So I invite you to still yourself,
To quiet yourself,
To let yourself experience moments of boredom.
Close your eyes.
You could be standing or sitting or lying down during this time,
Slowing down,
Taking stock first of just where you are when you come into this moment.
Tense,
Easy,
Anxious,
Relaxed,
Quiet,
Noisy inside.
You don't judge it,
You just take it in.
And acknowledge where you find yourself at this very moment.
That's okay.
Wherever you are is valid and can't be controlled.
But you don't have to stay there,
And that's hopefully where we're going to go today.
So breathing in deeply,
Just slowing down,
Going inside,
Into the senses away from the thoughts.
Bringing your thoughts deeper into your breath.
Breathing slowly,
Profoundly,
All the way down.
Taking long inhales.
Taking long inhales,
Slow exhales,
Letting go.
Growing deep.
Let your head and neck and shoulders get heavy.
Even as your spine and your chest and your spirit get light and float,
Sinking in,
Floating up.
Noticing if you can your pulse slowing down.
Today we're going to draw our mind to teachers and students.
Mentors,
Those we've mentored.
Instructors and clients in whatever field you might find yourself.
As you continue to breathe deeply and slowly and evenly,
Draw to mind someone who is a teacher to you.
Could be literally a teacher,
An author,
A therapist,
A parent,
A coach,
A friend.
Someone who gave of themselves and their passions.
Breathing.
Feel that feeling of love and respect.
Something they gave to you as their learner.
Slowing down.
Breathing in.
Deeply.
Out.
Slowly.
Did this teacher,
In whatever form they took,
Shower you with love and wisdom?
Draw you more fully into the best version of yourself.
Doesn't a mentor believe in you more than you know how to believe in yourself?
Continuing to breathe.
Let's transition to a moment or moments or roles in your life where you were the teacher,
The mentor,
The coach.
To a child,
A teammate,
A coworker.
Picture it in your mind's eye.
Fill in the context and the environment of that teaching.
What did it feel like to delight in another person's learning and success?
Breathing.
What did it feel like to pass your legacy to them?
Recall what it was like to believe in someone.
A child,
A client,
A congregant.
More than they knew how to believe in themselves at that moment.
Breathing.
Settling down.
Did you love that person into a deeper life?
A richer life.
With more whole sense of her or himself or their self.
Breathing in deeply.
And out slowly.
Exhaling the love of teacher to student.
Now draw into yourself.
Think of yourself,
The link in a chain or chains of tradition.
Part of a legacy.
Breathing in.
Find the power and the strength of a wisdom,
Tradition,
And heritage.
Because you were taught,
So too you taught.
Something as simple as riding a bike.
Passing a soccer ball.
You are part of an unbroken chain.
A civilization of teachers and students.
Slowing down,
Taking all that in.
Absorbing the gratitude for those who came before you.
As you inhale.
And as you exhale,
Sending out joy to those who follow you.
Continuing to breathe in recognition of your teachers and your students.
And the traditions you transmit.
And the planet.
