Awakening Possibility: Unlock Clarity And Creativity

Awakening possibility.

This is something that's latent within us.

The week begins.

It can go in any direction.

We remember what we're doing.

Work.

Life.

Challenges start to pour in.

We become stressed.

We see roadblocks ahead.

Our body and our mind just naturally go into problem solving.

So it's worth even just recognizing how quick that process happens for you in your day,

In your week.

And the solving of the problems is what we're designed to do.

It's the way our mind works.

Always looking for problems to solve.

And as we get stressed,

Our world starts to close down in order to try to solve those problems.

We identify these threats.

We deal with them.

We try to get back to safety.

That's what the ego is trying to do.

That's our challenge.

When we're stressed,

Our mind will try to solve problems no matter what's happening,

Even if there's no immediate threat.

It's automatic.

So I'd encourage you to check in and see if you see that and how your mind works.

So all the thoughts running in your head are going to,

A good portion of them,

Are going to try to solve problems for you.

And actually,

They might not even try to solve the problems.

They might just present the problems.

But you might notice that if you look closely,

It doesn't always reflect reality.

The mind isn't always honest,

Reactive,

Not reflective.

So I'd ask the question,

How do you know that a thought is true?

It's a really important question.

And it's where the work begins.

We learn to actively debunk the mind.

Examine it.

Examine what's real.

Start to see the stories that we tell ourselves,

Many of which don't serve us.

In this moment,

Right here,

Right now,

You're safe.

When we can apprehend that safety,

We can take a big breath,

Or two,

Or three.

And that breath is everything.

Calms the system.

Disengages us,

If only for a moment,

From the problem-solving,

Critiquing,

Categorizing.

And in that moment,

Something shifts.

It's like a portal opens within us.

And this portal leads to something more.

Possibility.

Creativity.

Clarity.

The more time we spend in this state,

But even if we get there for just a few moments,

We emerge different.

No longer clutching these old ideas or habits.

We let go,

Open to change,

To growth,

Something new.

But this is a new beginning.

This is the beginning,

Or the awakening,

Of possibility.

So let's explore this area together,

So that we can find that possibility within us.

And so we can close our eyes,

Or we can start to go inside.

Because when we're,

Eyes are open,

We're taking in the world.

There's so many reminders of the things that we are concerned about.

So as we close our eyes,

We go into an internal space.

Already,

We have more available to us.

Imagination is here.

And then we can take a deeper look at how the body and the mind are operating right now.

How do we feel that?

You can notice tension in the body.

Notice where you're breathing,

And how easy it is to get a breath in,

Without even trying too much.

Just notice what's already happening.

If you're stressed,

You'll probably notice some tension in the chest.

A little more difficulty getting that air in.

So I like to immediately move the breath down into the belly.

So a belly breath is a diaphragmatic breath.

As we breathe in,

We soften the belly and allow it to expand outward.

The moment that we move the breath into the belly,

The moment that we release those abdominal muscles,

Is a moment of surrender,

Or is a moment of letting go.

Even if it doesn't last,

We have that moment,

That feeling,

That sensation of what it's like to release our clutches,

Release the hold.

And so if we put our attention on the breath and bring it down into the belly,

We're also now signaling to the brain that we're safe.

Because when we are actually safe,

When we are sleeping,

Our body will breathe down into the belly and move that belly up and down.

If you ever watch somebody laying on their back,

Sleeping,

That's what you'll see.

Perfectly safe,

Perfectly rested.

The moment we're up,

Engaged in our day and starting to worry about our week,

That clamps down,

We go back into shallow chest breathing.

And all the other stress hormones and ways that the nervous system changes our body function start to happen in a cascade.

So here we're going to reverse that by just taking our attention,

Putting it on the breath,

Bringing it into the belly,

Signaling to the brain to let go,

To relax,

Release the blood pressure,

Slow down the heart rate,

Open up the digestion into what we call the rest and digest response.

And on that out breath,

Really just giving up,

Letting go for this one moment.

What are we letting go of?

Well,

Let's just let go of the need for anything to be a particular way.

All of our suffering comes from wanting things to be different than they are.

Wanting things to be a particular way closes down possibility.

Recognizing how things actually are in this moment and allow us to release the tension in the body.

Open up that portal of creativity and awaken possibility that something new might emerge for us if we only release the tension.

So breathing down into the belly and letting go.

As we meditate,

Taking all of your attention and bringing it into the breathing,

Listening to the breath,

Feeling the breath,

Using sensation to lock into the moment.

Letting go of the words that I'm saying and simply coming into the sensations of breathing.

If you're lucky,

You notice these moments where you just are breathing,

You are breath,

And then you notice yourself commenting and thinking about it.

So every time you notice yourself commenting and thinking,

Just put a little tag on the thought that says thinking.

That just pulls it out from us,

Objectifies it,

Makes it distant from us so that we can pull back to this moment,

Bring our attention and our awareness here back into the breath.

You can breathe slowly,

Filling up the belly and then starting to fill up the chest on the in-breath,

On the out-breath,

Just letting go.

Feel it's done and then just return to the in-breath.

The in-breath is also a realm of possibility,

Bringing in the oxygen for the next moment of our lives.

Breathing out all that is held inside that builds up toxicity.

There's really nothing more fundamental than the breath to bring in something new,

To bring in that next moment.

So as we breathe in,

We keep ourselves open,

Keep our mind open,

Keep our attention on the breath.

Take your attention and just be curious,

Notice the sensations around the breath.

Necessarily thinking about it or deciding anything,

Just notice things quieting down.

Notice where there's still some tension,

Allow yourself to breathe into that tension.

Softening on the out-breath,

Letting go just a little bit more.

Then on your out-breath,

Start to,

When you get to the end,

When you've released,

Pull in that belly and breathe out a little bit more.

As though you're just letting go of even more,

Pushing it out,

Feeling,

Noticing yourself empty before you take that next breath in.

And then the in-breaths can be slow,

Gentle,

But full from the belly up into the chest,

Up until you feel that there's simply no more room for breath to come in.

And then as you get to that end,

That edge of the in-breath,

Just hold that breath for a few seconds,

Three,

Four,

Five seconds,

Before letting go and releasing and doing that push out at the end or pulling in the belly,

A couple of rounds.

As you continue to breathe like that,

I want you to really notice the sensations throughout the breath cycle.

Filling in,

Receiving that breath,

There's a little bit of relief and joy comes in with that,

Filling all the way up,

Expanding out,

Holding on,

Noticing tension,

And then the letting go again,

A little bit of relief.

Breathing all the way out until you pull that belly in,

Squeeze it out,

Starting to notice this need for more breath,

Desire build up within you,

And then allowing that to come back in.

Noticing that cycle,

That pulsation of our life,

Of our bodies,

Of our minds.

Throughout this process,

Your body is beating its heart,

Your organs functioning,

Cells are dividing,

The whole intelligence within us happening beyond our awareness.

We lock our attention into the breath,

Just holding that as well.

And after the next out breath and letting go and squeezing out,

Just release your hold,

Meaning let go of the control of the breath.

Let the body relax,

Let the body regain control of the breath.

Again,

Noticing all that's happening as your living body beyond your awareness,

Beyond your control,

And pulling back your attention just to watch internally,

Watch through sensation,

All that's happening without grasping onto anything,

Engaging with anything,

Giving yourself a minute of quiet and detachment.

And as you're in quiet detachment,

Just allow the possibility of something new to emerge.

Awaken this possibility.

That's something unexpected.

I'll show you a path,

A solution,

An idea,

Connection,

Opening yourself completely to possibility for what's to come this week.

And then as you're ready,

You can begin to open your eyes.

And as you open your eyes,

Keep the focus soft,

Gentle,

Quiet,

Possibly viewing things a little bit differently,

A little bit less grasping,

A little bit less seriousness,

And simply bringing with you this feeling of possibility.

And to the rest of your day.