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.