Welcome to your guided meditation. Don’t forget to breathe. Allow yourself to settle into your body. Think about how you got here. Some of you walked, and some of you Ubered straight from work. Some of you arrived on the 22, which always breaks down and is littered with burrito debris that some asshole spilled on the floor.
Sorry, none of you arrived on the bus. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be someone who can afford my $550 mindfulness-class series.
Notice the sensation of your cashmere Everlane sweater. Does it feel warm or cool? Rough or soft? It had better feel warm and soft—you spent $155 on that shit, not including shipping.
Breathe in awareness; breathe out anything that no longer serves. Breathe in compassion; breathe out the street smells of urine mixed with pot mixed with $12 handcrafted donuts.
Take a moment to reflect on something you are grateful for that brings you joy. Like your cute and playful French bulldog, which you watch via your doggy daycare’s Nest camera streamed to your laptop during the weekly team meeting.
Set an intention for your practice this evening. It could be presence. Stillness. Love. Perhaps you’d like to call in better matches on Tinder. Know that when your desire is free from attachment and fear, the universe conspires for you to have the absolute best romantic matches online.
Notice the sensation of your feet on the floor and where your skin makes contact with your cashmere Everlane sweater. Does it feel warm or cool? Rough or soft? It had better feel warm and soft—you spent $155 on that shit, not including shipping.
Notice sensations within the body. Do you feel comfortable, or uncomfortable because today was National Sweet Potato Day in the cafeteria at work and you ate too many sweet potato fries before you got here? Allow those sensations to be there, without judging them. Yes, you gained 35 pounds this year, but you’ve been slammed from the new ad-platform launch. Be gentle and kind.
Notice any sounds. Are they loud or quiet? Pleasant or unpleasant? Is it the sound of homeless people yelling at a tech bro walking by? Or a poverty-stricken family rudely asking for cash?
The light in me honors the light in you — and the light on your phone, which you’ve already turned back on to see 55 new emails from your manager.
Notice if the mind tries to avoid or push away these sounds. This is called aversion and attachment, which is the cause of suffering.
Let go of your aversion to hearing the suffering of others. In that space of letting go, you will experience bliss in the presence of their pain. And you will be able to walk down Market and South Van Ness, see the poor camped out on the sidewalk and simply notice, accept and ignore them (as you do), then arrive at Yoga Tree in total peace.
We’ll close with a short loving-kindness meditation. May all beings be happy. Beings, like anyone who doesn’t work in tech and had to move out of the Bay Area to Stockton or Sacramento and become a Lyft driver. Sending loving-kindness: may they be happy; may they be at peace; may they be free from suffering during their three-hour one-way commute. It was their choice, after all, not to enroll in General Assembly’s 6-Week UX Bootcamp.
Thank you for taking the time tonight to commit to your sacred healing and self-care. The light in me honors the light in you—and the light on your phone, which you’ve already turned back on to see 55 new emails from your manager.
He wants to know where the hell you’ve been for the past 10 minutes.
Hey! The Bold Italic recently launched a podcast, This Is Your Life in Silicon Valley. Check out the full season or listen to the episode below featuring Alexia Tsotsis, former co-editor of TechCrunch. More coming soon, so stay tuned!
