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Hello, hello. Welcome to the Feelings Pod. My name is Sabrina Amina. I'm your host, and

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today's episode is about curiosity. I talked a little bit about curiosity in a few of

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my other episodes, but today I want to give it some special attention because when we're

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in a state of curiosity, we are more open. We're able to learn and receive and step away

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from our judgments, which is a great place to be if you ask me. So think about the last

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time you had a harsh judgment about something, and it might be hard for you for that to come

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to mind because we're constantly judging things. But what I love about my mindfulness practice,

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I mean one of the many things is that it allows me to notice more the quality of my thoughts.

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And when I have a judging thought, I can say, oh, there's a judgment. Let me see if I can

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explore with a bit more curiosity. Curiosity is especially helpful when I'm feeling a particular

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aversion to something or resistance. And I can either be curious about my resistance,

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or I can be curious about the thing or situation I'm resisting. I mentioned aversion, but that's

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kind of, I think I'm going to put aversion aside for now and focus more on resistance,

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and unwillingness to be with, accept, see. Now our judgments and our resistance and aversions

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are important. It's not like we want to get rid of those things. But sometimes they're

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more harmful than they are helpful. There are certainly times where our judgments protect

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us, our resistance is wisdom, and sometimes we are operating from a place of just constriction

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instead of expansion. And it's up to us to discern, oh, this is something I can trust.

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I trust my resistance around this situation. Or I think my resistance to this situation

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could be, can teach me something in fact if I lean into curiosity. So for example, I think

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a place that we often make judgments is when we first meet new people and we're trying

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to discern, is this a person I like? Is this a person that feels safe to be around? Is this

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someone I can trust? Is this someone I need to be on guard around? Is this someone that

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I like? Is this someone that I don't like? So we make those judgments really quickly.

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And then judgment doesn't necessarily have to be a negative judgment. You can just say,

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oh, that's a good person. Even that in and of itself is a judgment. And we can get curious

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about those snap judgments. What is it about this person that makes me think they're a

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good, quote unquote, good person? Curiosity is a lot of fun because there's so much possibility

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in curiosity. When we lean into curiosity, there's more to explore. A judgment is just

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a label. It's unquestioning. It's the opposite of curiosity. It's a snap decision about a

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person, place, situation, circumstance, and there's nothing more to explore after something's

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been labeled. Imagine how many opportunities are lost because of snap judgments. I think

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something that really helped me become more curious even before my mindfulness practice

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was just being in education, working with so many different students from different walks

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of life who have different challenges, who show up differently in so many ways in the

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classroom. And as an educator, it's my job to be curious about those kids. It's not my

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job to make a judgment. It's not my job to write off a student for being difficult or

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challenging. As an educator, I'm a problem solver. So if something does come up with

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a student in my class, I have to lean on my curiosity if we're going to move forward,

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if I'm going to be able to connect with this student. If I want this student to learn from

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me, if I want them to feel safe in my classroom, I have to create space for curiosity about

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these children. And oftentimes, I've heard in my training as an educator, you know, people

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will tell you about a child. People will try to hand off their judgments on a student and

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pass them on to you. But I've always... And yes, that's very true. But I think it's so

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important to give a child an opportunity to show themselves to you in whatever way they

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are inclined to show up. And it's not my job to judge how a child shows up. It's my job

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to offer support and guidance and safety. When we make a judgment about folks, there's

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no safety in that. It's a writing off. So allowing for curiosity also creates an opportunity

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to build community. Oh, I love it when my words rhyme. Yeah, so when I'm curious about

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the students in my classroom, when I ask questions, when I seek deeper understanding, that creates

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a greater sense of connection. If I judge a student right off the bat and write them

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off based on that judgment, that's kind of cruel actually, in my humble opinion. So yeah,

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I encourage you this week to lean into spaces where you could make room for more curiosity.

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Perhaps you're having a challenging situation in relationship with someone in your life.

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Is there a possibility to lean into curiosity about the conflict? Are judgments being made

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about the person or situation that could be explored more deeply with curiosity? Is this

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person really being a jerk or is there something more to this story? Is there something I'm

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not seeing? And curiosity can be collaborative. Actually, that's probably the most fun is

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not just asking yourself questions about your judgments, but getting curious about a person

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and asking them to offer insight. Yeah, a question I really love is, it's like a check-in. I'm

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telling myself this story, but what do you think about that? Do I have the right impression

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about this? Allow someone else to offer a different perspective or a different story,

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or maybe add nuance to the story you're telling yourself. Yeah. So your challenge this week,

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should you choose to accept it, is notice where you can infuse a bit more curiosity into your

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life, into your day-to-day interactions. You might be surprised what comes from the exploration.

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We'll do a short practice today. So wherever you are, find a comfortable seat. If you're

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not able to practice in this moment, feel free to pause and come back at a later time.

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If it feels comfortable for you to close your eyes once you've settled into a comfortable

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position, I invite you to do so. Or you can simply find a soft gaze on a steady spot in

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front of you. And simply notice your breath. Notice the quality of your inhale and your

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exhale. Allow yourself to settle into your body. Notice what's present for you in this

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moment. Take a deep breath in and let it go. Make note of how it feels to take a fuller,

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deeper breath and expel a full exhale. Take a deep breath in and let it go.

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I'll guide you through a brief body scan, starting at the crown of the head, bringing

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your awareness to your forehead and the muscles in your face. Allow all expression to just

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melt away. Notice the ears, the jaw, the neck, shoulders, upper arms, forearms. Notice

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the hands. Notice your 10 fingers. Just gently rub the hands together, creating a little

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bit of friction and warmth between the hands. And when you feel that warmth, rest the palms

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of your hands over your heart. Breathe into the heart space. Take a deep breath in and

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let it go. Bring your attention and awareness to the belly and torso. Notice the space between

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the belly button and your hips. And just breathe into this space. Let it go. Notice the thighs,

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your knees, your calf muscles. Notice your shins, your ankles, the tops of your feet,

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the bottoms of your feet, your 10 toes, your heels. Let's draw one big deep breath. Imagine

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drawing it up from the bottoms of your feet and letting that breath travel all the way

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to the top of the crown of your head. Take a deep inhale and let it go. As you settle,

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just notice the quality of your thoughts. Allow them to float through. Notice the thought,

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the bolder thought, perhaps it's a worry, a memory, a plan, a question, a curiosity.

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Notice the thought and let it go. Take a deep breath in and let it go. Notice your emotions.

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Is there one prominent emotion present for you in this moment? Notice the quality of

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it. Is it deep and profound? Is it constricting, expansive, pleasant or unpleasant? Where does

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that emotion live in your body? Take a deep breath in and let it go. Allowing yourself

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a moment of stillness before coming back to the room and letting the eyes flutter open,

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taking in your surroundings and perhaps letting your gaze rest on something that makes you

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feel at ease. Thank you so much for practicing today. Thank you so much for listening. Have

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a wonderful day.