Becoming Wildly Resilient Meditation: Circle of Control

Listen as host Jackie Carroll, a health coach with UK HR Health and Wellness, leads you through a short meditation for things in and out of your control. Each month, Jackie will guide you through a new meditation aimed at deepening the resilience practice offered by co-host Amy Rodquist-Kodet. 

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Transcript 

Introduction Jackie Carroll: [00:00:00] You're listening to Becoming Wildly Resilient, brought to you by University of Kentucky Human Resources Health and Wellness. Join us as we explore tools, practices, meditations and conversations with members of the UK community. Together, we will discover how we can thrive at work, home, and beyond. 



[Jackie Carroll] Circle of control meditation, wherever you are, sit back, close your eyes and settle into your breath. Acknowledging how your body feels, what your mood is, even where your thoughts are right now, without judgment, [01:00:00] just allowing your breath to be smooth and easy and as you're breathing in and breathing out, imagine on your next inhale an expansive circle surrounding you and as the breath comes out on your exhale, imagine a smaller circle, and do that a few times. Inhale, expand the circle. 



Exhale, create this small, tiny circle. 



Do that one more time, inhale, big circle, and exhale to that tiny circle. And then imagine that tiny circle is just hovering right over your heart. This could be a representation of your circle of control. [02:00:00] 



Your circle of control is how you respond, how you react and what you choose in any situation. 



So, if you could hold gently that tiny circle of control, what you can control, and bring to your mind maybe something that's causing you a little angst. Maybe it's a person, a circumstance or a situation that you literally feel like you have no control, you feel out of control and without judging yourself, notice where in this situation is there one tiny thing, one tiny response, one way that you could choose to say something, to think something, or to do something that's within only your response in that situation. 



Not wishing it away, [03:00:00] not believing you can only be happy if something or someone changes. But what could you do in this moment to bring an ounce of peace, an ounce of a sweeter voice to yourself or to others or an ounce of a change of thinking that could truly benefit your health, your mood, your work, your family and your container of joy and hope. 



Knowing this is a difficult practice, maybe placing your hands on your heart, or one hand on the heart and one hand on the navel and just going back to your breathing. 



Even if that small way of being isn't coming to you now, you could add a mantra to yourself: I believe I can control my thoughts, my words and my actions, and maybe for today, [04:00:00] that's all I can do. 



Just stay with your breathing for about two more breaths and then, when you're ready, let your eyes gently blink open and pause just noticing how you feel without judgment, and then blink a few more times to look back into your space. 



Thank you for offering this gesture of kindness and support for yourself. I wish you a wonderful rest of your day. Take good care. 



Outro [Jackie Carroll]: Thank you for listening to Becoming Wildly Resilient.  



This podcast is brought to you by the University of Kentucky Human Resources Health and Wellness. We offer a wide range of online and in-person services to support the well-being [05:00:00] of UK employees, retirees and their spouses. You can find experts in mental health, personal resilience, nutrition and physical activity. We're ready to meet you where you are and address your unique needs.  



To learn more about the work-life and well-being services offered by UK Human Resources, visit hr.uky.edu/wellbeing. You can also connect with us on social media and YouTube by searching @ukywellness, or by email at healthandwellness@uky.edu.