Hello friends,
This is David.
Today's meditation is called Relax,
Observe,
Allow.
So to start off,
We can begin practicing relaxation.
I like to do this with five deep breaths,
Where on the inhale,
We feel our torso fill with air like a balloon.
And on the exhale,
We let our whole body sink into gravity,
Filling with air,
Releasing and relaxing.
And with the aid of the exhalations,
We can notice any points in our body that we might be clenching or may feel tight or contracted.
And we begin to soften those areas.
This might include places like the forehead,
The jaw,
The shoulders or hands,
The abdomen or pelvis,
Letting our whole body relax into the seat,
Soften,
Loosen tension.
And to help ourselves ease even more into this relaxed state,
We can find a gentle anchor for mindfulness,
Somewhere to just ground into presence.
This could be feeling the touch or tingling of the hands,
Feeling the breath,
Hearing the sounds.
We could use just about anything as our anchor,
But we just make sure that whatever it is,
It feels relaxing and easeful.
And for the second step of Relax,
Observe,
Allow,
We observe what's happening.
In particular,
We notice if there's anything particularly obvious right now,
Whether that sounds,
Strong body sensations,
Emotions or moods,
An active mind.
So we just take note what's happening right now.
And in the third step of Allow,
We give those things we observe that are happening a radical permission to be here.
We let go of our resistance,
The struggle,
Fighting against them.
And through relaxing back into the present,
Into our anchor,
We allow our experience to be just as it is,
Relax,
Observe,
Allow.
In this practice,
We're not trying to make anything happen.
We're also not trying to make anything go away.
We're simply learning to be more fully present,
To find a sense of ease,
No matter what's happening,
Relax,
Observe,
Allow.
If you note that you've become tense,
We simply soften the body,
Soften the mind,
Use that gentle anchor to ground back into presence.
If there's anything that seems especially distracting or difficult,
We observe it and allow it to be here for these next couple of minutes,
Making the choice to accept,
To welcome,
To allow whatever's happening without contention.
This is a practice to take into our entire day,
To greet all of life's situations from a place of Relax,
Observe,
Allow.
And from that ground,
We find an infinitely greater capacity to respond wisely and compassionately.
