Powerful Pause Meditation: Post-Audition
This meditation may be helpful to listen to after an audition to help you to develop a positive post-audition mindset.
Once an audition is over it can be hard to let go of it without an answer, closure, or some sort of clarity. This meditation is designed to help calm the mind from any repetitive thoughts by bringing you into the present moment. We then use a gentle body scan (or Yoga Nidra) to notice any thoughts, feelings or emotions which might be present.
15 minute listen. We recommend listening to this meditation with headphones.
Listen to other meditations in the Powerful Pause series.
If you enjoyed this meditation you may also find it helpful to listen to this Pre-Audition Meditation, designed to help you to feel calm, confident and grounded before an audition.
Meditation Transcript
Bea Grist, Health and Wellbeing Manager:
Hello and a really warm welcome to this 15-minute post-audition meditation.
This meditation may be helpful to listen to after an audition or self-tape to support you to develop a positive post-audition mindset.
Once an audition is over it can be hard to let go of it without an answer, closure, or some sort of clarity.
This meditation is designed to help calm the mind from any repetitive thoughts by bringing you into the present moment. We then use a gentle body scan (or Yoga Nidra) to notice any thoughts, feelings or emotions which might be present.
It is the minds job to keep you safe so know that any lingering thoughts about what went right or what went wrong, what could have been different, or maybe what the outcome might be, is just your mind trying to help you. The problem is when these thoughts get overwhelming and all-consuming.
So, all we’re doing in this meditation is simply noticing what is here – without judgement.
Which can be so powerful after an audition when you need to reset. When you need to come back to centre and you want to let go of your experience.
Just noticing. Just bringing an awareness. And we’re just welcoming whatever is here because it is so welcome.
I know that it’s really normal to have these sensations – you’re human! And I’m going to make up that this audition was important, it mattered to you.
So whatever you’re feeling right now, it’s all ok.
So you may have literally just had an audition. Or perhaps it’s been a few hours since you auditioned. Or even a few days, weeks…maybe a few months
Whatever has brought you here, this is a space where you can take some time to decompress. To come back to centre. To rest. To find some peace.
So, the audition is done. And there is nothing else that you need to do right now, apart from be present.
Take moment to thank yourself for showing up today, for hitting play on this meditation. By taking this time for yourself you are prioritising your post-audition self-care. That’s a wonderful thing to do.
So, let’s take a moment to get comfortable
Maybe you’re sitting or perhaps you’re lying down
Just do whatever you need right now to feel relaxed and supported
Let’s begin with the eyes open this time
Just a soft focus
Taking in the space around you
Maybe you’re outside
Maybe you’re inside
Whatever has been your experience
Whatever the mind is making up or distracted with right now
However the body might be feeling
Just for a moment
Letting go.
Just focusing on the space around you
Without moving the eyes
Just taking in the space
Noticing any sounds that might be around you
Sounds that are far away
And sounds that might be nearer to you.
And now just taking a few deep breaths
And on your next breath in
Just hunch your shoulders up to your ears
And then as you breathe out just let your shoulders drop down
And maybe do that a few more times if that feels good for you
Just feeling that sense of letting go
Of releasing anything that maybe isn’t serving you.
Breathing in through the nose
And breathing out through the mouth
As you breathe in just feeling that sense of expansion
Taking in fresh air.
And as the body exhales
Just a sense of letting go of whatever is going on in the mind and the body
And as you breathe out the next time just allowing the eyes to close
Feeling the weight of the body pressing down
That contact with the floor
That feeling of being grounded, supported by the earth.
And if there is any way that you can allow yourself to release more deeply
Allow yourself to do that now.
And as you go through this post-audition meditation
I want to invite you to welcome anything that comes into your awareness
Thoughts may come and go
Just allow them to float through the sky of your mind
Just like clouds.
The mind probably is going to be quite busy
Particularly if you’ve just come from an audition or a self-tape
So just allow the mind to do its own thing
You don’t need to fix or change it
Just giving the mind lots of space
Just allowing the mind to think if it wants to
We’re not trying to stop any thoughts or feelings or control them
We’re just allowing the mind to do whatever it wants to do.
Notice where the mind wants to go
Or if it wants to make up stories about your audition
Maybe what went well
Maybe what didn’t go so well
Maybe there’s a wish or desire for a different experience
Perhaps the mind wants to go in the future
thinking about the possible outcome of the audition
Just becoming aware of the lens through which you’re viewing the experience
Maybe getting curious about the current perspective you’re in
Just noticing
We’re not judging it – we’re just getting curious.
If you find it comforting just placing a hand on your stomach or chest
Just feeling that rising and falling sensation
And we’re just going to use this as a place for the mind to rest
As the thoughts come and go
Just allow them to come and go
And the moment you realise your mind has wondered
Just label the thought as ‘thought’
Because that’s all it is
And you are not your thoughts
Even though the mind might try to convince you otherwise
And whenever you notice that the mind has wandered
It’s a magic moment of awareness
And all you need to do is to
gently bring the mind back to the breath, to my voice
Now we’re going to bring our full attention to the body
Just noticing how the body feels
We’re not judging it – we’re just getting curious
Does the body feel heavy or light right now?
Does it feel spacious or tight?
Restless or still?
Maybe some parts of the body feel more open than others
Just notice
Is there a sense of flow in the body or does it feel a bit stuck?
Just noticing all the sensations in the body.
Just starting at the top of the head
Just gently bring some awareness there
Feeling into the top of the head
The forehead
Your nose
Notice your lips
Upper lip
Lower lip
Notice where your lips touch
Feel the inside of your mouth
Then roof of your mouth
Under your tongue
Your upper teeth and gums
Your lower teeth and gums
Your tongue
The root of your tongue
The centre of your tongue
The tip of your tongue
The taste in your mouth
Feel your left inner cheek
Feel your right inner cheek
Then feel all the parts together as a whole on the inside of your mouth
Notice your eyes
Your ears
Your entire face
Your whole head
Now become aware of the sensations in your neck and throat
Your shoulders and arms
Notice your left arm
The top of your left arm and the bottom of your left arm
Become aware of the top of your right arm and the bottom of your right arm
Feeling into the elbow joints on both arms now
And then feel both arms simultaneously
Bring your awareness to the sensation of your torso
Become aware of the centre of your chest
Notice yourself breathing
Breathing into your belly
Breathing into the sides of your body
Breathing into the back of your body
Bring awareness to the sensation of your legs
Feel the top of your left leg and the bottom of your left leg
Feel the top of your right leg and the bottom of your right leg
Feel both legs together
Now feeling into the left foot, feeling all the bones and tendons, feeling into the top, front and bottom of the foot. Feeling into the toes
Now feeling all the sensations in your right foot, feeling into the top, front and bottom of the right foot and into the toes.
Now feel the entire left side of your body from head to toe
Now feel the entire right side of your body from head to toe
Left side
Right side
And then feel both sides together
Now feel your whole body
Just noticing all the sensations
Just scanning the body with a gentle loving awareness
Welcoming and witnessing whatever is arising in this moment
Knowing that you are safe
You have everything you need.
And just becoming aware of the mind again
Giving it lots of space if it wants to think
Just allowing any thoughts to come and go.
Just giving plenty of space to the body and mind
And meeting yourself wherever you’re at in this moment
Knowing that process of letting go has at least begun
Slowly bringing attention back to the body again
Feeling that contact and the weight of the body pressing down
Beginning to notice the space around you
Any sounds that might be present
And then when you feel ready
