Greetings, and welcome to just breathe. I'm so grateful and honored that you've decided to join us on this journey. This journey for me started back in the 90s when I started learning how to meditate, and I spent a lot of time spinning my wheels trying to figure out what to do. And I realized at some point in time that meditation is not a goal, it is a practice. So I invite you to consider that as a way to start this journey. Knowing that it is not a goal that you check off, it is a practice.

And the more you do the practice, the stronger you become in your own meditation skills if you want to call them that. So keep in mind that as a practice, it is about just honing your skills. Now the first thing I'll tell you is when you go to sit to meditate, you will have thoughts. You want to have thoughts. Thoughts are a natural part of living. Give thanks for your thoughts.

Thoughts are not your enemy. The second thing that's really important to keep in mind is that as you practice, there will be days that you will find yourself all over the place. And there'll be days that you won't. That is the practice. And the key is to just stick with it and to continue to do it. And one day, you will have this revelation, where you realize that something that upset you didn't upset you nearly as much as it had been in the past.

That is what the practice of meditation has the potential to do. It has the potential to help you have an understanding, and a mindfulness around your own self awareness, your emotions and your feelings. That is powerful stuff. So as you go through the course, there'll be questions That can be answered through some of the documentation that is provided. I really want this course to be about the practice. The documentation is great.

And the practice is really what you come here for. So know that I'm available for any questions, you can feel free to reach out to me. online, you can follow me on all social media, my name is the same wherever you go. And I look forward to connecting with you on this journey. If you go through the steps, go at your own pace. Because kind to yourself in the process, and know that you are exactly where you need to be.

There are specific things that I recommend that you do and start small simple practices that really don't require you to do a lot of things outside of your normal activities. So we'll start with simple things such as hand to heart and taking three conscious breaths and at night, you'll be Do a be relaxed meditation that simply allows you to get used to being in the state of mind of relaxing and tuning that muscle. Meditation is a muscle, tuning that muscle to something new and different. One of my favorite definitions of meditation is meditation is like a muscle. And if you think about it, if I go to the gym one day out of the week versus going to the gym three or four days out of the week, if I'm working on my biceps, it's not going to get nearly as strong if I go once a month.

So when you look at it as a muscle, and the more you work on it, the stronger your muscle becomes, it gives you an understanding of the fact that it is a practice. My other favorite definition of meditation is it is like mental hygiene. So we got up and we brushed our teeth. I hope we brushed our teeth, right, we washed our face and we prepared our bodies. And so meditation prepares our mind the thing that We use all day long. His meditation is preparing your mind for the day.

So welcome in, get started, follow the steps and just go with the flow. Be kind to yourself, know that you are not alone I'm here to support you. And if you follow me on social media let me know that you're taking the course. And you can certainly direct message me or you can use the platform here to message me as well. I thank you so much for honoring yourself and going on this journey with me. Remember, it's almost always a good time to stop and breathe.

Because it starts with you. It starts with me. One breath, one thought, one deed welcome in. Let's get this journey started. Be well