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  • - [Instructor] Welcome to this meditation

  • and I'll assume that if you are listening

  • that you have some type of major test or exam coming up

  • because that's what the title of this meditation is about.

  • Now the word meditation can conjure up different ideas

  • to different folks, but all it is is a way for us

  • to observe our thoughts and maybe quiet our thoughts down,

  • especially in a way that makes us feel

  • just a little bit lighter, a little bit more peaceful,

  • a little bit happier, and less stressed or anxious.

  • Oftentimes by doing that, it helps us do better

  • on the thing that we were stressed about in the first place.

  • Let's get started.

  • The first thing that I always emphasize,

  • this is true whenever I meditate,

  • is posture and breathing and environment can matter a lot.

  • Find someplace nice that you can sit down,

  • ideally a little bit quiet or at least where the sound

  • doesn't bother you, and sit upright as well as you can.

  • If there is a little bit of ambient sound,

  • don't let it bother you or irritate you.

  • Just accept that's the universe making its noises,

  • just something to observe.

  • It's almost a little bit funny.

  • As you accept your environment,

  • whether it's your external environment

  • or even sensations that you have from your body,

  • start to breathe a little bit deeper and a little bit slower

  • than you were before this meditation began.

  • Breathe in.

  • Pause.

  • Breathe out.

  • You can set your own pace for breathing in

  • and breathing out, but just try to go a little bit deeper

  • and a little bit slower.

  • Now when I do this, I like to sit upright,

  • usually on a chair, and keep my hands on my lap face up,

  • but you can do whatever feels comfortable for yourself.

  • The other thing that I'll ask you to do,

  • it might feel a little unnatural,

  • is force a smile.

  • Try to make it as real as possible,

  • but if you have to, force it.

  • What I find is, obviously when we're happy,

  • we tend to smile, but you can actually make the wiring

  • go the other way.

  • That by forcing a smile, it can actually make you

  • feel a little bit better, a little bit more positive.

  • Try to keep that smile on your face

  • throughout the meditation

  • and ideally well beyond the meditation.

  • It doesn't have to be a fake smile,

  • it could just be a very slight, gentle smirk, if you like.

  • But something that makes you feel a little bit better.

  • With that, continue to breathe in, breathe out.

  • If you haven't closed your eyes already,

  • you can gently close your eyes.

  • Before I give you a chance to just be with yourself quietly

  • and observe and maybe still your thoughts,

  • I'll give you some ideas to think about.

  • A lot of the stress of an exam

  • comes from identifying with the outcome.

  • We get caught up with, "What if I don't do well?"

  • Or "I need to do well."

  • Or "I am going to do so awesome that when I do awesome,

  • "all these amazing things are going to happen in my life."

  • The problem with getting attached to the outcome

  • is the outcome may or may not happen.

  • All those fears that you have may or may not happen.

  • All those hopes you have may or may not happen.

  • When you identify with those, and if they don't happen,

  • well that might create a little bit of a disconnect

  • between yourself and reality and that's one

  • of the number one reasons why people get unhappy.

  • Reality isn't working out the way they want it to.

  • Instead, you could identify a bit more with the process,

  • the adventure.

  • Saying, "Look, I have this thing coming up

  • "and I'm going to put my best foot forward.

  • "I am going to put in the work to prepare

  • "and I'm going to enjoy that work.

  • "I am the sentient being on this planet,

  • "in this mystery that we call life

  • "and I get to engage on this challenge called this test.

  • "Let me enjoy these moments."

  • Before you know it, you're going to be a lot older

  • and you're going to reminisce about this moment

  • in your life right now.

  • You're going to laugh at yourself,

  • "Why didn't I enjoy it more?"

  • Now with that notion of focusing on the adventure

  • of preparation, I'll give you another visualization

  • that I find really useful.

  • Imagine that your subconscious is a massive ocean

  • and your consciousness, the part that thinks to itself,

  • "Here I am!

  • "I'm some type of pure awareness trying to observe

  • "and make sense of the universe."

  • That's a sky that's clear and full of sunlight.

  • Most of us are operating on the surface of that ocean

  • most of the time.

  • There are all these random thoughts

  • that are just bubbling up from that ocean,

  • waves that are crashing into our consciousness.

  • For many of you, it might be thoughts, ruminations

  • about how you're doing on that test

  • or thinking about consequences of doing well or not well.

  • It could be other things.

  • It could be things going on in your social life,

  • assignments that you have due,

  • things in the broader world that are troubling you.

  • But one of the ideas behind meditation is to realize

  • that those thoughts that are surfacing

  • from your subconscious, they aren't you

  • and you can actually rise above those thoughts,

  • rise above the surface of that ocean.

  • Imagine yourself as just a pure awareness rising above

  • that surface and you're realizing all of those thoughts

  • that were thrashing around,

  • that were splashing against your pure awareness,

  • your consciousness, they don't have to.

  • Now you're above them and there's just a few drops

  • that every now and then you can giggle and wipe off a bit.

  • You can look down on the surface of that ocean

  • and from a distance, those thoughts really don't seem

  • like that big of a deal.

  • As you look down on those thoughts, you begin to appreciate

  • that they're starting to slow down.

  • The ocean is starting to become a little more still.

  • As you continue to breathe in and breathe out,

  • there you are, just in that sun-drenched sky

  • above the ocean.

  • You are that sun-drenched sky above that ocean

  • that is your subconsciousness.

  • You are that pure sunlight.

  • With that idea in mind, I'll give you a minute of silence

  • where you can just breathe in, breathe out

  • and experience joy in that sunlight that you are in.

  • Experience joy in not getting caught up in those thoughts.

  • If your brain wanders off, if your consciousness goes back

  • to the surface of that ocean and that starts

  • to get a little bit choppier, no reason to worry about that.

  • Just remind yourself, giggle a little bit,

  • and say, "Oh! I got lost in the ocean again

  • "on the surface with those waves.

  • "Let me just rise up again."

  • I'll be back in about a minute.

  • All right so we are back.

  • Continue to breathe in, breathe out.

  • Hopefully you experienced just a little bit of stillness,

  • even if it was for five or 10 seconds,

  • the experience of knowing that you aren't your thoughts,

  • knowing that you can observe your thoughts,

  • knowing that there can be moments in your life

  • where you are free of your thoughts.

  • Now as we are winding down this meditation,

  • keep a couple of big ideas in your head.

  • Remind yourself not to focus on the outcome,

  • but to focus on the process and to enjoy it.

  • That smile that hopefully you still have on your face,

  • have that smile the whole time that you're preparing.

  • Have that smile as you go into whatever type of test

  • or exam you are about to take on.

  • If you can, try to take a little bit of time out every day,

  • even if you can do it for a minute, two minutes,

  • three minutes, where you can sit silently with good posture,

  • breathe slowly, deeply, put a smile on your face,

  • and rise above your thoughts.

  • I feel confident that not only are you going

  • to enjoy this experience,

  • but you're going to put your best foot forward on that test

  • and you're also going to realize over time

  • that this test isn't that big of a deal.

  • Many things in our life

  • that in the moment seem like a big deal,

  • with a little bit of distance of time and space,

  • aren't that big of a deal.

  • If you haven't already, I encourage you

  • at your own time and pace, while you're continuing

  • to smile and continuing to breathe in

  • and breathe out deeply, gently open up your eyes

  • and take joy in this adventure,

  • this mystery that we call life.

- [Instructor] Welcome to this meditation

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