Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness.

Today, we're going to learn a

practical four step process to

face challenges in our lives.

So the four steps, here's

a quick summary of them.

And then I'm just going to walk

you through them more thoroughly.

So the four steps are an

acronym, F - A - C - E.

F stands for focus on

what's in your control.

A, acknowledge your thoughts and feelings.

C, come back to your center in awareness.

And E, engage in actions

guided by your values.

Okay.

So F is for focus on what you can control.

So in times of challenge, loss

or crisis, a certain amount of

fear and stress is inevitable.

They are a completely natural response

to the more difficult times in our lives.

However, we can often cause ourselves a

lot of excess suffering by continuously

worrying or ruminating about all kinds of

things that are really not in our control.

And while that might be a fairly

normal thing to do for the

mind, it simply isn't helpful.

So for example, you cannot control

what other people are doing.

You cannot control how governments

are responding toworld events.

You cannot control the future of

the world or how something like the

coronavirus pandemic will evolve.

In fact, the more you focus on

the things you cannot control,

the more overwhelmed, disempowered

and frantic you're likely to feel.

So the most powerful thing you can do when

you're facing any great challenge is to

focus on what you can control and accept

that for now, the rest simply is as it is.

And what we can control is our behavior.

So you want to think about what you can

do to make a positive difference, right?

So A is for acknowledge

your thoughts and feelings.

So remember in difficult times what we

don't want to do, we don't want to pretend

that we're not feeling difficult emotions.

We don't want to try and escape

them or struggle with them.

So just acknowledge your feelings

and give yourself compassion

for what you're going through.

You know, struggling with

difficult emotions only prolongs

them and makes them bigger.

So you want to let go of the

inner struggle and surround your

thoughts and emotions with a

compassionate and accepting awareness.

C, come back to your center.

So remember to find your

center in mindful awareness.

If you feel caught up, stressed or

overwhelmed, just continuously bring in

the focus back to the present moment.

Easy way to do this?

Take a few deep, slow breaths.

And E, engage in actions

guided by your values.

One of the most empowering things you can

ever do in difficult times is take wise

action, action guided by your values.

Now your values might be things

like kindness, courage, patience,

love, playfulness, determination.

Whatever your values are, connect with

them, let them guide your actions.

Perhaps considering, what's

one small step I can take?

How can I look after myself

and others right now?

What can I do to change

things or make them better?

Research shows that focusing on what

you can control and taking action shifts

you from a state of helplessness to

one of hopefulness and empowerment.

In a time where you might've otherwise

felt paralyzed, depressed, or overwhelmed,

taking action restores your calm, clarity

of mind and helps you find inner strength.

I sincerely hope that this is

helpful for you in tricky times.

And as always, thank you for your

practice and your presence here.

And let's settle in

for today's meditation.