Releasing Expectations: The Freedom Of Allowing

So hi everyone and welcome.

So today I invite you to experience the deep relief and freedom that comes from releasing expectation.

Now many of us move through life carrying heavy burdens,

Expectations of how things should be,

How others should act,

How we should feel,

How we should perform.

And these expectations,

Which are often unconscious,

Create tension,

Disappointment,

Resistance to what is.

Now just think for a moment,

How does it feel when reality doesn't match your expectations?

Perhaps I feel a relationship isn't developing as I hoped,

My career hasn't followed the path that I planned in my mind,

Or my body doesn't respond to healing as quickly as I expected.

And in these gaps between expectation and reality,

We often find suffering.

But we can explore another way to live,

Which is allowing life to unfold without any demands about how it should look.

And this absolutely doesn't mean giving up on your dreams or having no boundaries,

But it simply means holding the vision of what you want lightly,

While remaining open to the wisdom of what actually emerges.

Today's meditation offers a gentle practice in releasing the grip of expectation and discovering the space that awaits when we allow life to flow more naturally.

So let's begin this journey towards freedom and embracing the art of allowing.

Now as we settle in,

Find a comfortable position for yourself,

Sitting up or lying down.

Close your eyes if that feels comfortable for you.

I will simply start by finding our breath.

So wherever I am,

Sitting up,

Lying down,

On the chair,

On the mat,

Wherever else you are,

Find your breath.

I'm now dropping my attention to my breathing.

And this may look like me breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth.

Taking a deep breath in through your nose and releasing it slowly through your mouth.

Now take another deep breath in.

Now exhale completely.

With each breath,

Feel yourself settling more fully into the moment,

Into your body,

Into a state of receptive awareness.

And let your breathing now find its natural rhythm.

There is no need to control or change anything.

Simply notice the gentle flow of your breath.

As you continue breathing naturally,

Notice any expectations that you might be carrying right now.

Perhaps even expectations about this meditation.

How should it feel?

What should I experience?

Maybe about your day?

What you should accomplish today,

Tomorrow?

How future events should unfold?

Or maybe deeper expectations about your life,

Your work,

Your relationships,

Or yourself.

We are just going to let these expectations come up.

And we are just going to notice them without judgment.

They are neither good or bad.

They are simply patterns of thought that we have learned to create.

Notice these expectations without judgment.

Now,

You can also perhaps notice where you feel these expectations in your body.

Maybe tension on your shoulders.

Maybe tightness in your chest.

Maybe it's a knot in your stomach.

Whatever it is that you are aware of,

Just know that these physical sensations are often important messengers.

Showing us how expectation has the potential to create tension.

So watch,

Notice,

And observe.

As you may be aware of certain thoughts,

Certain sensations,

Certain memories,

Certain people,

Certain areas of your life,

I'm now going to invite you to visualize all your expectations as physical objects you've been carrying.

And there is no right or way of doing this.

Your body knows exactly what it is bringing up.

Now,

A visual representation of my expectation in my mind's eye may look like heavy stones,

Ropes,

A heavy box,

A backpack,

Anything.

And to give it a little bit more intention,

See yourself holding these expectations now.

Maybe in your arms,

Carrying it on your shoulders,

Or in a heavy bag you've been dragging behind you.

Just feel the weight of this in your body now,

And notice how much energy it takes to keep carrying them.

And now,

As you may be aware of a visual representation of this energy,

Whatever is showing up for you,

Now we'll visualize a beautiful,

Safe space where we can set these expectations down.

It can perhaps be a stream besides you,

Or maybe the ground in front of you.

Or you may just want to see,

Sense,

Or visualize this thing lift off from you,

Up into the universe.

I am now ready to set these expectations down,

One by one.

And as you are doing this process now,

As we are doing this process now to move this energy,

You can silently say this to yourself,

I release this expectation with love.

I trust in what will be.

I don't need to carry this.

I release the expectation that life should follow my plan.

I release the expectation that life should follow my plan.

Now,

You may be feeling sensations,

Warmth,

Cold,

Tingling in your body.

They are all possible signs of energy shifting and moving.

So just allow this process to complete.

You may even feel physical relief,

Slowly,

As you are doing this process.

Now,

With my body and my heart feeling lighter,

I also want to explore now what it feels like to simply allow.

And allowing doesn't mean not caring.

It means going through life with an open hand,

Rather than a closed fist.

Open and receptive,

But not grasping or holding on to anything.

Now,

For the next few seconds,

We'll breathe into the space of allowing.

As you continue breathing this space of allowing,

Just recognize the wisdom that is already there in this moment.

Now,

Life and events unfold,

And there are countless factors that contribute to any single event or experience.

Most of them are beyond our control.

Most of them are beyond our conscious understanding.

And when we release rigid expectations,

We open ourselves to the larger wisdom.

We also become available to solutions,

Maybe new paths that we never imagined.

Now,

Bring to mind a situation in your life where you've been holding expectations.

Imagine now approaching this situation with the same open hands that you're embodying right now.

I am not controlling.

I am not demanding.

I am in this space of allowing,

And I'm open to new possibilities.

Now,

To bring healing into this situation,

You can place your hand on your heart.

If that feels supportive,

Now you can silently say this to yourself or receive my words.

I allow myself to be exactly as I am in this moment.

I allow this person,

This situation,

This event,

This experience to be exactly as it is.

I trust that this will unfold in its own perfect timing,

Exactly the way it has to.

I allow,

I allow,

I allow.

And feel the deep relief now that comes with this allowing.

Now,

As we're coming to the end of this practice,

We recognize that releasing expectation doesn't mean abandoning our dreams or not having healthy boundaries.

It simply means holding our intentions with an open hand.

Setting a course,

A path,

While remaining flexible about how it unfolds.

Having a direction without rigid demands.

Caring without controlling.

Now,

With your hand on your heart,

Imagine yourself moving through life with this balance.

That I am clear in my intentions,

But I am flexible in my expectations in how it unfolds.

I am open to the wisdom now beyond the planning of my mind.

And feel the freedom and the lightness and the relief that it brings.

Openness to life's unfolding.

Now know that you can return to the space of allowing any time.

The freedom that you may have felt today remains available to you at all times.

Now,

Once again,

You bring your awareness very gently back to your breath.

Feeling the support beneath you.

Notice the temperature of the air on your skin.

Feeling the sensation of your feet on the floor.

You can wiggle your fingers,

Wiggle your toes.

You can move your neck side to side.

And whenever you're ready,

You're very welcome at this stage to open your eyes.

So the practice of releasing expectation and embracing allowing is one we can return to again and again.

Each time we set down these burdens,

We reclaim energy that can flow with life.

Now in days ahead,

You might notice moments when expectation creates tension.

And in these moments,

Just remember the feeling that you touched upon today.

Setting down the weight,

Allowing life to breathe and move through you rather than demanding life to go as per your plans.

And this simple shift from expectation to allowing can transform not only how you feel,

But how you relate to everything in your life.

Thank you very much for joining me in this practice of releasing and allowing.

And Namaste.