Welcome to the Infinitely Precious Podcast produced by Infinitely Precious LLC. Your host is James Henry. Remember, you are infinitely precious and unconditionally loved for the gift you already are.

Hello, beloved. It's me, James, And it's good to be with you for another episode of the Infinitely Precious podcast, where we get to be on this journey of life together. I'm so thankful that you join me here, that you share the podcast when it's helpful to you with others whom you know. And I'm just always hopeful that I'm putting a positive voice out into the universe, making some kind of difference in that way. That's always my hope.

So I'm thankful you're here with me. And I'm thankful that I get to be here with you. I was up until about five minutes ago sitting in my spiritual chair just across the room from where I am sitting now, looking out the window and having an afternoon cup of coffee. Had lots of different work to do this morning and in the early afternoon. And I just needed a little space to catch my breath.

And I was thinking to myself, what will my topic be today trying to rush to the place where I had something particular to say And suddenly I realized as I was gazing out the window, as I was drinking my coffee, as I was thinking, pausing from the day that maybe it was time for us to do something we've often done together or at least several times in the duration of the podcast. And that's to just take a little moment to check-in with each other. Let's just pause for a moment because there's a lot going on in all of our lives, I suspect. Some of it's emotional. Some of it's physical.

Some of it's the stress of looking around at the world in which we live and experiencing it as a place of division and chaos. And it might overwhelm us, might leave us feeling uncertain and in need of space. Trying to solve all the world's problems is often something that we find ourselves trying to do. And of course, discovering that we cannot do everything. So let's just take a step back from that for a moment.

Let's just take a pause. And first let's check-in with our bodies. What are you feeling physically? Are you feeling any particular tensions? And if you are, where are those tensions arising?

I noticed as I sat in my chair this afternoon as I sat down that I was feeling the tension, the stress and it always appears for me the very first across my shoulders. Could feel the tension in my shoulders. So I just kind of practiced letting it go. But where are you feeling? What are you feeling physically?

Are you feeling any kind of heaviness maybe in your shoulders? Any tension in your gut? Perhaps it manifests in other places for you. You notice that you've got a furrowed brow that you're constantly tightening the space above your eyes. Wherever you feel that, I wonder if you might as you notice whatever you're feeling there, something that is tense or maybe you're feeling something really positive in your body, just appreciate the body's ability to communicate with you.

It is a tool we have. It allows us to experience the world. Whatever faculties we have allow us to experience the world we're in. And so appreciate the body and try to let some, if it's stress or tension, let some of that go. If you're feeling really positive about something that's going on in your life and you feel that kind of exhilaration that rises up inside of you, you can let that still for just a moment and appreciate how your body remembers these things.

It remembers these things and it holds these things for us. And it warns us. The fight flight response that comes from our amygdala that happens in our bodies. Those kinds of responses are the way that the body tries to protect us, encourage us, and be a part of what we're doing. And since that is the case, we have the opportunity to step back.

What feels heavy right now? Are there things in your life that feel heavy? It's a good place to check-in because the things that feel heavy are usually the things attention, that need us to intentionally maybe the heaviness is an invitation to stop for just a moment and appreciate perhaps it's the world around you. Perhaps it's the stress of your personal life. Perhaps it's a relationship you're struggling in.

Perhaps it's trying to figure out what your post is in this universe. What place are you meant to hold? Those are all things that could feel heavy. Maybe it's something else I didn't even name. What feels heavy right now?

And can you name it? Now on the other side of that, are there any things that you've been carrying that felt heavy before that today in this moment, in this listen, feel a little bit lighter? Maybe you're a person who travels with a lot of to do lists and maybe you completed a thing on the to do list and that thing was a big thing or even a small thing. But having completed it leaves you in a place where you feel lighter because it was a task that you've been struggling to get done. Or maybe it was the one that you just weren't looking forward to but it's done now.

Does it feel lighter even briefly? Can you feel that in your body, in your psych? As you look around at the world, are there things that feel lighter even now? And in keeping with what we often talk about in the Infinitely Precious podcast, Can you hold the things that you're holding whether they're heavy or light? What's going on in your body, stress or otherwise?

Can you hold those things gently? Can you not judge yourself for the things you're holding? Whether it's in your body, whether they feel heavy, whether recently they felt light, whether you're exuberant, can you feel those things and hold them in your body, Hold them in your spirit. Hold them in your person gently. Can you hold this space in a gentle way?

Recently, I've been paying special attention in my own life to an important pattern. And that pattern is to recognize when I'm being distracted by things, to recognize that thing that's rising as it is rising up, to pay attention to its rising. And as I recognize it, to also say, I release you. I release it. Now sometimes it rises right back up and I recognize it and I release it again.

Recognize and release. And then I, as the last movement normally, return and I m thankful for the return. So often I get caught up in the things that have distracted me and let them be judgment points for myself. But now I have sort of reframed the whole experience to just be thankful that I m returning. Just be thankful that the thing that was rising has been released and for the moment I m returning.

Returning from the thing that might have distracted me. Even though it may be rising up just as in that moment. So the practice of recognize, release and return. Now sometimes I recognize something and I realize it's something that I need to spend some time with, that it's a deep hurt or something. And I use that time to go deeper into that space because it's rising for a reason.

And I spend a little time with that. But I recognize normally the pattern really stays. Recognize, release in return. So I don't know if that's helpful to you or not as we do this check-in, as we look at the lives that we're in. I do think it's very important, and I'll share this with you, for us to check-in with ourselves to see where we are in our body, what's going on in our mind, what is heavy to us now, what feels light.

Are there things we can let go of, The things that we can recognize that are not ours to hold because part of our work is discovering for ourselves what is the post that is ours to hold. And that is ours to hold. Too often the heaviness in our lives can come, can come, not always but can come from holding things that are not ours to hold. So listen, I hope this check-in has been helpful for you. I encourage you to do it regularly, not just with the I only do it periodically myself here on the podcast.

I do it regularly personally. But let yourself check-in, figure out where you are. It's always a good thing to know what you're perceiving, what you might be missing because you rushed past it, and what you can let go of and return the gift of return. So those are my thoughts for today. Remember that you are infinitely precious and unconditionally loved for the gift you already are.

And until the next time, I wish you all the very best, my friends.