Grounded In Awareness In Unsettling Times

So here we're doing a practice of being grounded,

Strong,

And in particular looking into what is it about being in our body and being regulated that helps us to be stronger.

So just being in awareness,

This we're talking about spiritual awareness here in some ways,

Realizing the capital S self,

Realizing oneness,

Realizing that we're more than our body,

And we're not skipping over any of that either.

So we're starting this half hour kind of a reflection and inquiry,

Really notice how you feel in your body just considering some of those words.

Let your body be held and supported.

Notice the back of your body.

Oftentimes we'll have tension in the neck and shoulders,

The upper back,

Kind of not able to really settle into the support that's here.

So you might pay attention to that for a moment.

And if we're feeling unsettled or unhinged even,

And in the times that we're in right now,

It's really part of the experience for many of us.

So there's a lot of fear and concern.

And so instead of following down the usual pattern of what am I afraid of and how am I going to take care of that,

Which is what our nervous system's always trying to do with us,

Alerting us to that,

We're going to stay in touch with a more regulated nervous system,

But also in touch with this concept of self-realization.

So when we think about our present circumstances,

We might be in a period of relative calm,

But I think everybody's in a period of somewhat heightened anxiety and fear.

There's a lot of harmful,

Scary things that are going on right now in the world.

Long-term as well as shorter term.

But what happens in our nervous system is we worry and we panic.

I don't know what's going to happen.

I don't like what's happening.

Our nervous system is very committed to our safety.

So it's,

How can I protect myself?

And I don't think I can handle what's coming.

So notice your response to those words.

I don't know how I'm going to handle this.

It's too scary.

It's too intense.

Let yourself feel grounded again.

So we're recognizing on this side of the equation,

There's this fear and anxiety and worry,

Which is really common.

We have that in common,

But it also makes sense.

And then on the other side of the equation,

We're also here doing a practice.

We have the capacity to regulate our nervous system.

We have the capacity to look and see what is it that's going on that's making this so hard.

So we're going to work with some sentences around control and fear and life.

Some of these are reverse inquiries,

Which means when I say something like,

I acknowledge that life is out of my control,

It might be like,

Oh no,

No,

That's not okay with me.

We're not necessarily just saying things we agree with.

We're just looking at what is my response to these words that I'll just kind of drop in.

So as you're doing the practice,

Remember your body,

Remember your breath,

Let yourself be present.

I surrender control over life.

And one level of your mind might be going,

Well,

Of course I don't control life.

But notice as well,

What is going on in your body and the energy,

The sensations.

I surrender control.

I acknowledge I don't control life.

I surrender needing to know the outcome.

Sometimes when we're on a journey of something,

We have this feeling of,

Okay,

I can handle this part,

But I don't know what's going to happen.

And then we get into that,

Trying to control it again,

Or worrying and catastrophic thinking is often a way that we try to think ahead to all of the things that could go wrong or that we're going to have trouble with.

And then we try to strategize around that.

So needing to know the outcome is a safety thing.

If we know what's going to happen,

We feel like we'll be better able to manage it.

And the truth is,

We don't know what's going to happen on many different levels.

So sit with that for a moment.

I don't need to know the outcome.

I trust that I can respond to life.

I trust myself.

I don't need to know ahead of time.

I'll know what to do.

Notice your breath.

Notice your body.

Somatic inquiry is really about reading the sensations and energy along with the thoughts that come through.

And another one related to this is I allow a full experience of what is.

Whatever it is that's happening,

The things that I enjoy,

The things that scare me,

The things that I don't want to have happen,

I allow myself to experience life as it is.

And really noticing what feels like,

No,

That's not true.

Or yeah,

I'm working on that.

So coming from this place of I don't know what's going to happen and my nervous system wants to protect me.

And also,

If I take a step back,

It's true.

I do acknowledge that I don't know what's going to happen and that I can't control life.

That's true.

And then how can we work with those two opposite things?

There's a tension there.

We could get specific.

I think with these inquiries,

Sometimes it's helpful to be specific.

So if you were to bring up something that happened when life was unpredictable,

Something happened that you really wanted to have happen.

And another example of something that you didn't want to have happen.

How did you manage?

Maybe the neighbor that moved in down the street turned out to be a wonderful friend.

You didn't know that that was going to happen.

Or maybe that person at work who's a bully left to go somewhere else.

And now you've moved into a different experience at work.

Let yourself sort through that a little bit.

Just bring up one or two examples.

And what happened?

What was your experience with unpredictability?

And sometimes when something good happens,

We're still not very relaxed because we're worried that it's going to be taken from us somehow.

The other shoe will drop.

So what am I afraid of if I fully let go?

The good things that happen that are unpredictable aren't a problem for us,

Of course.

It's the things that we're scared of that we don't want to have happen that are going to cause pain.

So what is it exactly that I'm afraid of?

If I let go of controlling life,

What would happen?

Your mind is going to try and hold on to control.

That's the way our minds work.

You can notice that perhaps.

There might be some words.

Where do you feel that urgency in your body?

I'm afraid if I let go.

However,

You might finish that.

What does that feel like in your body?

Is there an urgency?

Are there sensations?

Your mind wants to hold on to control.

But what if you can't?

What if you have to let go?

And there's no right or wrong answer to this.

There's no some perfect response.

So try to stay away from shaming yourself.

Witness,

Observe what's happening in your system as you work with this.

What does it feel like?

Notice what thoughts are coming and going.

Notice your body.

Take a few breaths.

And maybe even imagine yourself,

If something's come up where you have a pretty solid grip on it,

What would happen if you imagine letting that go?

Are there parts of it,

Maybe?

What's the intensity about?

It might be a sense of injustice.

It's not fair.

That's a hard one.

It might be fear around or disappointment in other people.

And it's not at all to say that we shouldn't move into action.

Some things need to be addressed and fought for,

For sure.

But what is it that makes it more difficult for you?

And what would it maybe be like to let that part of it go?

And maybe it's landing on court efficiency beliefs.

Or maybe it's something really practical.

Well,

If I lose that person,

I'm not going to have anyone.

So without any shaming around this,

We all want to be happy.

We all want to avoid pain and fear,

And we all want to be in control.

Our nervous system hates it when we don't know what's going to happen and when we're not in control.

So that's something we could just acknowledge that that's the boat that we're all in.

Let's take a moment to breathe just as a way to transition between that.

Let go of what you were just working with.

And maybe it's something that you'd like to bring forward and work with a little bit more too.

Let's do a little bit of breathing.

So the cyclic sighing,

If you like that one,

The deep double inhale through the nose,

A long slow exhale like you're breathing out through a thin straw,

Or just some deep inhales and exhales.

And let yourself feel supported by the earth,

By gravity,

By your furniture,

The space that you're in.

And you might even imagine that your whole energy field is expanding and opening into space.

The space in front of your heart center,

Space above your head up into the sky.

We can put our awareness,

Our roots into the ground and up into the sky.

And as you're breathing deeply,

Let yourself be nourished by your breath.

All the cells in your body.

And if you were to bring your attention to your heart center,

Sense into the warmth and the love in your heart center.

Let yourself feel that.

You might have a hand on your heart or just with your mind.

Let yourself expand your heart.

Feel into trust.

Okay,

Life is not what I want it to be sometimes.

And I trust myself.

Sense into that vastness of being.

I don't need to change.

I don't need to become somebody else.

I don't need to be perfect.

To be free.

I can be free just here in life,

Just as it is.

Be aware of the space around you and in you.

And bring to mind your strength.

So often the negativity bias brings us into really focusing in on things that we're not comfortable with,

Things that are painful or things where maybe we let ourselves down.

So tune into this strength of your awareness of your being.

And let your breath be an anchor.

Let yourself fully be in your body.

So sometimes we have this sense of expansion or connection,

The energy field of the earth,

Of awareness itself.

And we're also aware that our body is our home.

We live in a body.

And when our body dies,

We're not going to be living here in a body anymore.

So there's an awareness of that fragility,

But also that here I am in my body.

And notice if there's any fear.

Often when we tune into the body,

It feels very vulnerable.

Or maybe we want something to be different than what it is,

And we're frustrated.

Let yourself be aware of whatever it is that's coming up.

And what could you surrender to?

Or let go of in order to feel free?

And this isn't a magic wand practice.

We're just looking at,

I realize that my attachment to wanting the world to be this specific way is holding me back.

It's causing me suffering.

And I'm willing to work with letting that go.

Or maybe letting it soften.

And one of the ways that we might approach that is to sense into the natural spaciousness of presence or awareness.

We might feel that in our heart,

Our heart center.

As we soften the muscles of our body and breathe.

Notice that your breath,

Your body,

And your awareness is one movement of life.

This is life in a body as we're experiencing it in this moment in time.

And if you notice the space three or four inches in front of your heart center,

Or the space,

The foot above your head,

Above your crown chakra,

Notice that there's space all around us and there's a space our body is occupying.

And sense into the connection.

We're not separate from the space,

From the field of energy.

We might think about that or we might put our hand on our body and go,

Okay,

This is where I am and everything else is where I'm not.

We might have thoughts that feel like there's boundary lines here.

And notice your experience.

Let your heart center soften.

What arises when you let love come in?

And if there's fear coming in as well,

Thoughts about that,

You might observe those for a moment,

Witness the thoughts.

It might come with sensations or energy as well.

It's a bit of a dance.

In the next few minutes,

Let's just focus in on softening our heart center.

We're not ignoring everything that's going on in the world.

There are things that we need to do and that we need to pay attention to.

That is true.

And we could also afford to take a break from action for a few minutes.

Let your heart center be in your awareness and let your whole awareness,

Your consciousness be in your heart center.

Let it expand out to the space around you.

Let yourself be aware of the field of energy that you're in.

And bring back that feeling of warmth,

Of love,

Of love.

Maybe a memory of someone or something or a deep experience that you've had of non-separation,

Of oneness,

Of being at home.

And let yourself feel your own strength,

Your own resilience.

And not to pay too much attention to how the mind might be responding to that.

Sometimes the mind will bring in examples of when we weren't very strong.

Right now,

We don't need to be paying attention to that.

We're just focusing on this,

Softening through our heart,

Breathing into the heart,

Letting our body be supported.

I trust myself.

I don't trust myself to be perfect.

That's not the point.

And I do trust that I have a kind heart to myself.

I have the capacity to be present and awake and loving,

To reach out for support.

I don't have to do this alone.

And I know that on the deepest level of who I am,

There's never anything wrong.

My true nature is stillness,

Peace,

Wisdom.

My being,

Ever pure,

Ever wise,

Ever free.

Let those words be here as a field of energy,

Of wisdom,

Of knowing.

A soft,

Open heart.

It's true I would like life to be a certain way,

And I trust myself to be able to live in my life.

I could loosen my grip on what I need or what I feel like I need to have happen.

I could allow life to be as it is.

And let yourself feel the freedom.

Maybe you're kind of clinging on,

But it's loosening up just a little bit.

Maybe there's a big gush.

Okay,

I can let go of that.

And breathe.

Open your eyes,

Look around.

Oh,

It's such a relief even to have a vision of that being a possibility.

I could let life be,

And I could just live and trust that I know how to do that.

I can keep coming back into my heart and connecting with all of our hearts.

This is something that we can do.

And the fear will still be here,

And the injustice will still be here.

That's part of life,

And I'm okay with all of that.