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Hello hello, this is Sabrina Amina and I'm here to share the feelings pod.

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Today's episode is about trust and worry and I really think the most important place to

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start when it comes to trust is self-trust. Because until we can build a solid foundation

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of self-trust, it's almost as if the trust you have in other things is irrelevant because

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the moment the trust that you've put outside yourself is shaken, unless it's trust in the

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divine, unless it's trust in something bigger and greater than all of us, that trust is not

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such a sturdy foundation. So, and I'd even assert that the trust that we put in God, the universe,

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divine, spirit, whatever you want to call it, whatever framework works for you, is a foundation

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of self-trust or an extension of self-trust since we are expressions of love created from the divine.

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Now, I'm not going to get into the conversation about where we come from as beings of love and

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light, but if that's not your particular stance, I invite you to stay if that feels resonant

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and if not, that's okay too. It feels actually really vulnerable for me to talk about God

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and spirit and spirituality because it's a part of my life's journey that has, I've

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felt afraid to share and speak about in different contexts. So, as an Algerian American, a Muslim

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American, I grew up in a context constantly as a minority and not always feeling safe

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to be fully expressed in where I come from, although it has been a practice for me to

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always show up as authentically as possible, as truthfully as possible, and so moving forward,

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it's my intention to speak more about my background and my religion and my spirituality. That

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being said, the wellspring for trust and self-trust comes from really building a sturdy foundation

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within ourselves and how does that happen? Well, if we think about where we can feel trust

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in our lives, it's generally in spaces that feel safe. How can we create safety for ourselves?

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And if it doesn't feel possible for us to create safety for ourselves in the here and

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now, who are the people, what are the practices, what are the spiritual frameworks that you

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connect with that help you reconnect with a sense of safety and by extension trust? How

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do we build that self-trust? And certainly that practice will look different for everyone,

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but here's a simple one that I really, I enjoy sharing with my daughter when she's kind of

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spinning out in worry and asking the big questions, the big existential questions that humanity

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deals with that I may not always have the answer to. So I ask her to take the worry,

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put it in the ball, and I have her make this gesture with her hands, like physically creating

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this ball of worry right in front of her, taking it outside of her body and creating

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this big ball of whatever worry that she has and placing it in that ball. And then I just

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ask her to toss it to God, toss it to spirit, toss it to the greater entity that holds us

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all, that unites us all, that brings us all together. Some would call it giving it to

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God and when we begin to recognize our connection with something that's greater, it's easier

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to find this solid foundation within ourselves. Oh, I have this thing that I'm worried about

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and I'm spinning out about that my cute little anxious brain can't stop thinking about. So

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you know what? I'm going to put it aside for now. I'm going to trust that even though

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I don't have the answers to this right now, I can step away from it. Me sitting here staring

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at it so hard, thinking about it so hard, mulling over it over and over and over again,

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thinking about it with my cute little anxious human brain, this doesn't seem to be working

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for me so I'm going to put it aside and I'm going to bring my thoughts and my attention

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to oh, look at this flower right here. It's so gorgeous. Oh my God, it smells beautiful.

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It looks like it might need some water. Let me fill this vase. So mindfulness practices

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allow us to get out of these anxious thoughts, put things aside and attend to something that's

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physically present. So one of the teachings in a mindfulness practice is connecting with

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the five senses. You know, really being able to see a worry, trusting that although I don't

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have the answer to this right now in time, either the answer will come to me or it will

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resolve all on its own. This might be a really big, heavy question that I don't seem to have

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the tools or capacity to solve or address right now, but I can trust that if I'm attending

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to this moment here, if I can connect with my cute little anxious human and give her some

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reassurance and comfort by taking a few deep breaths in, by feeling my body in this moment,

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by putting my hand to my heart and feeling this heartbeat, this glorious heart of mine

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that just beats continuously over and over. Attending to my sense of sight, attending

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to the sounds that I can hear, attending to physical sensations, coming back to the heart

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space, breathing into this space. You know, sometimes we just gotta leave the thoughts

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alone. Sometimes the thoughts aren't being super supportive and that's when we can turn

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to the wisdom of the body and that's a really powerful way to build self-trust and by extension

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a trust that we are held and loved and supported unconditionally by something bigger than us

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that holds all of us. This has been a really important lesson for me to remember as I've

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been watching and witnessing the horrors that are going on in Palestine right now. I feel

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I have felt over the last five months this sense of hopelessness and worry and despair

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and helplessness and in this space I've essentially forgotten about my power and the folks in

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Palestine, the folks suffering in any part of the world that we are connected to, that

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we share humanity with. You know, my self-pity and despair doesn't really serve the greater

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purpose of our collective liberation. Ultimately, why do we need to build a sturdy foundation

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of trust? Why do we need to build a steady foundation of safety? We're building a new

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world and every single one of us has a role to play in that. And these despairing moments,

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these worried thoughts that are cute little humans on this plane of existence are wired

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to experience. These are all messages, these are all lessons, these are all invitations

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to reconnect. Now the individual specific practices for every person will look different.

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Some feel a sense of connection most easily through physical activity, some will more

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easily feel a sense of connection in creating art, some feel most connected in nature. I'd

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argue all of us feel more connected in nature. Now there's really no need to argue, it just

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it is what it is. So as we're continuing to build this trust, this self-trust but also

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the greater trust of all that is, I invite you to return to the body, to return to what's

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right here in front of you in this present moment. So let's get into our practice for

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today. As always if you're not in a place where you can practice some quiet time with

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your eyes closed, you can always pause and return to this at a later time. Find a comfortable

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seat, preferably upright and as you settle in, connect to the seat beneath you, really

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focusing the foundation that starts at your root, at your sacrum, at your seat. Notice

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your energy settling in and coming up to the second chakra which is right below belly button.

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This energy centers, I'll guide you through. And above the sacral chakra is the solar plexus,

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you can gently place your hand on the space right just below the ribs and above the belly

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button. Take a deep breath into here and let it go with a sigh and bring your awareness

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to the heart space. You may wish to gently place your hands here. Take a deep breath

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into the heart space and let it go. Bring your awareness and attention to the throat

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chakra. Breathing into the space, the center of our truth. And moving up to the third eye,

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that powerful energy center that sits right between your eyebrows, you can gently place

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your index finger and middle finger right at the seat of your intuition. Take a deep

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breath here and let it go. And bring your awareness and attention to the crown chakra

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right at the crown of your head. This is our connection to the divine, to our highest selves.

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Take a deep breath here and release. Just imagine this beautiful beaming light of energy radiating

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all the way from the crown chakra down the third eye through the throat, through the

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heart, down the solar plexus, sacral chakra, the root. And imagining that light radiating

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down through your seat beneath you, down through the ground or floor beneath you, really penetrating

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through into the earth's surface, feeling that light move down, down deeper, deeper,

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connecting to the earth that grounds us, houses us, holds us, keeps us safe, nourishes us.

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And from this space gather all the energy you can in a big deep breath into the belly.

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Bring that energy back up through the root, belly button, sacral chakra, pull solar plexus

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up through the heart, the throat, the third eye and let it radiate back up through the

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crown chakra and exhale. As you move throughout the day, just remember this gorgeous beam

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of light lighting up all of your energy centers from root to crown. Knowing that you're held,

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knowing that you can trust and as you return to the body over and over again, you have

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the body foundation. Take a deep breath in, let it out with a sigh. And as you open your

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eyes and come back to the space, offering yourself a bit of love and gratitude for giving

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yourself some quiet time to reflect, to breathe and to build this foundation of trust within

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you. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much for practicing with me today.

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Have a wonderful day.