Working with resistance,
With the ego,
The powerful forces inside of us,
Acknowledging their presence,
Acknowledging their utility.
There is a reason why we have all these forces denying us,
Trying to keep us from getting over that next hurdle,
Achieving that greater thing,
Trying to conserve energy within the system and keep us safe from danger.
And that's a good thing to have.
It's good to have those impulses within us to keep us from pain,
To keep us from hurt,
Maybe embarrassment or humiliation even.
And there's also the awareness within us that has a directionality to it that wants to do,
Wants to achieve,
Wants to create in the world.
And in order for that to come through,
We need to be able to move some of the resistance out of the way,
Mollify the ego enough so that it recedes and so that we can actually move forward,
Do the things that are going to help us in the long run or even provide benefit in the short run.
And one way we know to work with that is through the nervous system,
Remembering,
Knowing,
Or even learning and watching for the first time that as our system is under stress,
The more stress that we're under,
The more these forces are at play within us,
Unconsciously feeding us with the desire to solve the immediate problem and get back to safety as soon as possible.
Generally that's just turning back away from the difficulty,
Away from the stressor.
And to comfort,
Even if it's short term.
And so when we breathe and we relax and we get the system calming down,
That is when these forces have less hold over us.
There's more an expanse of possibility that shows up.
There's more agency within us.
And so as we meditate and we move deeper into ourselves,
This is the practice,
The practice of breathing,
Of unhooking our awareness from the thought stream that keeps us wound up,
That keeps the circle going,
Which strengthens the stress response and keeps us in that loop.
So we take the breath and we bring it down into the belly.
We notice that there's thoughts,
Notice that there's judgments,
Notice all the stuff that's continuing to come before us.
And we simply train our attention on the breath and let that breath fall deeper into the belly signaling to the nervous system that we're okay.
Signaling that we're here right now,
Safe for this moment,
Letting the muscular tension release,
Letting the hold,
Physical hold in our system start to let go,
All of which calms us and softens and mollifies those forces within us,
Forces of resistance,
The ego,
Keeping us in connection with something deeper,
The creative force within us that wants to come through,
Wants to be free,
Wants to be expressed into this world through us as us.
So we breathe into the belly,
Filling the belly,
The chest,
Then breathing out and letting go,
Releasing,
Softening,
Acknowledging this moment of just being.
Here we are.
At a very basic level,
We know nothing more than that,
And we're just,
Here we are.
Letting thoughts,
Letting ideas,
Letting everything that comes before us just be,
Just be there.
Don't need to get rid of it.
Don't need to silence the thoughts.
Just need to pay attention,
Bring the attention to the breath.
Bringing that breath nice and slowly and deeply into the body,
Feeling all the contours of that breath,
Sinking in to it,
Listening to the breath,
Feeling the breath,
Reveling in the breath.
Breathing out,
Letting it go,
Feeling that sensation of release,
Of giving up,
Of giving in,
Just that moment of complete unloading,
And then another breath comes available.
Release is there,
The desire is there,
The need is there for that next breath to come in.
And that breath out,
Breath in,
Full,
The breath out,
Full,
Slowly,
Rhythmically.
Tuning in to these rhythms within us,
Noticing them all slow down,
The breathing slows,
Heart rate begins to slow.
All the busyness of stress and resistance can calm.
We can be here with nothing to do,
But breathe and be.
It's awesome.
And that out breath beginning to really squeeze and pull in the abdominals,
Pull up the diaphragm,
Really getting all the air out before taking another breath.
Inhale to release.
Exhale.
Bring the flowers to your toes.
And then after the next breath in,
Let's hold the breath for a few seconds before that release.
Release out all the way,
Squeezing it all out.
At the very end of that release and squeeze,
Also holding the breath for a few seconds.
Feeling the sensation of the relief of the in-breath.
Just desire for life,
For breath.
Relax,
Breathe.
Exhale.
And after that next out breath,
Just letting go of the breath,
Bringing the awareness to the body,
Just noticing sensation.
Noticing the quiet,
Noticing the baseline,
Connection to this peaceful center,
Place where we can find ourselves,
We can find our inspiration,
Creative spark,
Desire.
Let's move through resistance,
The quiet force.
Using the breath,
Using the power of meditation to get us back to ourselves so that we can move forward.
And just noticing a few big,
Full,
Deep breaths.
Feeling back into the body,
Hands and feet,
Fingers and toes.
Whenever you're ready,
Opening your eyes.
Ready to take the next step.
