Finding yourself in a comfortable seat,
Sitting upright in your chair,
Feet flat on the floor.
Allow yourself to arrive.
We may still have things racing through our mind from the morning,
Or maybe we're thinking about what's ahead,
But allow yourself to show up.
And if you feel ready,
Close your eyes.
Here's a little passage from the Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo.
We tend to cling.
I envy the tree,
How it reaches but never holds.
Things that matter come and go,
But being touched and feeling life move on,
We tend to cling and hold on,
Not wanting anything to change.
Of course this fails and things do change.
Even we are stubborn enough to go after what we think is leaving,
Trying to manipulate and control the flow of life.
Of course this fails too.
We can't stop life from flowing,
So we are left with feeling what was and what is,
And we call the difference loss.
But all the clinging and holding on only makes it worse.
Now new things come,
And some of us anticipate the loss and just let the things of life go by without feeling them at all.
I have done all these things,
But when clear enough and open enough,
I try to let things in,
To let things touch me.
I try not to poke and pull at them as they move through.
It doesn't eliminate loss,
But when trusting enough to let this happen,
I am tuned like a harp held up to the wind.
So if your mind has wandered,
Come back to the breath and the body.
For a moment think about one thing you are clinging to desperately,
Grasping so that it won't slip away.
Notice if you can soften your grasp a little bit.
How do we do that?
We stay in the present moment,
We focus on the breath and the body.
So exhaling all your breath out,
Inhaling deeply through the nose for the count of four,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And exhaling through the nose or the mouth for five to six,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Two more times together,
Inhaling through the nose,
Feeling your chest expand,
Your stomach rise,
Filling up,
And exhaling completely,
Letting that grasp go just a little bit,
Softening.
One more time,
Inhale through the nose and exhale through the nose or the mouth,
Letting your grip go,
Arriving to the present moment,
Feeling safe,
Secure,
And grounded,
And able to be like a tree,
Reaching up but not having to grasp or hold on.
Notice if there is anywhere in your body that's tight or tense as you breathe naturally and normally for yourself.
Use the next few breaths to breathe into that moment,
Releasing all the cells that are clasping,
Grasping,
Allowing the death grip to loosen,
Feeling space.
Notice if there's any tension or sensation behind the eyes,
And breathing deeply,
Just allow this area to soften.
Maybe even say the words release or relax in your mind,
Specifically guiding the eyes and all the muscles and the cells,
All the fluid to settle and expand,
Noticing any tension in your neck or shoulders and allowing a few breaths to expand this area.
What are you holding on to in your shoulders and your neck?
What are you not letting go of?
Allow the freedom to wash over you.
As you bend to the wind,
Bending does not mean breaking.
It means going with the flow and allowing life to just be,
Whatever it may.
Notice if there's any sensation in your throat,
Any tension,
Tightness,
Words unspoken,
Voices unheard.
Invite relaxation to this area.
Let go a little,
Breathing deeply,
Coming back to the breath if the mind has wandered.
Now notice any sensation in the heart area,
The chest.
Feel free to place one hand on the heart to really connect yourself and ground yourself to the present moment.
Now that we're noticing and breathing into this area,
What is it that your heart is telling you?
What can you let go of just a little to allow your heart to open,
To allow others in,
To allow yourself out?
Breathing,
Relaxing,
Set an intention.
What do you need?
What do you want to grow and cultivate?
What can you let go of?
Moving down the body,
Noticing if there's any tightness in your stomach and if so,
Allow the muscles to relax and let your belly hang heavy.
Let your lower back be at ease,
Swaying effortlessly like a willow tree,
Feeling soft.
Allow your hips and your thighs to just expand and settle into the chair.
Feel rooted,
Grounded and even though we're safe and rooted and stable,
We're flexible.
We're loosening our grasp.
We're loosening the hold that's over us for whatever it is that you find yourself stuck in.
Sometimes it's easier instead of walking up river to just jump into a floaty and glide downstream.
Visualize yourself in a river on a comfortable flotation device.
Maybe it's a tube,
Maybe it's a floating unicorn.
Whatever it is,
Allow a smile to come over to your face as you feel joy of letting go and letting the river take you where it goes.
Let loose of your grasp,
Breathing,
Relaxing,
Now able to feel the sun on your face,
The wind in your hair,
The water at your feet.
If your mind has wandered,
Come back to the breath.
Turn yourself out of the visualization and back into your chair,
Reminding yourself what your intention is.
Let's end our time together with three deep breaths,
Exhaling all the breath out,
Inhaling deeply through the nose,
And exhaling through the nose or the mouth.
Two more times,
Inhale,
And exhale.
One more time,
Inhale,
And exhale.
When you're ready,
Open your eyes,
Wiggle your fingers and your toes,
Come back to the space.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
Until next time.
