Living With Ease - LIVE Talk & Practice (07/13/22)

Hi everyone,

Welcome to this special Wednesday Life!

So today's topic is living with ease.

Just listen to that,

Living with ease.

Isn't that something that we just would wish ourselves,

Would wish anyone in our lives,

Anyone even the people that we don't know,

To live with ease.

How good would it be if we would all be able to live with ease.

So I'm going to tell you a little bit more about this but let's take a few minutes for folks to drop in and I would love to hear from you who you are,

Where you are from in the world because I so love this international community,

People from all over.

I'm residing in the Netherlands as you might hear from my accent.

I'm not a native English speaker but I am Dutch so I'm one of the meditation teachers in an insight timer.

I create guided tracks,

Courses,

Workshops.

It's also possible to do one-on-one mentoring.

What is my background?

Well,

I have a pretty rich background.

So I once started in my 20s.

I went to theatre school and I became a professional actor and I was acting on TV and in theatre for quite some time.

At a certain moment I also started to write for television to be a screenwriter.

When I got children I really found it hard to combine acting with having kids and also I was really curious,

You know,

To learn again.

So I went back to study.

I went to university and I studied political science and at first I just did it to inform myself to get some more understanding of our world because up till then I was mainly busy with understanding myself and people.

But then I found that I really love to do research and basically when I look back now it's all the same.

I'm always curious about why people are doing what they're doing,

Why people are thinking what they're thinking and as an actor I was trying to investigate that and also as a scholar I'm investigating that because I did a PhD,

I'm now a professor at the university where I do research and I teach.

And then a little bit more than four years ago,

Already being a meditator for quite some years I decided to get a training to become a meditation teacher and I think also there I find the same thing.

Meditation is such a beautiful instrument for us to start to understand ourselves and through ourselves,

Also others.

It's a beautiful tool for self-reflection.

It's a beautiful tool for growth,

For healing,

For empowering and that's exactly what I'm trying to teach here.

So I'm bringing everything I know together in what I offer here on Inside Timer and especially in his weekly lives where I always speak about a different topic but at a core always stands you,

You and your world.

Because I know that when people become gentle towards themselves and for gentle you can say kind,

You can say loving,

You can say compassionate,

You can say patient,

You can use all kind of words.

I love to use the word gentleness,

Self-gentleness,

That's a concept that I've been coining for the last few months,

That when people become more gentle towards themselves something shifts,

Something changes.

You start to empower yourself and everything changes when you become gentle to yourself,

The way you are living,

The way you are looking at yourself and also the way you are interacting with others and on top of that the way people start to interact with you because you are radiating something else,

You are communicating something else and that always has a response.

So if you take a look at everything I created for Inside Timer,

Whether it's a guided track,

Whether it's a course,

Whether it's a workshop,

Whether it's a one-on-one mentoring sessions,

That always stands central that I want to empower you,

To self-empower you because you know I can speak a lot which you hear now and you will hear a little bit more and I can teach you things and I can tell you about things but I so believe that you are capable of doing this all by yourself and I just want to be there to guide you a little bit,

To point out where you could go.

So that is I think in a nutshell what I'm doing here on Inside Timer,

What makes my heart beat,

Why I'm here every week because I so much love it to speak about these things and to meet people in my life.

I only know your names but there are so many names that are coming back and back and some of them I see also in my workshops so I really feel that I'm making friends here and I see people grow,

I see people hearing things and then experiencing it for themselves and really taking different,

Making different decisions and I so love that.

Living with ease,

That's the topic today.

Tomorrow the topic is what your emotions are telling you and Friday the topic is going to be setting boundaries and then I also have a workshop coming up,

Coming Sunday,

There's still some seats if you would like to join,

It's a half day retreat where we're going to learn how to deal with emotions.

In four hours,

A little bit more because we take small breaks in between,

In four hours we're going to dive deep into what emotions are,

What they're telling you,

How you can deal with them,

How you can make sure you're not overwhelmed by them,

How you can make sure how you can feel them,

Whatever your questions are about emotions we're going to address those in that workshop.

Today living with ease and you just heard me speak about self gentleness,

You heard me tell you about how I believe that when you become gentle to yourself everything changes for you but also in the way you interact with others and I don't mean just your family or your friends,

I really literally mean the rest of the world,

People you meet,

People in your society,

In your community,

Even in the world when you take a look at the news,

When you take a look at people in need,

When you take a look at hateful people,

Your perspective shifts and you start to act in a different way which is self empowering and which is kinder towards yourself and with that attitude,

With that position so many things are changing and I think one of the core elements of being kind and gentle to yourself is living with ease.

So what is living with ease?

I think sometimes when I look around in our societies,

When I look around at what we teach our kids in high school,

With all good intentions,

What we teach our kids in colleges and universities,

I mean I'm also a teacher at the university and I see it there also happening,

We have a specific framework and we tell our children and we tell ourselves we have to work hard to be successful,

We have to push ourselves if we cannot anymore,

We have to make sure that we can do this and this,

We have to make sure that we build big resumes,

We have to make sure that we make enough money and I mean if it's not enough then preferably more,

We push ourselves a lot.

And if you're someone who really loves that and thrives by pushing yourself,

You know,

Because there are a lot of people that are like that,

That's perfectly fine but also now that a lot of people are not so consciously and deliberately in that race,

In being held accountable by that pressure because those expectations from the society very often become our own expectations.

And the word ease,

The feeling of ease is very often disappearing from our lives because we have to do so many things,

We have to-do lists and you know at a certain point I realized that I had a to-do list and I had a I want to list and every time I wanted to do something from my I want to list,

I was not allowing myself because I had this to-do list and I felt I first had to go over all the to-do,

To-do,

To-do and that was at work and family and even you know seeing friends because you feel that you didn't see each other enough so you have to see them which can be really lovely but sometimes you know we put these pressures,

We have these expectations of how we should stand in life,

How we should behave ourselves,

How we should,

How much energy we have to put in things that I never got or not enough to my I want list or when I finally was done with my to-do list and I came to my I want list,

I was just tired and I didn't want to do anything,

Not even the things that I wanted to do.

So the word ease is a really important word for me so I like to call myself a previous perfectionist meaning someone that used to be perfectionist,

Someone that really had high expectations of herself,

That was pushing herself really,

Really to limits to you know to not so much in a competitive sense because I've never been a competitive person but I was always competitive with myself,

I always wanted to improve myself,

To better myself and until a certain moment I realized that I was doing a lot of things that I was expecting for myself but I didn't know so well anymore why I was expecting those things.

So this has been already a long time ago since I was there,

Meditation turned out to be a really great tool for me because by meditating I had to take it easy,

When you meditate you're calming down,

You're calming your body,

You're calming your mind,

You're calming your spirits,

You're calming your heart and it comes a different sense.

So you might notice feeling that you know when you're a meditator and then you think ooh I have to meditate but I don't have time to meditate but then anyway you sit because you know it's good for you or you just want to do it and then when you're in meditation there comes a moment and sometimes it's already after a few minutes or a few seconds and sometimes it really is only at the end but then there comes that moment that you feel that everything drops off,

That this time pressure that you thought you had suddenly falls off because you're meditating and everything is well because you're right here in the moment and everything is okay.

And then when you continue in your day suddenly everything becomes easier,

Everything becomes more pleasant and things go faster.

So a beautiful example that I had when I was writing up my dissertation I got in a writer's block at a certain moment and it had to do with expectations that I thought others would have because I was writing a political psychological dissertation and that is something that not all political scientists like so I was really really busy with how to word it,

How to write it up that I would convince the sceptical scholars that would read it and I got stuck because of that.

So at a certain point I just decided very bravely I think to just stop,

Stop writing,

Stop working,

Stop thinking,

Stop worrying that I would never finish it and I just thought I'm not going to write until I feel again that I want to write because now it's just a having to,

I'm pushing myself,

I'm,

It's not comfortable and I hardly get anything on the paper so I'm just going to stop,

I'm not going to do anything.

And that took a lot of trust because it was really really scary to have your days going by because I allowed myself to do literally nothing.

It was in the winter so I have a wood burner so I would just you know get up,

Do my stuff and then put on the wood burner and just sit in front of the wood burner and look at the fire and it was pretty scary in the beginning because I felt like ahh I should work,

I should write my dissertation,

It should be finished soon and I have deadlines coming up but I just thought no,

If I'm worrying like this then it's better now to sit behind the computer,

I'm just going to let go and my meditation training really really helped me there because it really allowed me to let go,

To be more in the moment and to trust that when the moment you write would be there it would come.

So I think something like two,

Three weeks went by like that.

Of course I did some other stuff,

I answered emails,

I had to teach also but I didn't write on my dissertation and whenever I could I was living with ease,

I was watching the fire in my wood burner and then one day suddenly I had this idea and I felt before this idea came I felt such an openness,

I felt such a that I was able to allow myself to do nothing in order to get somewhere rather than pushing through really really hard to get there.

That changed the whole perspective and that opened up that I could feel and listen to my intuition again,

To be inspired and suddenly there was this,

Everything clicked and I knew I just had to start from scratch,

Not with the research because that I did,

I just had to find a narrative.

So I took my laptop and I wrote three days almost in a row and in three days I wrote 10,

000 words and it just came out of it and basically these are the very three first chapters of my dissertation that okay it was edited some and there were a few minor revisions but basically this was it and then the rest came really really easy.

And this was such an important moment for me because I realised that by allowing myself to take it easy,

Allowing myself,

What I actually needed was some rest,

Some quietness,

Some ease,

Not pushing myself,

Not expecting things for myself,

That something opened up that I could create.

So since then I'm applying this in every moment that I feel too much pressure.

Listen,

I'm not always succeeding because I'm a human being just like everyone else so sometimes I am also getting crazy and think I have a lot of pressure and I have to do things but I've trained myself to become aware of that and then just to say stop and I'm just going to lean backwards and see what is now really important that I do,

What things do I have to do because otherwise you know life spins out of control but for the rest I'm going to take it easy and I'm going to trust that when the moment comes to do something it will be there.

Even for instance with cleaning my house,

I don't like so much to clean my house but I do like a clean and nicely looking house so you have to do it.

So for a very long time I was pushing myself to do that but last year I really taught myself to trust that there will be moments that I'm suddenly inspired to clean the house or to clean a part of the house or to just clean the kitchen or to just clean the bathroom or whatever pops up or just to vacuum and at that moment I'm doing it with so much joy because at that moment I feel inspired to do it and I really feel that I'm making my house nice.

When you get a hang of it,

The ease in your life basically comes towards you.

You get more and more ideas how to do things with ease and the most beautiful reward is that you notice that life becomes more easy and joyful and that the have-tos don't feel like have-tos anymore.

The have-tos are becoming part of you wanting to do them because it's not that list that you have to work through but it all blends together with you living life in a way,

Following your own rhythm which means that sometimes you don't have so much energy so you take it easy and sometimes you're bursting from energy so you do a lot of things to follow that rhythm rather than following a structure from outside or expectations from outside.

So I'm not saying that you cannot have a structure.

I know that there are people that really benefit from having routine,

Having steady habits so that's perfect.

If that is what makes you flow then hold on to those.

That's really,

Really perfect but don't make a structure if you use it to push yourself rather than when the structure is something that comes from inside of you.

So that was my story about how I started to live with ease and I think from everything I learned over the last decade it's sometimes something I'm still tripping over.

Let me be honest.

I'm working a full-time job,

I'm having a family,

I'm doing more and more on inside time or on meditation.

I'm also getting asked more here in the Netherlands to blend that,

What I do for meditation and what I do in university and you know,

Come speak,

Give workshops to professionals.

So and I love to do those things.

So yeah,

I sometimes have to really speak with myself and I feel the pressure and ask myself what it is that you prioritize and what can wait and you know,

Take it easy and then you will know when what will come.

And I think trust is really key word in it.

Hi John.

John says I'm striving to become a reformed perfectionist.

That sounds also great.

A perfectionist that's sometimes not perfect or a perfectionist that accepts that you know,

Imperfection is perfection.

I hope so for you.

Pata says perfectionism hurts.

Absolutely yeah,

Mainly yourself.

Sometimes also others of course but yeah.

Yeah it's also weird that sometimes we're perfectionists.

We do like to do things well and that's also what we have learned you know,

From our parents,

From our childhood,

From our teachers,

From our society.

You know that you have to do things really,

Really good but learning to fail and be okay with that.

Be gentle to yourself.

That's really,

That's I think really,

Really valuable.

Yeah.

And he says I can relate to not doing anything and being okay with it.

That's beautiful Anna.

He's that's really.

Yeah,

If you if you can get there you know because sometimes people are not doing anything and then they feel that they feel guilty or they start to blame themselves and then it also doesn't work.

It's important to really allow yourself and if you can do that,

That's really great.

I'm really,

Really,

Really good.

So what I want to do now,

I just want to guide you in meditation where actually a visualization,

A guided visualization where we're just going to relax and going to experience how it feels to take life with ease and especially goals with ease when we take our goals with ease.

So before we start,

I would like you to decide now about something you would like to work with that you've been pushing yourself on a little bit.

You take the most difficult one immediately because that might take you out of the visualization because you know when there's something in our lives that we really,

Really want and it's really,

Really hard then it can really we can really trip over that when we try to fix that to work that.

So let's take this meditation also with ease.

But there might be something that you maybe it's just like you want to clean your house and you don't feel like doing it and it's something that you know you're working against or maybe it's a different goal that you have just something and don't overthink it.

You can always come back to the practice and do it with something else.

The first thing that pops up,

The thing you have in your mind right now.

Yeah,

That's the one you're going to work with.

Okay.

So when I will ask you to,

You know,

To think of this,

This is the one that you're going to work with so that when we're in the meditation you don't have to think anymore.

You have it ready.

Yeah.

All right.

So let's start.

And then when I'm finished I will come back here,

See your comments,

Maybe take your questions if you have any.

I can tell you a little bit more about the workshop or that Sunday is going to be and of my other lives until my summer break.

But let's meditate now.

All right.

So make sure that you're sitting comfortable.

You can also lie down if that's more comfortable to you.

If you like that,

Then lie down.

And if you're sitting,

It's perfectly fine if you want to lean against the back of your chair or against the wall or sofa.

But you don't have to.

If you're really comfortable just sitting straight up,

That's also great.

As long as you are comfortable in your way,

That's most important.

So let's gently close our eyes.

And let's just take a moment to feel how you are sitting.

Feel how your feet are touching the ground.

What parts of your feet are touching the ground?

If you're lying down,

It might be your heels.

If you're sitting,

It might be the bottom of your feet.

And if you're sitting on a meditation cushion,

It might be the sides of your feet.

And when you realize that your feet are touching the ground below,

Then it's nice to think of a moment that you are resting on planet Earth.

That your feet are resting on Earth.

This beautiful planet that is spinning in perfect orbit around our sun,

Making sure that we stick on it by rotating around this X.

Supporting us always.

You never just fall through the Earth.

There's always a ground under your feet unless you decide to jump up.

And then when you come down,

There is this Earth supporting you,

Caring for you.

You can lean on me is the message of planet Earth below you.

And by just thinking that,

There is a grounding sense,

A grounding feeling.

Knowing yourself,

Being supported.

It's important.

Now bring your attention to your bum,

The chair or the mattress.

Your back against the back of the chair or the mattress.

Are your shoulders relaxed?

If not,

Then just pull them up for a moment and let them drop.

Your face,

Your forehead,

Your jaws.

Are your jaws relaxed?

If you notice that you clench them a little bit,

Then just drop your jaw a little bit.

Your hands can rest in your lap.

Gently.

All right.

Now,

I would like you to bring your attention to the top of your head.

Just to the top of your head.

So if you find it hard to bring your attention there,

Then just think as if there is something on your head,

On the top of your head.

And as if your inner eye wants to see what's there.

And now we're going to drop that attention down really slow towards our heart space,

In the middle of our chest.

And if you find it difficult to move your attention from the top of your head,

Through your head,

Through your neck,

Into your chest,

To your chest,

To your heart space,

Then you could imagine that there is like a little elevator within you that slowly descends from the top of your head,

Into your head,

Into your throat,

Down towards your heart.

And you can help yourself by putting your hands on your heart for a moment.

You don't have to,

Only if it feels good.

Just let your attention rest there for a moment in your heart space.

You're connecting now with your own heart,

With your own heart.

There's so much power there,

So much love,

And so much ease.

Your heart is not a loud,

Shouting heart.

It's gently whispering,

Patiently waiting for you to make that connection with ease.

All right,

Now while you're here connected with your heart,

I would like you to imagine that you're standing in front of a white door,

A beautiful white door,

Very shiny.

It's almost as if the white is a white light.

Now we're going to open this door,

But you can open it in a way that you like.

You can just pull it open or push it open.

You can click your fingers.

You can say a magic trick,

Whatever you like to open the door.

Do it right now.

Now when the door opens,

You can smell already such good smells.

There are beautiful smells coming from flowers,

From a beautiful nature.

Let's step into this place.

Throw the door.

And when you look around,

You see that you are in a beautiful piece of nature.

And I really would love for you to make details yourself.

So take a look around.

Are there any trees?

Is there grass?

Are there flowers?

Butterflies,

Bees,

Other animals?

So when you walk into this beautiful garden,

This beautiful place,

Notice that this is exactly how you like it.

This is a place where you feel you could relax.

This is a place that when you see it,

You know,

Oh yeah,

I would love to come here and relax.

So take a look around.

And when I say look,

Then I just mean use your imagination in the way you normally fantasize.

So if you use images,

Then use images.

But if you use knowing or words,

Then use those.

Right?

Make it easy.

Make it comfortable.

Make it your own.

So when you get a sense of your environment,

Then really pay attention to the details that you see here.

Can you smell the beautiful scents in the air?

Maybe your favorite flowers?

Maybe your favorite food,

Favorite drink?

Maybe it's the perfume that you so much love from someone that you love,

Maybe your own perfume or aftershave?

And now pay attention to what you're hearing with your fantasy ears.

Are there leaves rustling in the wind?

Maybe you hear an ocean at a distance.

Maybe you hear birds singing.

What do you hear?

And when you walk further,

You notice that the atmosphere is just perfect.

It is not too warm,

It's not too cold.

It's exactly how you like it and you can feel the air on your skin.

Maybe there's a slight breeze,

Maybe there's a lot of wind,

Maybe there's no wind.

Whatever you like.

All right,

Now let's walk a little bit further into this garden,

Into this piece of nature,

Because maybe you are in the wood,

Which is also perfectly fine.

And you see that the environment becomes a little bit hilly.

So we start to climb a little bit up.

And what is nice about climbing up is that you enhance your view over the rest of the world.

So even when there are trees,

There are not so many that you cannot look outside of it,

But you can see,

You get a higher perspective while you take a look over the valleys around you,

The villages around you.

And by being a little bit elevated,

You feel good.

It feels like you are more in control of your perspective on the world.

So if you listen carefully,

You might hear some water running,

Like a runlet,

A stream.

And when we come closer,

You indeed see a stream,

Which is coming from a hill a little bit higher than where you are.

And it's floating by you,

Going downwards.

Just pay some attention to listen to the sound of that book,

To see the water running.

There is some sense of quietness,

Peacefulness in that water,

Moving from one side to the other.

Now,

Let's find a good place to sit next to the water,

To take a look at how the water floats by.

So let's make it comfortable.

Maybe you see a beautiful rock that you would like to sit on.

Maybe you see a comfortable chair standing there with your name on it,

So you will sit on that.

Maybe you just like to sit on the grass.

Do whatever feels good to you.

Just take a moment to sit down.

And when you sit down,

Feel how comfortable it is.

You can even sigh it out if you like.

When you look over the brook,

You see a valley going down.

You still have that sense of perspective from a higher point of view.

And when you look up to your right,

Where the water is coming from,

It's a little bit higher.

Then you realize that there is something there that you want.

So remember that I asked you to think of that thing,

That goal,

Something that you would like to achieve,

Something that you are sometimes struggling with.

Now,

Imagine that that is up that hill and you can see it.

And I know that might be hard to see,

But just imagine that whatever it is that you want is there.

So if you now would go up to this brook,

You would find it there.

If you now would push yourself to paddle up into the stream,

Up towards that hill,

That you would get what you want.

That is the feeling.

But when you realize this,

Can you feel there is some,

You feel some of resistance,

Because you know this water is running pretty quickly down.

It will be really,

Really tough.

It's to swim in it,

To take a boat and pedal against it.

It's going to be really,

Really tough,

But there is something there that you would like.

So let's leave it for a moment.

Oof,

That's difficult,

Right?

There's something there that you want.

It's pretty close,

But not close enough.

You know there is some struggle.

It's hard now to let it go,

Right?

And you were so relaxed.

You were so relaxed sitting at this water.

So let's work with that.

So how could you do this right now?

Well,

Let's just pay attention to our breath flowing in our nostrils and out of our nostrils,

Just for a moment.

So you're breathing.

You don't have to change your breath.

So if you have a really quick,

Shallow breath,

That's okay.

Just bring your attention there for a moment to your nostrils.

Air flowing in and air flowing out.

Flowing in and flowing out.

Flowing in and flowing out.

And while you continue to focus your attention at your nostrils,

You notice that a really slight sense of relief opens up in your chest.

Your head is still pulled to that goal,

But you bring your attention back to your nostrils and only that brings already some kind of a relief.

So you stick with your attention to your nostrils.

Air flowing in.

Air flowing out.

Air flowing in and out.

You feel a sense of calmness now relative to where you just were.

All right.

Now,

If you think of that goal up there,

That what you want to achieve,

And you realize that it could be really hard to get there,

What is the first thought of resistance that pops up in you?

What is the first thought within you that tells you that it will be hard,

That you will not be able to make it?

Whatever that thought is,

Become aware of that thought now.

So when this thought is there,

I would just like you to put it in your hands.

That takes some fantasy,

Right?

That's okay.

That's why we're here.

We're going to use the fantasy.

So you have this thought.

So you could imagine that you are just spitting out the words in your hand,

Or maybe you're pulling it out from your forehead.

Maybe it just jumps in your hands because it's happy to leave your mind,

To leave you to say goodbye.

Just take a moment to let this thought end up outside of you,

In your hands.

All right.

Now I would like you to put this thought now in the water.

And when you put it in the water,

You see that it floats.

And it starts to float away.

It turns,

It rotates,

And slowly,

Slowly you see it flush away.

And while this is happening and you watch it flush away,

There might be a sense of relief in your chest,

In your head,

In your belly.

Notice that.

And if you don't feel it yet,

That's okay.

You're just starting with this exercise.

So let's do it again.

If you don't feel it,

Then just let this thought,

Because the thought is probably still pretty strong with you,

Let it drop again in your hands.

You can also ask it to come out of you in your hands.

It can also be that you just see a symbol,

Something that symbolizes this thought and that this is like an item in your hands.

That's also perfectly fine.

Your subconscious is really,

Really smart.

Your subconsciousness is giving you ideas.

So just go with that flow.

Even if you don't understand exactly what is going on,

Something good is going on.

All right.

Now it's in your hands.

Just toss it in the water.

See how it bounces on the water and then it rotates,

It turns and it floats away.

Do you feel a sense of relief by letting go of that thought?

All right.

Now I would like to show you something.

We are going to experience how it is to go with the flow rather than push ourselves against the stream to get where we want to be.

So we're going to get into the stream right now.

So put your feet in the water.

Not too cold,

Not too warm.

It's perfect water.

It's perfect water to be in.

And now I would like you to decide how you want to try to work your way up first,

To experience how difficult it is and then to just float away.

So you can have a raft,

You can swim,

You can have a dolphin to sit on.

Whatever you like,

Use it.

All right.

Let's first feel how it is if you want to go against the stream upwards.

That's not pleasant,

Right?

You feel that it's really hard to progress.

It's really hard to get even an inch up,

An inch closer to that,

Into that stream,

Into that water.

It's unpleasant.

So you know what?

Turn around,

Put your back towards the goal upstairs and we're now just going to let go.

If you're in a boat,

You're going to let go of the oars.

If you're on a dolphin,

You're saying to the dolphin,

You know,

Go with the flow.

If you are swimming,

Then you're going to float on your back and you're going to let the water take you.

So can you feel that you're floating?

In whatever way you're floating,

You're floating now.

And now the water is gentle.

The stream is gentle,

But it starts to take you.

You start to move.

And there is a sense of relaxation in that.

You feel how your arms,

Your legs,

Your belly,

Your shoulders,

Everything starts to relax.

You can start to lean in and this water is really supporting you.

If you're floating like a swimmer,

Then this water is not running over your head.

It's just lifting you up like you're in the salty sea.

It's lifting you up.

And you're floating down.

And while you start to float,

You become aware of your surroundings again.

These perfect surroundings with the beautiful flowers,

With the such good smells,

The terrific scents,

The perfect atmosphere,

Sun or moon,

Whatever you prefer,

It's there.

Your skin feels soft and gentle.

And now you're floating.

It's so much easier to just float.

It's so much easier to just let go.

You know,

You could imagine that it's almost like a water slide.

You remember when you were a kid that there were these big slides with water that would run and take you down really,

Really fast and it would go faster and faster and you would just scream from joy how much fun that was.

Let's get back to that feeling a little bit.

Let's just let go and let's slide downwards because this beautiful stream is now a big water slide letting you flow downstairs,

Curvy,

Going to the left,

Going to the right,

All kind of ways.

And it just feels like when you were a kid.

Remember when you were a kid when life was just easy,

You didn't have worries.

Well,

You had some worries,

But then your mother,

Your father would kiss them away and they would be gone.

You would just enjoy and play with your friends and enjoy the summer,

Enjoy the sun,

Enjoy the water,

Enjoy the slides.

Oh,

That's such a good feeling.

So how would it be if you would allow yourself this feeling from time to time?

How would it be if you would just take even five minutes each day to just imagine yourself sliding with ease through your life?

Because you know what,

While you're sliding here and you take a look to your left,

You see there's things that you sometimes think about that you should do them,

But now you see that they're solving themselves.

You take a look at your right and you see those people that are always needing your help and now you just see that they're doing it themselves.

Wow,

This is beautiful.

Let's let me slide on.

Let's slide more downwards.

Let's see what else is there.

And you see the big piles of work that you still have to do and they're really,

Really decreasing while you are sliding.

Use your imagination,

Use your fantasy to really allow yourself to feel that with this ease,

Everything becomes easy.

And you allowing ease in your life,

Everything becomes easy.

So now you feel that the slide is almost about the end.

We're slowing down.

The water comes down and we're now in this beautiful pool.

The water is still perfect,

Not too warm,

Not too cold.

And you feel that you can stand and you walk towards the little ladder to climb out of the pool.

You climb out and you see where you are.

You are on the top of the hill with this goal that you wanted to do.

And that's really weird because you were sure that you were going down and not up,

But still you received this place.

You got here on the top of the hill.

With that,

What you wanted to do.

So take a moment and sit down comfortable and be aware of how it feels when everything that you want to achieve is there.

When everything you want to achieve you have done.

And if you find it hard to believe,

Then picture a movie screen in front of you and just take a look at yourself in the near future being done with this,

Achieving this,

Checking it off your list if it's a must or just enjoying doing this because you finally get to do that.

Sometimes if we find it hard to believe that we can achieve something,

It's easier to project it a little bit outside of you on a movie screen where you can see yourself having it,

Doing it,

Realising it and then you feel like you're really,

Really close and all you have to do is to slide a little bit more in your life,

To add some more sparkles of ease,

Some more minutes of relaxation and a lot more words of kindness towards yourself,

Some gentleness towards yourself,

Soothing words when you notice that you have resistance,

Soothing words when you notice that you are worried if you will not make it and then just slide,

Slide with ease.

Now while we have this movie screen in front of us and you see yourself there,

Your future self but that's not the far future,

Right?

This could be tomorrow even.

Now ask yourself there on the screen,

There you know you see yourself achieving what you want so this is a part of you that knows how to get there.

Ask for some advice,

Ask,

Ask what they want to tell you right now to help you,

To support you,

To uplift you.

Their answer might come in words,

Their answer might come that they will give you a symbol,

It might be that they show you a picture or you will get a memory or a song in your head and if you don't understand the message of that,

That's okay,

It will come if not now,

It will come soon.

Just accept this gift,

This answer from your future self right there.

It could be you in an hour,

It could be you tomorrow,

It could be you next week but it's really really really close,

Can you feel that?

Yeah,

Alright.

Now you've received the answer and store it somewhere.

If it's a word or a symbol,

Store it somewhere,

Maybe in your heart,

Maybe in your belly,

Maybe in your forehead so that you remember that this answer is with you,

The solution of whatever you want is already within you because you gave it to yourself,

You allowed it in.

Alright.

Okay,

You can let go of the movie screen and if you need some help with it then just imagine that you push a button and it just then disappears.

And behind it you see again the white door,

The white door that you came from.

But before we enter this door I would like you to put your hands on your heart and to be aware of where you are right now,

A little bit more relaxed,

A little bit more at ease.

Let's set the intention that from now on you will find more moments of ease.

It doesn't have to be big moments,

It can be just a minute here and there,

But set the intention that you will allow yourself more ease and that whenever you feel that you are pushing against yourself,

That you are too tired but you continue to push on,

That you are exhausted or you cannot think straight anymore but still you expect yourself to think that that will be the moment that you will remember.

That ease is a way better way to get where you want to be.

And then you will relax,

You will calm your mind,

You will imagine yourself sliding through life or whatever relaxes you and then you will find ease.

And that's a promise that we make to ourselves right now.

All right,

Now let's get up and walk towards that white door.

Open it again and before you step know that this is a place,

This garden where you can always come.

You only have to close your eyes and just go there and everything is yours here because you are the boss of your fantasy,

Your imagination,

So everything you want is right here.

All right,

Let's step back through the door,

Back into our heart space.

Can you feel the joyfulness of your heart?

So happy for you for this connection,

So happy for you having this experience.

And now we let our attention go back up to the top of our head.

Can go way faster now.

And when we're there we're going to bring our attention back into our body.

Just keep your eyes still closed for some time,

It will help your body.

You've been in meditation for quite some time,

So wiggle your fingers and toes,

Stretch your spine.

Yeah,

Right.

And then gently open your eyes but in your own time,

So maybe you just take a minute or so to open your eyes.

And I'll be waiting here for you.

And when you're ready,

Take your time.

If you feel you want to take a nap,

Then take a nap.

If you're ready,

I would love to hear your experience,

How it was,

Maybe you have any questions.

Just looking at all the beautiful pictures of everyone here.

All right.

So I like that one,

Experiencing how struggle feels,

Being aware of that,

That's good.

Because it's important to realize that very often we're struggling and we don't know it.

Struggling has become such a big part of our lives.

Being tough,

Pushing through,

Just a little bit more,

Just a little bit longer,

We're so used to that,

That we don't even notice that it's hard.

We don't even notice that our body tenses up,

That our mind gets overcrowded.

And sometimes even that we might run into a burnout at a certain moment of time.

So it's important to realize how struggle feels so that you can take a different pathway,

Make different decisions.

So that was why I put it in the meditation,

But then also the slide and letting go.

And I kept it on purpose a little bit abstract.

So you could fill it in with your own thoughts,

With your own goals,

With your own environments.

And I do that because I want to let you know that I don't have to create a place of ease.

You can create a place of ease for yourself.

And you can do this in any moment.

You can always close your eyes and go there for yourself.

All right.

If this samsa says,

I like letting go with the water.

Yeah,

That's great.

I love,

I love water and I love the power of water.

And you know,

When you look at water,

How freely it floats and when it encounters some resistance or some blockage,

It just always finds a way to go around over it,

Under it.

We can learn from watching water and seeing how flexible it can be,

How it finds ease to just,

You know,

Get where it wants to be.

So yeah,

That's basically the message of water to us.

We exist also of what is it?

80,

84% of water,

Right?

So it's not so weird that we have that connection.

Yeah.

Sunita says,

I like this meditation,

But I'm sleepy.

Yeah,

Sunita,

But it's already late.

It's bedtime.

So it's good.

You know,

When meditation makes you sleepy,

It's a message from your body.

Hey,

Now you're relaxed.

Let's go to sleep.

So I hope you have a beautiful night's sleep.

All right.

So I'm going to wrap it up.

Bedtime for me,

Sending you so much love.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for meditating with me and maybe tomorrow,

Same time.

But emotions are telling you that's the topic tomorrow.

All right.

Sending you so much love.

Thank you.