Simply Listen Reflection & Meditation

Simply listen.

Be still and listen with your heart,

For there is much to learn in the present moment.

Hi,

My name is Randi May,

And today we're going to take a reflective journey.

I call it veneration in daily life.

How do you honour daily life as it's happening?

We're going to be reading the first chapter of my book,

Doing a meditation and a reflective writing exercise.

So get comfy,

Get a pen and paper or your favourite journal out.

Human beings that already exist in this world and those who are waiting to enter and even those who are waiting to exit have a story.

If we take the time to listen to the unique stories that shape these beings,

We'll find that we all collectively have something to offer.

Our lives touch and change not just our own,

But many.

At times we can see where we have impacted lives and made change.

Other times we feel defeated and believe perhaps we are better off never embarking on a painful or tumultuous relationship or situation.

Every moment shapes and shifts us.

More often than not it has a ripple effect on all things around us.

The mood in a room,

How people feel when they are with us,

And the series of events that follow.

Every moment awake and asleep is a snapshot in our existence.

If we slow down enough during the day,

We can witness and engage in those little frames of the documentary of our life that is being recorded in our minds and universe,

Regardless of if we actively pay attention or not.

Slowing down enough to listen to the sounds that surround us,

Taking a moment to engage in a conversation free of time,

Reminder chimes from our phones,

Emails,

Text messages and meetings.

This is becoming to sound cliche at this time in the world.

The truth is we miss so much when we allow only a toe or a foot to be present,

While all the other body parts are busy doing something else.

You can change your life and those around you by simply listening.

My challenge for today for you is,

Engage in a conversation and be present.

Allow the conversation to flow until it naturally comes to an end.

Turn your phone off,

Take your watch off,

No expectations.

Even if you are a CEO of a billion dollar company or an executive director of an underfunded nonprofit agency,

Be free to have a conversation with someone you know or someone you don't know.

Listen to someone's story uninterrupted.

The focus of our meditation today is be still and listen with your heart for there is much to learn in the present moment.

So I'm going to get you to get into a comfortable position,

Allowing your neck and spine to be aligned,

Whether you're laying down or sitting upright in a chair.

So together,

We're going to start to notice our natural rhythm of breathing.

Noticing the air flowing in your nose and flowing back out.

And anytime your mind becomes distracted,

You can say to yourself,

Breathing in and breathing out.

Noticing the cool air coming into your nose and the warm air flowing back out above your top lip.

Just settling into your body and noticing your natural depth of breathing.

The breath is always with you wherever you go.

We're just taking a moment to connect with it.

Now we're going to take deeper breaths in.

I'm going to count for you starting from one till four,

We'll hold for two and breathe out from four till one.

So breathing in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

And holding one,

Two,

And breathing out four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Breathing in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

One,

Two,

Breathing out four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Breathing in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Holding one,

Two,

And breathing out four,

Three,

Two,

One.

I'm going to invite you to take full deep breaths in at your own depth,

Allowing your chest to fully rise and expand and your lungs to fill.

And gently and slowly breathing out,

Allowing your stomach to soften,

Your body to relax,

Your shoulders lowering.

As you take your full deep breaths in,

Remembering to allow your chest to fully rise and expand.

And gently and slowly releasing the air as you breathe out,

Allowing your stomach to soften and your body to relax.

I'm inviting you to take a moment to be still and listen with your heart to yourself.

What's your heart saying today?

I'm going to give you the next two minutes to sit with your heart and listen to what it needs to tell you today.

As you listen to your heart,

Remembering to take full deep breaths in and gentle and slow breaths out.

Giving your heart an opportunity to be free to communicate back to you whatever you need to hear,

Whatever you weren't listening to or maybe didn't have time to hear.

I'm going to invite you to bring your awareness back to your breath,

Breathing in through your nose and breathing back out through your nose.

Bringing your awareness back to whatever surface is below you,

Beneath you or behind you.

And when you're ready,

I invite you to open up your journal and start to write what your heart communicated back to you.

As you go throughout the rest of your day,

Just making a note of what your heart said to you and maybe noticing where it wants to guide you or lead you.

I hope you have a wonderful day and take a moment to simply listen,

Whether it's to yourself or somebody else in your life or maybe a stranger.

Have a wonderful day.