trusting that with each breath you can return to this place of inner listening anytime you need to. This wisdom isn't something you have to earn or develop, it's already here, waiting for you to slow down enough to hear it.

11:44There's so much noise in our world. It's hard sometimes to hear our innate response. But your body holds more wisdom than you might realize. The more you practice listening to these subtle cues and trusting what you feel, the clearer this inner knowing becomes.

12:05You can open your eyes now and take a moment to reconnect with your surroundings. Feel free to stretch or move the body if that feels good. Thank you for taking time to cultivate your inner knowing. Practicing for even a few minutes a day helps us develop the capacity to listen to the deeper understanding we all carry for what we need and for what is possible. Thanks again to Seb. Don't forget to sign up at danharris.com if you want custom guided meditations that come with all of our Monday and Wednesday episodes. Subscribers also get weekly live video meditation and Q &A sessions every Tuesday at 4 Eastern.

12:47This Tuesday, it's me and Seb together. Sign up at danharris.com. And don't forget to check out the link in the show notes for the IRL event Seb and I are doing on the weekend of October 24th. Finally, thank you to everybody who worked so hard on this show. Our producers are Tara Anderson and Eleanor Vasili. Our recording and engineering is handled by the great folks over at Pod People. Lauren Smith is our managing producer. Marissa Schneiderman is our senior producer. DJ Kashmir is our executive producer. And Nick Thorburn of the band Islands wrote our theme.