Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness.

Today I'd like to talk about

the challenge of letting go

of our sticky mental stories.

So during a meditation one morning

recently, I had this familiar experience

where I lost my focus on my breathing

and I got caught up in thinking.

And it was the same story that

had been going through my mind

for weeks and weeks and weeks.

I'd had a difficult situation

in my life where I didn't handle

a particular conversation as

well as I would've liked to.

And so my mind just kept going

back to this situation and

replaying all the things I wish

I had done better, said better.

You know, everything I should

have done more skillfully.

And sometimes the stories were

just an absolute shame fest where

my mind was just berating me for

being so unmindful and reactive.

I wonder if you can relate to ever having

a sticky story like this, that just keeps

going around and, and around in your mind.

It's really easy to get

swept away by these kinds of

unhelpful stories in the mind.

Like a good TV show, we just

become completely engrossed in this

inner narrative and therefore we

kind of get pulled into all the

inner turmoil and turbulence and

negativity that they can whip up.

But with awareness, we can gently

let go of the story and bring

ourselves back to the peace and

stability of the present moment.

One really great way to do that is

to give your sticky story a name.

Like for me, I named my sticky story that

you should've-would've-could've story.

So I would say to myself

mentally, ah, here's the

should've-would've-could've story again.

My friend who worries all the time

about her partner leaving her, calls

her story, the he won't stay story.

So if she catches herself thinking

that story, she says, ah, here's

the he won't stay story again.

I see you story.

So if your mind tells you

you're not good enough.

You could say to yourself, Oh, here's

the not good enough story again.

Or if your mind worries a lot, you could

say, ah, here's the what if story again?

So you might like to have some fun

with this and give you a sticky story,

a kind of humorous or playful name.

Have some fun with this because

by naming your story in this way,

you're dis identifying from it and

you take the power out of it so

that it no longer triggers you.

It no longer pulls you around so much.

So this is something that we can

use both in our meditation practice

and as we're going about daily life.

So this is my invitation for you today

and ongoing ,to see if you can name your

sticky stories and then let them go.

Because by learning to let go of those

storylines you'll experience a sense

of freedom, lightness and ease, not

only in your mind, but also in your

relationships and your whole life.

So thank you for doing this inner

work and for being here with us.

And now let's continue this practice

of naming and unhooking from our

stories in today's meditation.