Read the full transcript here

Welcome to the first ever episode, part of the All About You 52 project brought to you by Dr. Lilach Saperstein from The All About Audiology Podcast. As of 2023, the All About You 52 is a brand new project that Dr. Lilach Saperstein is bringing to you. This project will bring you weekly audio based meditations. The meditation sessions will last for a few minutes. Each week, you can listen to it on your own time and during your own busy schedule each week. By signing up, you will receive a short audio clip of Dr. Lilach Saperstein teaching you a different exercise or going through a different type of visualization or meditation that you can do in a short amount of time. As an added bonus, you will also get journal prompts. To see if this program is a good fit for you, you can sign up for a 7 day trial. After that, you just have to pay $9 a month. Let Dr. Saperstein guide you in connecting to your inner self, slowing down, and gaining a set of tools that you can utilize when the stressors of life arise. 

This week on the All About Audiology podcast:  

• 0:10 – Introduction to the episode 
  

• 8:40 – Snippet from the kickoff call: Mindfulness is not clearing your head; it is focusing on the here and now 
  

• 14:40 – Take some time to relax, reflect, and be in the moment with this guided meditation
  

For more resources and research visit:

All About Audiology Website 

All About Audiology Facebook group  

All About Audiology Instagram

Connect And Advocate group

All About Audiology Summit

Kickoff call

The All About Audiology Podcast

Transcript:

Dr. Lilach Saperstein:

Welcome back to the All About Audiology podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Lilach Saperstein. It is January, 5th 2023, when I’m recording this in not the most ideal audio conditions to be honest, I’m in a very reverberant room. And that is because I got rid of a bunch of furniture in this office space /guest room that I record out of. And so it does sound, not the best, but I felt that it’s very important for me to model the fact that “perfection is the enemy of the good” and I miss you guys and I want to talk to you.

 And I want to get a podcast episode out for you to tell you about the incredible, amazing community that we are coming together for this year in a project: All About You 52. All About You 52 is something I have really been percolating on for a long time. Well, let me explain it like this: a year and a half or so. We had our Connect And Advocate group with just a very small and intimate group of moms who all have Deaf or HoH children. And we came together three times a month, not exactly weekly, but very close and intense bond working together on how to advocate for your children, how to feel connected to them, and most importantly – how to connect to ourselves what we want and the kind of vision of our families. And in that Connect And Advocate group, some absolute magic was happening. And one of the things that I really, really enjoyed sharing with the group were these audio meditations and mindfulness exercises, being able to connect with your breath with your intention with your hopes, with your dreams, with your fears, with your anxieties, like just with whatever is and those sessions that we had sometimes the most powerful things that were coming out of our work together was because and thankfully due to those [meditation] tools.

And then on a personal note, I have also really benefited from mindfulness techniques and really, really tuning into myself in my surroundings. So, what I created with this All About You 52 is something that I wanted to take all those tools and make it wrapped up into very small bite size and accessible and convenient short audios week by week – 52 weeks of the year. With a small but simple and powerful technique to learn together and work on as a community. So in the All About You 52 group, which already has several members that are ready to go [and] it’s never too late because this project is ongoing throughout the year; jump in at any time no matter when you’re hearing this. If you join the community then you will have weekly new episodes that are exactly five to 10 minutes and it’s just a short audio clip of me teaching you a different exercise or going through a different type of visualization or meditation that you can do in a short amount of time. And journal prompts and discussion questions to really get you thinking about how you will make your week the best week. 

I know there’s a lot of energy around the New Year, and around new beginnings, around changes in seasons – where we really want to be our best selves and we want the most for our lives. But we also have to be realistic because as much as it’s exciting to open up a new notebook or you know, start a new project, it’s the accountability that we need to keep us consistent. So there’s something really magical and powerful that’s going to happen when we all come together on this. 

And now I want to ask you a question: If you were to say, hey, I really want to try this. I want to try to become more intentional about my thoughts. I want to feel more awareness and connection with my breath and my body and my thoughts and my feelings. But I don’t have a lot of time and I don’t have a lot of money. And I know that you are busy. You have so many priorities that you’re juggling. So it was really, super important for me to make this as accessible and open to our community as possible. 

And so in order to join us, first of all, you have a seven day free trial. So if you want to come in and check out all the audios that are already in there, including an entire bonus library of meditations that we’ve done in the past, well you can join and take a look around and see the audios and have an experience with it yourself. You know, see how you feel within our group and if it fits for you. If you don’t like it, you cancel and that’s totally fine. But you definitely have free access to see if it’s for you. And then if you decide to stay on with us, it’s just $9 a month. $9. I really wanted to make it as simple and easy for as many people as possible to be able to experience this. 

Now I’m not saying that I’m some like meditation teacher that knows something that you don’t know. I’ve just had quite a number of years of experience with many different practitioners. And I found that I really connect to the idea that it doesn’t have to be complicated. That there’s no right answer. But I can walk you through some of the very cool and interesting techniques that I have learnt and just put it together in a way that feels really natural and accessible. And doing it as a community for me is an absolute goal and the dream. But I really created this with you in mind. 

And I know I’ve spoken to many of you on Instagram, many of you have come to The Hear Retreats that we did in the last few years and participated in the All About Audiology Summit. All of these projects have been so important to me and to you guys. But I wanted to create something different this year – something from a different pace and from a different place in my heart coming from my healing journey. And I talked about more of that in the kickoff call that we had, which by the way you can still listen to you’ll have a link in the show notes – to see the call that we did where I shared my year end review. I went through all of my 2022 accomplishments. I will be happy to leave that name behind for that year. Moving onto 2023 baby. Throughout that call, I shared so much of the ups, the downs, the challenges, the wins and the joys of my year, really breaking down the places where mindfulness and meditation has played such a key role for me. 

In addition to many other things, right, in addition to therapy and support and my network and so many other things that have been beneficial to me, but you know that I’m going to keep it honest and real with you guys. It has not been easy. It’s not been an easy time and there have been quite a number of intense challenges and a lot of integration and processing and healing within the context of real life, within the context of having this beautiful business, and seeing my in-person clients, and raising my beautiful children, and maintaining the important relationships that are crucial for us. 

So that’s enough of me telling you why this is important to me. We will be absolutely getting back to audiology related topics on the podcast very soon. We’ve got some really cool guests lined up this year. But I really, really want to invite you to join us to All About You 52. There’s links in the show notes. And if you’re on my mailing list, you have gotten some emails from me about it. 

For a lot of us we tend to put ourselves at the bottom of the list of priorities and expenses and things that we need to do and take care of and that is totally natural because for many of us that is a huge part of our role. We are managing our families, and advocating for our children, and doing all the incredible things that you are doing – IEP meetings, and audiology appointments. and all the other appointments that you’re going to. Plus the house and your own job and career and aspirations and relationships. Like there is so much to juggle. So I really wanted to make this easy, easy for you to slip into your week, a short five to seven minute audio that will really help you feel reconnected quickly. A community that keeps you accountable. And it’s going to be weekly. 52 audios and we will be on our way. All right. This is the introduction to All About You 52 and you can listen. I hope it was meaningful to you and please head over to the show notes to Instagram or Facebook or send me a message or anything else to find a link to join us. Without further ado, here it is:

And the goal of mindfulness. You know, sometimes people call it meditation, mindfulness. These are a little bit different. But the idea of mindfulness is really about being aware of how you are feeling, what you’re thinking, what’s going on in your body. And having attention like that you are not spaced out even in your own mind or dissociated like in another place like here and now at this point where your attention is another way of saying that is presence. I have been working on and practicing and have had a consistent practice of [mindfulness] over the last while. And I think the thing that people have a misconception on mindfulness is [that] it’s like clearing your head or not thinking or not having any thoughts. And I think that’s why a lot of people get like upset or scared about it. Because yeah, how could you do that? Like your mind is a constant worrying machine. And it’s not so much the goal at all to clear your head or not think but rather to be aware of what you’re thinking and what patterns are in your thinking, aware of what’s happening in your body at what time. And more, and more that I think is the exact definition of being connected to yourself – not trying to change anything about how you’re feeling but just being more aware of it. 

It’s also coming from so many different traditions around the world and prayer and like there’s so many different ways that that has come and has gotten a lot of attention in the last many years. Recent times. And there’s also tons of apps, there’s retreats. There’s teachers that are teaching this, so many YouTube videos, and just audios that you can get. 

But I have found that for myself and for many of the people I have worked with, who are busy mothers, who are advocates: we got places to be and things to do. A big part of making mindfulness work for me has been micro-dosing doing little bits throughout the day and week and month when it is helpful and appropriate. Rather than I’m going to sit here for six hours on a meditation cushion or on some retreat for a week, right like none of those things are in the cards, I think for most of us, but that doesn’t mean that these tools aren’t super, super valuable and really potent like with small dosages, small time can have a big impact. So, I’m introducing this project for this year, which is All About You 52. And it rhymes. 

And All About You has been a big part of the podcast ever since the beginning. Right, you sharing your story. The podcast has always been about how what’s happening around audiology is actually affecting you and your family and the people around you. People who share their stories: those are the all about you episodes. And so this project All About You 52 is a weekly mindfulness audio library that I will be publishing once a week on Thursdays. And also these journal prompts. And they’re very short. They’re between four and seven minutes – like I’m really trying to keep it around that five minute mark. I have the first five of them recorded for the month of January and the first week of February. Each month has a theme, and I really, really welcome you to our community. 

If this is something that you would like to do. It’s a very, exactly small and perfect addition to your week. So it’s not, you know, weekly calls [or] monthly calls or things that you need to invest a lot of time on; Zoom time and computer time. Especially now that everyone’s actually back in real life. It’s hard to do both right. Thank you for being here today watching the replay as well. And these are the first couple of meditations for January where I’m teaching different techniques just like we did the infinity at the beginning. These are different techniques and it’s not just the same following circle. They’re different because each one is its own way to connect with the breath and connect with yourself and this month and then in other months have it all planned out for six months ahead of time of different techniques and tools and visualizations that can come with you throughout your day. 

And when you join our All About You 52, you also get access to the entire [library] meditation of longer meditations that we have done previously. So there’s all different topics and lengths that you can get there. And so you have access to that entire library as soon as you join. And so you get the short audio. There’s a journal prompt. At first I was thinking of doing a Facebook community. I’m not sure if we’re going to keep the community inside of the teachable platform where these are hosted or actually do another Facebook group. Depends what you guys want. If you want a Facebook community, I can absolutely do that. And then we can post them to there as well. And I think that it would be awesome to have you join us. 

So this is it. This is what we’re working on this week and part of it is to keep me accountable and to keep me creating throughout the year and moving to continually find the tools and things that will help us; that will help all of us. And of course I’m sure there will be other webinars and other topics that are more audiology focused. But I really believe that this is the place where A) I shine and I feel really connected to this process, as you’ve heard from me sharing today. A lot of how this tool and mindfulness has helped me throughout this year. But also I think that it’s a huge part of what is missing for a lot of people on this journey – with the overwhelm, with the fear, with the confusion that happens. There’s a lot of stuff thrown at you but with just a little bit of a container for how to handle those things. I think this is going to be a huge and successful and helpful tool to you in this year.

So that is that. Seven day free trial, then it’s $9 a month. You get the audio meditations, the journal prompts and the whole meditation library, and I’ll see you soon.

Hello and welcome. This is All About You 52.  This is a meditation, visualization, breathing practice, that I am very, very honored to be sharing with you, to work with you. And this is really something that we’re building together accountability that is coming for all of us because the five minutes that we take at the beginning and middle of the week to breathe, reflect and really connect to ourselves can have such an impact on all the other things we’re doing. 

I’m Dr. Lilach Saperstein and we’re going to dive right in. Because we don’t waste time; we don’t have extra. The little bit of time you set aside is very honored. We want to honor that time. And we want to fill each and every second with our presence and our awareness. So on this, I’m going to introduce the All About You 52 project with our very first check in right here. 

And what I’m going to ask you to do is put your hand on your heart to take your hand, place it over your heart, on your chest and be aware. Just start to notice what that action feels like. 

What do you notice about the temperature of your fingers? 

Is it different than how your palm of your hand feels? Notice the warmth or cold. And notice if it changes now that you’re noticing it – not because you’re trying to change it. There’s no right or wrong answer to how you feel.

[exhales] And take a notice if just by the act of putting your hand on your heart and making contact with this area of your body – if that has changed your breathing at all. If you feel a stillness or a restlessness, whatever has come up. 

The point is to notice it. The practice is to notice it. 

Put your hand on your heart and take notice of what kind of breathing you’ve been having, or you’re having at this moment. And if it feels right to take in air and breathe in through your nose. 

And notice how that also makes your chest rise with the influx of air into your lungs. [exhales]  

There may be a lot of feelings or thoughts that are coming up and they’re all perfectly allowed. We don’t have to stop our thoughts. There’s nothing specific we’re supposed to be thinking. This is an exercise in awareness and in giving ourselves an opportunity to observe and look within and feel the sensations in our body. 

At any point in time, throughout the day or night, while you’re driving, while you’re online – you have the opportunity to take your own hand and place it on your heart. I found that in times of conflict, in times of overwhelm – when I’m feeling very activated, very agitated, yelling, screaming, something’s going on – If I can remember just this motion. [exhales] 

It can help you catch your breath. It can help you remember just this action, this anchor – your hand on your chest, your hand on your heart. 

And that is today’s moment. Five minutes in and I bless you for the rest of your day to go on and remember your connection to self and the things that are important to you.

Over the next few weeks we’re going to be talking about different techniques of breathing. And I didn’t even start with breathing because I really wanted us to start from that place of acceptance  – that anyway that we’re breathing – anyway that we’re being right is good – in the present moment. But over the next three weeks throughout the month of January, we’re going to be discussing the techniques of circle breathing, technique of square breathing, and a technique of triangle breathing. So those will be the next three meditations. Thank you for joining me for this project: All About You 52. This is number one. Bye.

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