Hello,
My good friends.
I was recently sitting with a friend who was having a tough day,
And so this session is for anyone that's having a tough moment and just wants to empower their presence and radically shift.
My friend was in this particular moment feeling like the world was conspiring against them.
Everywhere they looked,
Injustice,
Control,
Attack.
The last few months had been incredibly difficult.
We ended up doing something simple yet powerful,
And I want to share it with you.
There are just three simple steps.
Using five breaths,
Naming the now,
And creating your future memory.
So first,
Just find a comfortable place where you can close your eyes.
Maybe put some headphones on if you're in a place where others can hear.
You can be lying down and sitting.
And just begin by letting the eyelids close.
And we're just going to take five simple conscious breaths together.
Feeling the cool inhale fill the belly and the warm exhale soften the edges.
Each breath an opportunity to radically drop in and let go of anything that your day may have had for you.
And just let your breath be watched,
Felt,
Savored.
And let this last breath be the one that softens you the most,
That surrenders any hardness that you can feel.
Now this next process is called naming the now.
It's about getting clear and noticing what is.
The key here is to be quite literal and just to notice what really is in this moment,
In the here and now.
This is an invitation into presence.
You and I aren't trying to ever get rid of any challenging emotions like anxiety or depression.
We just want to feel them when they're helpful.
In other words,
We want to feel safe when we're safe.
And we want to feel great when life is great.
Yet we know that our past experiences,
Color,
Are present.
So it's not always easy to tune in to the way our life is.
So if our life experiences in the past have been less than supportive,
We may at times feel unsupported,
Even when the sweet earth would never let us fall.
Here's how it works.
Start with global questions.
Are you physically safe right now?
You might open your eyes if you need to and just have a look around.
If for any reason you don't feel safe now,
Just stop and move yourself to a place where you're out of immediate danger.
And then start again.
Notice the nature of safety around you once it's there.
Is anything attacking?
Are you being bitten or hurt physically in any way?
Just savor the safeness of the room,
The space you're in,
Your surroundings.
Next,
Do you have food,
Water,
Shelter,
And all the necessities of life?
Just the things you need to be alive right now.
Is there enough?
Once again,
Just notice and savor and drink in what you notice.
Do you have enough?
Do you have what you need?
Next,
We're going to move on to noticing the nature of things around you.
Begin by just allowing yourself to dwell on the gifts around you.
What are you sitting on or lying on?
Is it soft?
Is it supportive?
Is it comforting?
What are your clothes like?
What are their textures like?
Are they comfortable?
Are they supportive?
Are they taking care of your needs in terms of clothing?
Can you see nature out a window or can you step outside?
Can you let your feet touch the earth?
Can you breathe the fresh air?
Can you see clouds or sky or trees or grass?
Are they beautiful?
Are they kind?
Is nature okay?
Is everything around you okay?
Just take a moment and notice the nature of things without your thoughts about them,
Without any story.
And if you're in a city,
Is the city okay?
Is the concrete okay or the buildings all right?
Notice the is-ness of everything around you.
You can make a habit of this as you just walk through your world rather than being caught up in the continual flow of thoughts and all of the problems that you and I can be engaged in resolving through our day.
We can just spend a little bit of time noticing everything's all right.
The punchline is it will all work out.
The universe is a continual working out.
You and I are a result of all the working out.
And just as the sun is okay,
Even though it's a nuclear explosion,
You and I are also okay.
The plants and animals and creatures of the world are unutterably themselves and everything is there just as you are in its okayness.
All right,
Last step,
Create your future memory.
Now if you've gone outside or you've traveled a little or opened your eyes or shifted,
We want to find another comfortable position.
Allow the eyes to close.
Creating your future memory is a way of visualizing.
We often visualize the worst possible outcomes.
We focus on giving a terrible speech or things working out atrociously and we can become very fearful and worried of a future.
Now no matter what we visualize,
Things may always be slightly different.
And so here we're noticing that visualization is the key to our future,
Good,
Bad,
Or indifferent.
And we're the ones in control.
So we can empower this incredible tool.
Paramahansa Yogananda,
The Hindu monk,
Yogi and guru who introduced millions in the West to create yoga and who was the founder of the Self-Realization Fellowships,
He says,
Proper visualization is the exercise of concentration and willpower.
It enables us to materialize thoughts not only as dreams or visions in the mental realm but also as experiences in the material realm.
So let's give it a try.
Eyes closed down.
Imagine a time or recall a feeling of your most high state,
Confident,
Motivated,
Strong,
Playful.
Remember a time when you were untouchable.
Take that feeling of being on top of the mountain and I want you to amplify it.
Let your body,
Your breath,
And your way of being in this moment do nothing but make it true.
And then just notice that you can.
Next I want you to jump into your future some amount of time,
Just beyond whatever it is that your current concern is.
So maybe you're jumping a month or two into the future or maybe even just a few days if there's something urgent coming your way.
See yourself in that future and imagine that everything has worked out just the way that it has.
Now if there is some impending concern or fear,
Some change,
Something you know is about to happen,
Then just imagine that that thing has happened,
The change has occurred.
Maybe a person has done something or some aspect of your life has changed.
Just imagine yourself in that future.
But notice now that this time you feel that sense of confidence,
Motivation,
Strength,
Playfulness,
That very same empowerment.
You're in the future and yet you've pivoted,
You've healed,
You've found new incredible ways to deal with anything that's come.
In fact you're growing from the adversity.
You notice that the adversity itself is what's making you grow.
It's like your fertilizer,
You're bouncing off of the challenges.
See yourself there feeling and looking as though you were a virtual superhero in the midst of adversity or in the midst of bliss.
Maybe everything has worked out.
However you see yourself there,
Having rocked it,
Having overcome,
And just notice what would a superhero be without adversity?
That's not the world that you and I crave.
We're ready.
We're unstoppable.
We will shift,
We will move,
We will grow.
And in the very end of this great gift we will experience the ultimate growth,
The ultimate transformation and we're absolutely assured to succeed.
Let's let life be our finest perfect teacher.
And lastly perhaps a small smile across your face.
Coming back to your breath.
Taking five slow deep conscious breaths.
This time with a different feeling behind the forehead.
A little more delight.
A little more certainty.
A knowingness.
A calmness.
Letting your sand settle.
Letting your edges soften.
Let this last breath be your deepest filling the belly,
Chest,
Side ribs.
And then just letting it all go on the exhale.
And when you're ready coming back into the room.
Thank you for your explorations,
For your playfulness,
For your bravery.
I hope you have an incredible day.
