Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, we're going to talk about the power of giving yourself permission to say no. So as we're going about life, we are pulled and pressured by the forces around us, by other people's opinions and desires, what they want from you, by pressures at work, policies of governments, We're pulled around by the distractions of technology, the influences of media and societal norms. Now we also have internal forces that yank us around, such as the inner critic, the pressures that we place on ourselves in the forms of our shoulds and should nots. Plus, we also have the ancient conditioning of the human mind that kind of compels us to want to fit in and be liked at all costs.

All of these pressures can add up to a lot of stress sometimes and breed a sense of overwhelm or even hopelessness sometimes in our lives. We can feel trapped within the confines of what we think we need to do, even though a lot of the time it isn't nourishing us nor is it authentic to us or making us happy. Now, of course, some things are not pleasant, but they just need to get done. Like if the oil light comes on in your car, it might not be a fun thing to do, but it needs tending to, it needs oil. So there might be quite a few things like that in your life that, you know, they just need doing.

There's no avoiding it. However, giving into all of the pressures coming at us is living like a puppet on a string, dancing to the demands of the world instead of marching to the beat of your own drum. So, you know, to live more authentically and joyfully, we do really need to remember that we have the freedom to say no. For instance, saying, no might take the form of not running straight to the phone when it dings or rings if you're doing something else that's important to you. It might mean not having a second drink or even a first one.

Or if you're tired at the end of the week, it might mean declining an invitation to go out so that your body can get the rest that it needs. And when your inner critic pipes up and tries to push you to work harder and stay longer and do over hours at work, saying no might mean responding to that in a voice with self-compassion and reassuring yourself, it's more important to only work in ways that feel sustainable and healthy for you. So it might even take the form of pushing against the status quo idea that you're supposed to be busy all the time and you want to slow your life down if that feels good for you. So no saying no sometimes is a form of saying yes to what's deepest and truest in you. It can be not only a form of self care and self-awareness, but really a spiritual practice because as you learn to live with more intentionality, you're learning to live with more awareness, which in turn gradually leads to much more freedom and peace of mind.

So thank you for your practice and your presence here. And let's settle in now for today's meditation.