Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to talk about getting ourselves unstuck, both in our meditation practice and in lives. So when things aren't going well in our lives, or we feel really stuck in a problem and we just can't see the way forward in a particular situation, you know, in these times we can often start to really feel bogged down in feelings of frustration, stress, anxiety, overwhelm, or maybe even an apathy, where we just feel like giving up. But in these situations, it's really wonderful to remember that you are never really totally stuck. Now your thoughts may be stuck.

The thoughts may tell you that you're stuck, that there's no way forward. There's no way through. But you always have the option to change your approach to any situation. So if you feel stuck in some way, see if you can just take a pause, take a step back from the situation, and try to view it in a new and innovative, playful and creative way. Like with an attitude of curiosity and non-judgment, you could ask yourself questions, like, am I approaching this challenge or this problem in the right state of mind? If not, what can I change? Or you could ask yourself a question like, you know, what would be a possible new way through? Or, what would it, what would I do here if I wasn't afraid at all? Or, what's something I haven't thought of yet that could make this better? So I also think that there's a lot of merit in my own direct experience in asking ourselves in a lot of these situations.

Am I being totally honest with myself about everything that's happening for me in this situation? And I say this because I think a lot of the time when we feel stuck, it's not actually that we don't know what to do. It's often that we're facing something painful or scary. And so fear is holding us back. So we're not really stuck. We're scared.

And it's good to see that clearly and to explore what it's like to hold our fear with compassion and gentleness and exploring what it would mean to make the most empowered and life-affirming, aligned choice for us, even if it is a little bit scary. So you can try on these different ways of thinking about things and exploring them from new angles. And when you start to think outside the box like this, you start to let go of the stuck thoughts and bring in qualities like creativity, grit, enthusiasm, and resourcefulness. And this in turn leads to better solutions and fresh possibilities. And we can actually apply this in meditation too.

If we ever start to feel stuck like something isn't working in our practice, instead of giving up, we can try a new approach and find new ways to reinvigorate our practice. So the next time you think you're stuck and there's no way forward, just pause for a moment, become present and try a new approach. You might just discover a new way through and a sense of empowerment and courage that you had within you all along. As always, thank you for your practice and your presence here with us. And let's now settle in for today's meditation.