Hi and welcome,
My name is Mario and I'm a mindfulness teacher who has Usher Syndrome,
Which is a condition that causes both hearing and sight loss.
So I'm no stranger to limitations and all the baggage that comes along with it,
Such as frustration or pain or the feeling of being seen as less than.
And this short meditation isn't about fixing or escaping from any of that,
It's about meeting life as it is,
Without judgement,
Without resistance,
Just honest awareness.
So let's begin by getting you comfortable.
You don't need to sit a certain way or breathe a certain way.
You don't need to change your experience right now.
Just be here exactly as you are.
We're not trying to achieve anything,
Not trying to fix,
Improve or heal.
We are simply watching,
Listening,
Being still without forcing stillness.
Perhaps the body is in pain,
Perhaps there's frustration or tiredness.
Perhaps the mind is restless,
Demanding something to change.
Can we notice whatever it may be for you,
But not as a problem,
But as a fact?
You live with limitation.
Perhaps it's in the body,
In the senses,
Or it might even be what others assume about you.
But limitation is not the end of life.
It is life.
It's what's happening right now.
It's your experience,
Which is real.
So can we meet this directly,
Without resentment,
Without resistance,
Without naming it as good or bad?
Allow yourself to hold your limitation in your mind.
Watch it like you'd watch a bird flying from tree to tree.
See the movement of it.
Notice what thoughts try to do with this fact of your limitation.
You don't need to pretend to be positive.
You don't need to convince yourself that it's all okay.
Because sometimes it isn't okay.
Sometimes it hurts.
Sometimes it's lonely.
Can you stay with that,
Just for a moment,
Without running away?
See the truth of your limitation.
This is not self-pity.
This is not self-improvement.
This is intelligence.
Being in direct contact with reality without distorting it.
Because when we resist something,
It creates a divide within us between what is and what we think should be.
The world may look at you and see limitation,
But what matters is what do you see?
Are you watching through the eyes of comparison?
Are you measuring yourself against who you used to be,
Or who you think you should be?
Or are you seeing now,
As it is,
Without the interference of thought?
We're not here to accept or reject what is.
We're here to see.
To see clearly.
To see without the noise of judgment,
Hope,
Or fear.
And perhaps in this seeing,
Something quiet begins to emerge.
Not comfort,
Not relief,
But clarity.
A clarity that has no opposite.
It doesn't say,
This should not be.
It only says,
This is.
And from that ground of simple truth,
Action may arise.
Or stillness.
The important thing is that whatever happens is not born out of resistance.
But it's born out of understanding.
So sit here.
Stay a while.
Feel the weight of the body.
The movement of thought.
The texture of emotion.
You are not broken.
You are not less than.
You are not more than.
You are simply here,
As you are.
And perhaps that is enough.
If you've enjoyed this talk,
Please feel free to follow or leave a review.
It really helps me out.
And I'm also open to any suggestions you may have regarding future talks on the topic of disabilities or limitations.
Thank you for listening.
And until next time,
Stay present.
