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have you ever found yourself scrolling
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social media on Sunday night and then
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suddenly what started as a quick
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check-in turns into a deep dive studying
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everyone else's highlight reel before
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scrolling you were feeling okay about
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the weekend maybe even good but then you
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spend 5 minutes on social media and then
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you're feeling less
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than today we're talking about breaking
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free from the Sunday scroll how to get
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out of that comparison spiral and
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reclaim your peace in mind before the
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week
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starts welcome to Sunday scaries where
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we explore those anxious moments that
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can keep you from finding peace before
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Monday morning starts I'm Ros Costa a
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meditation teacher here at
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headspace if you've ever felt the weight
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of comparing yourself to everyone else's
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per perf moments online you're in the
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right
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[Music]
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place listen I know what it's like to
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fall into that compare and despair
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spiral just last Sunday I was feeling
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great really at ease with how my week
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had gone I had tackled a few projects I
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even had time to
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rest but then I opened
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Instagram and there it was one friend on
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an exotic
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vacation another celebrating a
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promotion and another finishing a half
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marathon suddenly my restful weekend
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felt
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insignificant I started questioning
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everything why didn't I get more done
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shouldn't I be achieving bigger things
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in my life for the rest of the night I
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found myself caught in a loop of feeling
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like I was somehow
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behind maybe you've been there too where
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the more you scroll the more you feel
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like you're not measuring up today let's
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talk about why this happens and how we
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can create a sense of Peace around it so
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we don't start the week with the weight
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of comparison on your
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shoulders first let's pause and look to
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see what's beneath the surface of that
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Sunday scroll in
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anxiety what's really happening when we
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feel that Pang of
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comparison maybe it's the pressure to
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measure up to someone else's highlight
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reel or guilt for not doing
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more or perhaps it's just the feeling of
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being left out like somehow everyone
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else is living life on a higher
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level let's check in with where these
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emotions sit in your
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body Maybe your hand is
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clenched or you notice you've been
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nervously biting your
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nails or maybe there's a buzzing in your
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mind wherever it
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is just notice
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it with each breath allow yourself to
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sit with this
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feeling without trying to fix it
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simply acknowledging the feeling is the
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first step to Breaking
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[Music]
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Free now let's try a little exercise to
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help put things into
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perspective think about a time when you
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posted something on
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Instagram a moment you wanted to
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share for me when I post there's usually
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so much more behind that single picture
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than anyone
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sees I might take dozens of pictures to
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find that one that feels
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right I might spend time crafting the
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perfect caption to capture the
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mood sometimes when I post something big
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from my own
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life like a new job J or a new home What
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people don't see is that there are often
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years of effort setbacks and hard work
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behind that one
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moment so imagine someone looking at
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that post of
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yours do you think they considered what
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went into
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it did they know the full story behind
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the picture the details or effort you
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put in
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chances are they just saw the
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highlight and just like that each post
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we see from others is only a fraction of
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the full
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picture take a moment to take a deep
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breath
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in and a long exhale out
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[Music]
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with each breath bring awareness to all
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that might be going on behind the
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scenes both in your life and in the
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lives of
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others we're comparing our messy
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imperfect process to their Flawless
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final product
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forgetting that we're only seeing the
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Highlight
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Reel gently allow yourself to release
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some of that pressure to measure
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up take a moment to take a deep inhale
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in and a long long exhale
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out when we come back I'll guide you
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through a meditation to get curious
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about the bigger Story the one you might
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not see and how we can all hold space
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for each other in these
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moments for now keep breathing and stay
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present with each inhale
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and
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exhale all right let's look a bit deeper
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into the habit of comparing ourselves to
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others
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online it's easy to fall into the Trap
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of seeing someone else's post and
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assuming it's their everyday
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life but what if we got curious about
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the rest of the story what if we
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imagined that just like us the people we
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follow have moments of Doubt hesitation
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and
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effort by reframing what we see we can
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start to feel connected rather than
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discouraged let's explore how a small
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shift in perspective can bring us back
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to a sense of
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belonging and
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peace think about one post you saw that
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that triggered that feeling of
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comparison maybe it's a friend who seems
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to have it all
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together someone with an enviable
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career or someone whose Adventures you
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admire take a deep breath
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in and now a gentle exhale out
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imagining just for a moment what it took
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for them to share that
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post what
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doubts what
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hopes what hard work might lie beyond
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that
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image and what if just like
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you they've felt nervous or hesitant
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about how they're being perceived
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with each
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breath allow yourself to send a bit of
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compassion their
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way acknowledging that we're all
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navigating This
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Together remind yourself that behind
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every post is a person who's also trying
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stumbling and learning
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let this reminder bring a bit of relief
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and
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connection now let's settle into a short
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meditation to release the comparison and
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find a sense of
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connection close your eyes if that feels
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comfortable and take a deep breath
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[Music]
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in and as you
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exhale imagine each person you've
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scrolled past
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tonight each carrying their own
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story with their own ups and
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downs just like
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you with each
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breath let your yourself connect with
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the idea that behind each
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post there's a fuller
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picture think of the moments you don't
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see the challenges they face to get
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there the doubts they may have
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felt the little victories they
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celebrated along the
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way take a deep breath in
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and a nice long exhale
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out perhaps their smiling vacation photo
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came after a year of hard work and
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planning maybe that promotion was a goal
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they've been working toward for
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years the setbacks and late night
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that no one
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saw as you continue to
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breathe picture them as real
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people navigating their own Journey with
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moments of
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uncertainty
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effort and
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resilience as you continue to
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breathe imagine sending them a little
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kindness letting go of
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comparison take a deep breath
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in and a nice long exhale
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out each breath reminding you that we're
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all in this together
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the next time you see someone's
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highlight let yourself feel curious
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about the full
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story and allow yourself to feel the
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warmth of
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connection rather than the weight of
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comparison notice how this feels in your
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body and if there's any
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tension give yourself permission
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to let
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go as we wrap up today's episode here
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are three small steps to help you keep
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your peace in a world of highlight
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reels number one pause before you
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scroll next time you open social media
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take a moment to ground yourself
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set an intention for how you want to
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feel when you close the app whether it's
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inspired connected or just
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curious number two think about the full
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story when you see a post that stirs up
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comparison remind yourself that it's
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only a
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snapshot get curious about the journey
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the effort or the challenges that might
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lie behind that image
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number three send love not
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jealousy each time you feel a Pang of
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Envy try sending that person a bit of
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kindness imagine them dealing with their
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own ups and downs and allow yourself to
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feel connected knowing we're all doing
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the best we
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can so the next time you're stuck in
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that Sunday scroll remember social media
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can be a place for compassion and
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connection
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and that compassion and connection goes
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for you
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too thank you for joining me today and
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although you don't need my validation I
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am very proud of you it's important to
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be taking steps towards a healthier
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mindset and you're doing a great job
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we'll see you next week
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[Music]
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Sunday scaries is a headspace studi
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original podcast it's executive produced
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by Morgan Selzer and Sarah Cohen it's
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produced by Robin Hopkins and Taylor
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Jennings Brown it's hosted by Rosia
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Costa and written by Renee culbert and
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Rosia Costa post production by Dan croll
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music by Scott senson and Chris margia
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[Music]