Calm The Nervous System With Deep Stress Relief W/ Dr. Hill

Tonight in our meditation,

To begin with,

I'd love to start with a meditation that's based on compassion.

What inspired this meditation was actually right before I got on,

Like two hours ago,

I cut my thumb.

I was cutting a tomato and my son,

Who's a chef,

Sharpened the knives two weeks ago.

And so I cut a tomato and cut my thumb in the process.

And the very first thing I did with my other thumb was text my good friend,

Who's also my Sangha co-leader.

I have a Sangha here in Santa Barbara.

And I texted him.

He happens to be an ER doctor.

These are good friends to have.

You want an ER doctor on your friend list.

And I said,

I took a picture and I said,

Do I go to urgent care or can I do the Sangha?

And he didn't text me back because he's training other doctors.

But you know what?

Just having that person to text,

That person to reach out to,

That secure relationship helped me get the courage to wait it out,

See it stop bleeding,

Wrap it up for myself,

Practice a little self-compassion and be here.

I'm going to live.

So tonight in our meditation,

What I would like to do is for us to begin,

Even before we think about offering our wisdom and our generosity and our kindness,

Is to receive the generosity and kindness and compassion that we've received over our lifetime and open our hearts and bodies to that.

Because it is a reminder that from that space,

We can also give our wisest self,

We've received the wisdom of others and we can give the wisdom back.

So we're going to practice that and we'll get started.

So go ahead and get yourself into whatever position is position that feels right for your body tonight and today.

And I like to do that check-in because there's many meditation positions we can be in.

What I've learned from Thich Nhat Hanh and Plum Village is that lying down is a meditation position,

Standing is a meditation position,

Walking is a meditation position.

I saw a client today who has a very bad back and he asked to walk for our therapy session.

So if your back needs you to walk,

You could walk even.

And sitting is a meditation position.

But no matter what position you're in,

You are making contact with this ground.

And you can place your hands in whatever position feels right for you today in this moment.

You can close your eyes or you can leave your eyes gently open.

But here you are,

Yes,

You are making contact with this ground.

Our very sort of relationship that we forget is always here,

The relationship with the earth,

This living,

Breathing earth underneath us.

And the relationship with the earth is a solid one.

The ground beneath your feet,

The ground beneath your back.

It's so solid that when you push down,

You can press down a little bit.

It lifts you up.

So could you press down into this relationship and feel yourself being lifted up,

Lifting up through the base of the spine,

The middle of the spine,

The back of the neck,

All the way up through the crown of your head,

Just through this relationship with the earth.

And breathing in,

I have arrived.

Breathing out,

I am solid.

That we borrow this solidity in this relationship with our earth.

Thank you to this earth for being a solid form to sit on,

Stand on,

Lie on.

Breathing in,

I've arrived.

Breathing out,

I am solid.

And you can just repeat those words for yourself right now,

The energetic connection to our earth,

This relationship.

Breathing in,

I have arrived.

Breathing out,

I am solid.

And so we have this relationship with the ground underneath us that sometimes we forget is there supporting us,

But is always there,

Solid for us.

And then you can imagine at the front of your heart,

Right in front of you,

Is a person,

Maybe two people,

Or even a group that represents love,

Compassion,

That you feel loved by.

And if there's no one currently in your life,

You can think about over your history of somebody who made you feel loved,

Or maybe even an animal that makes you feel loved.

And imagine that being in front of you.

And feel your energetic connection to them from the front of your heart,

This energetic connection of love.

Breathing in,

I receive love.

Breathing out,

I feel loved.

Breathing in,

I receive love.

Breathing out,

I feel loved.

So you feel this solid earth underneath you.

And you feel this person,

Or these people,

Or this being in front of you,

Receiving love and feel that energetic love at the front of your heart.

And at the back of your heart,

Imagining behind you,

There is a person,

Or animal,

Or group of people whom you have felt the support,

The courage,

The backing from.

Who has backed you?

Who has supported you?

It could be a teacher,

A friend.

You can collect a group of people behind you.

And you can feel the energetic support at your back,

The hands at your back,

Holding you,

Supporting you,

Physically,

Emotionally,

Maybe even financially,

Or housing-wise.

You feel the support.

Feel their hands at your back.

Breathing in,

I feel supported.

Breathing out,

I receive support.

Breathe in that support at your back.

Receive the support.

So imagining the people,

And it may be friends,

But it also may be the support of our service people,

The support of people at work,

The support of your teachers,

Mentors,

The support of the sangha,

The support of teachers that you've read.

Feel that support at your back,

How you can sit taller,

You can feel stronger.

Breathing in,

I receive support.

Breathing out,

I feel supported.

And then bringing awareness to your third eye,

The seed of wisdom right at the middle of your forehead,

Like a light.

And at your third eye,

You can begin to see people,

Spiritual figures,

Plants,

Or animals,

Or even natural spaces that have offered you great wisdom.

Great wisdom.

Breathing in,

I receive wisdom.

Imagine that wisdom entering in through your third eye,

Into your body,

Into every single cell.

Breathing in,

I receive wisdom.

Breathing out,

I feel wise.

Breathing in,

I receive wisdom.

Through that third eye,

And breathing out,

It enters every cell of my body.

I feel wise.

The wisdom of your ancestors,

The wisdom of your spiritual teachers,

The wisdom of the ocean and the mountains,

Whatever wisdom you've received in your life,

Breathing in,

Receive it through your third eye.

And breathe it out,

Send it to every cell in your being.

Filling up your cells with wisdom.

And then we can move to our throat,

Where we have the courage to speak the truth,

To stand up and say something.

Our throat,

Where we have the courage to stand up for others.

To be our own inner authority.

Our authentic voice.

And in front of you stands,

Right in front of your throat,

People or groups that represent this clear voice,

This courageous voice,

This truthfulness.

Who have shown that to you and encouraged that in you.

Imagine these people and these groups in front of you,

Right in front of your throat,

Connecting energetically with your throat and your voice.

Breathing in,

I receive that truth.

Truthfulness.

And breathing out,

I allow that to enter every cell of my body.

Truthfulness.

Clear voice.

Breathing in,

Truthfulness.

Clarity of speech.

And breathing out,

Allowing that to enter every cell of your body.

So that you are made up of the solid ground beneath you.

You can feel it under you.

That solidity and that strength.

You are made up of love.

You can feel that at the front of your heart.

Entering into you.

Part of who you are.

You are made up of support.

You can feel that at the back of you.

Holding you up.

Long,

Solid spine.

You are made up of wisdom.

You feel the wisdom right at the third eye.

Entering into you like a light.

You are made up of truth.

You receive the truth.

So that you can speak the truth.

You are interconnected.

And with all of this relational energy,

Pulsing through your blood,

In your cells,

In your body,

In your being.

The relational energy of being a ground for somebody.

Of loving somebody.

Of supporting somebody.

Of being wise for somebody.

Of telling the truth to somebody.

All this relational energy is inside of you.

And now I would like for you to imagine somebody or some group or some animal or some plant or some place on our planet that you would like to offer this relational energy to.

You're so full.

You're so abundant.

You have so much of it to offer.

So imagine that person,

That group,

That plant or animal or place and connect with them.

Breathing in,

I feel grounded.

Breathing out,

I send you ground.

Send them ground to stand on.

Solidity.

Breathing in,

I feel solid.

Breathing out,

May you feel solid too.

Send that to them.

Wish that for them.

Breathing in,

I feel love.

Feel that love fill your whole body and being.

Breathing out,

I send you love.

Send it out through the front of your heart.

Breathing in,

I feel love.

Breathing out,

I send you love.

Breathing in,

I feel supported.

Feel that support at your back.

Breathing out,

I send you support.

Imagine your hands at their back.

Sending support,

Holding them up.

Breathing in,

I feel wise.

Feel that wisdom at the third eye.

Breathing out,

I see you are wise.

See the wisdom and send them wisdom to their third eye.

Breathing in,

I feel wise.

Breathing out,

I see that you are wise.

Contacting your throat.

Breathing in,

I speak the truth.

Breathing out,

I send you courage to speak your truth.

Breathing in,

I speak the truth.

Breathing out,

I send you courage to speak your truth.

Sending that out.

And we can sit here in this collective strength of relationship.

Giving and receiving.

Supporting.

Grounding.

Loving.

Knowing.

Speaking from our most wisest selves.

And feel what it feels like to give and receive in this way.

This is wise effort.

This is regenerative.

This is wise relationship.

Giving and receiving that which is good.

Strengthening.

Amplifying.

Encouraging.

Trusting.

And connecting back down with this earth again.

And all the beings.

Tiny beings.

And big beings on this earth that we share.

I'm going to close our meditation with a poem by Rosemary Trommer about earthworms.

We forget to thank for all that they do.

On a day when the world is weighty,

Dark,

And dense with need,

I want to be the earthworm that gives itself to tunneling its every movement and act of bringing spaciousness.

And when minutes feel crushed by urgency,

I want to meet the world worm-like,

Which is to stay grounded,

Consistent,

Even slow.

No matter how desperate the situation,

The worm does not tunnel faster,

Nor burrow more.

It knows it can take decades to build fine soil.

To whatever is compacted,

The worm offers its good worm work,

Quietly bringing ferocity to what is trodden,

Compressed.

So often in my rush to repair,

I end up exhausted.

Let my gift to the world be my constancy,

A devotion to openness,

My willingness to be with what is.

Let my gift to myself be patience.

As I tend what is dense and dark.

Namaste.

I bring my hands together,

And I offer three bows to the three refuges when I close meditations.

And the first refuge that I take is refuge in my teachers,

The teachings,

The Dharma.

So I bow to my teachers and teachings,

Including the earthworms.

They're included in that bow.

And the next refuge I take is in myself,

My wisest version of me,

My true nature.

I bow to my true nature.

And then the last refuge I take is in my community,

My Sangha,

The Sangha.

I bow to all of you for showing up.