Hey there, I'm Julia Cartwright, and I'm so glad you're here with me today. You know, it's a Thursday morning, and if you're anything like most of the people I talk to, your brain is probably already spinning like a ceiling fan on high. Maybe you've got three tabs open in your mind, your inbox is doing that thing where it won't stop pinging, and you're wondering how you're supposed to get anything actually done. Well, that's exactly what we're here to fix together.

Before we dive in, I want you to find a comfortable seat wherever you are right now. This could be your desk, your couch, your car during lunch—wherever feels safe and supported. You don't need to be perfect here. Just settle in like you're about to have a really good cup of coffee with a friend.

Now, let's start by noticing your breath. You don't have to change it, fix it, or make it anything other than what it naturally is. Just notice it coming in and going out, like waves rolling gently onto a beach. Maybe you feel it at your nostrils, or maybe you feel your belly rising and falling. Wherever you notice it most clearly, that's exactly where you need to be. Take three of these natural breaths with me.

Here's the thing about busy minds: they're not broken. They're actually doing their job beautifully. But right now, we're going to give your mind a specific job, which is this. I want you to imagine your thoughts as clouds drifting across a wide open sky. You're not trying to stop the clouds. You're not trying to make them go away. You're simply noticing them drift by. A thought about your meeting appears, clouds drift. A thought about what you need to buy at the store comes, clouds drift. Your mind wanders to something you said yesterday that makes you cringe, clouds drift. You're the sky, and everything else is just passing through.

When you notice you've gotten caught up in a cloud, when you've drifted away with a thought, that's not failure. That's the practice working. You just gently come back to noticing the sky. Come back to your breath. You've got this.

Let's practice this together for the next couple of minutes. I'll be quiet now, and you just notice. Breathe and observe.

As we wrap up today, I want you to carry this sky metaphor with you. The next time your mind feels crowded, remember you're bigger than any single thought. You're the open sky where everything passes through.

Thank you so much for joining me on Mindfulness for Busy Minds: Daily Practices for Focus. If this resonated with you, please subscribe so we can do this together again tomorrow. You've got this.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI