WEBVTT

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All right, so I figure probably
the best place to start is the beginning.

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So I've been raised with kind of
a spiritual background my whole life.

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My mom has always been
into yoga and meditation.

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She actually was trying to get me into it
for most of my young life.

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I tried it a few times,
went to a couple of classes

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and it never really clicked.

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It wasn't something that I liked
or so I thought.

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And then over the summer,

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my mom decided it would be a good idea
to sign me up for a mindfulness retreat

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at the Ojai Foundation.

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What I didn't know
is that mindfulness retreats

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tend to involve a lot of meditation -

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in this case like six hours a day.

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So I kind of had to learn to live with it,
and then I learned to love it.

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So before I go on,
I want to define "mindfulness."

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Mindfulness is the practice
of being present and aware

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and showing up for your everyday
experience in the present moment,

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if that makes sense.

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So basically what you do

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is you just pay attention
to what's going on right here, right now,

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and enjoy it like you should.

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And a mindfulness meditation is done

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by finding an anchor
in the present moment,

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which can be anything
that you're experiencing right now.

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So it can be your breath, your heartbeat,

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a sound that you're hearing,

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the heat in a room, really anything.

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You focus on that and let yourself
not think about anything else,

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and it's really just that simple.

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The reason I meditate
is because in modern society,

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with the internet and all that,

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we're all occupied with rushing
from one thing to the next

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and not stopping to smell the roses,

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figuratively.

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What I like about meditation
is that it lets us stop and slow down

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and just pay attention
to whatever's going on right now.

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So what I'm going to do here
is I'm going to lead you guys

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in a meditation session.

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It's only going to be a couple minutes.

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It's going to be easy.

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So what you do is find an anchor.

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I want you to find an anchor right now,
something that you're experiencing.

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So it can be the sensation
of the seat against your back.

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It can be that noise of the fan,
heartbeat, breath, anything.

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So focus on that and close your eyes

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and let yourself experience
the present moment.

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So I'll join you.

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Remember, if you find your mind wandering
from whatever you're focusing on,

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that's normal.

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Just acknowledge that

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and gently guide your attention
back to your anchor.

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If you find there's a thought
that you keep returning to,

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I use a visualization exercise:

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inhale through your nose

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and imagine that you're inhaling
pure white light.

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Exhale through your mouth

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and with the exhale carry the bad thought
that you want to stop thinking about

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and exhale it as a cloud
of thick black smoke.

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All right.

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That's just a sample,
and for some of you I'm sure it was hard,

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or at least difficult, and that's normal.

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It was hard for me too.

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It can be hot, exhausting,
but as long as you stick with it,

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it's really rewarding.

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And before I leave,

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I just want to leave you with one thing:

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remember the past, plan for the future,

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but always remember
to live in the present.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)