Welcome.
I invite you to get super comfy wherever you are.
You might sit or lie down.
There's okay.
Sit upright to allow your spine to lengthen so your breath can move deeply and easily.
I invite you to close your eyes or simply soften your gaze.
Begin to notice your breath,
The rise and fall of your chest.
Simply notice the powerful connection to your life force.
And now notice what is holding you,
The chair,
The floor,
The ground.
Allow your feet to sink into your own soil.
Let yourself be supported.
And we'll start by taking a moment to feel grounded with a brief practice.
I invite you to place both feet flat on the floor.
As we inhale,
Lift your feet to your toes.
As we hold,
Roll your feet down till they are flat.
And as we exhale,
Gently press your feet into the floor.
And then release.
And we will do this three times.
Let's inhale,
Lifting your toes.
Hold,
Roll down to the floor.
And exhale,
Pressing your feet into the floor.
And release.
Good.
Inhale,
Lifting to your toes.
Hold,
Roll down.
And exhale,
Pressing your feet into the floor.
And one more time,
Inhale,
Lifting to your toes.
Hold,
Roll down to the floor.
And exhale,
Pressing your feet into the floor.
And release.
Step three invites us into a decision.
A decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of a power greater than ourselves,
As we understand that power.
This step is not about giving up.
It's not about becoming passive or shrinking in any way.
It is about choosing trust.
It's about loosening the tight grip of control that has exhausted us.
It is about discovering we are not alone.
Now some of us arrive at this step really tender.
Some guarded.
Some just plain weary.
Some hopeful that something different is possible.
Wherever you are,
The journey awaits.
Step three is simply a decision.
Not perfection.
Not performance.
A chance.
A choice to lean into care.
So let's take a few breaths together.
Before we explore the story of Sierra,
We will deepen into stillness with a simple three-count breath,
In which we will inhale through the nose for three counts,
Hold for three counts,
And then exhale through the mouth for three counts.
Let's begin.
Inhale through your nose for three,
Two,
One.
Hold for three,
Two,
One.
And exhale through the mouth for three,
Two,
One.
Good.
Inhale for three,
Two,
One.
Hold for three,
Two,
One.
And exhale for three,
Two,
One.
And one more time.
Inhale for three.
Hold.
And exhale.
Now allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm,
Deepening into softness.
And I want to introduce you to Sierra.
At the edge of a wide forest grove,
Sierra,
A young redwood sapling,
Grew.
Sierra was slender,
Eager,
And spent her days stretching upward as quickly as she could.
She believed growth meant reaching higher,
Standing taller,
Holding herself steady against whatever came.
But her progress was slow.
When breezes passed through the grove,
She stiffened.
When clouds gathered in the distance,
She tightened her trunk.
She believed it was her responsibility to keep herself upright.
But beneath the soil,
Her roots were not alone.
They stretched outward,
Touching threads of an underground network,
Intertwining gently with the roots of older,
Towering redwoods that touched the sky.
She did not yet understand that she,
Too,
Was part of a living network.
One afternoon,
Long before the sky darkened,
A subtle signal traveled underground.
The older trees had felt the change in air pressure,
Moisture shifting,
Wind patterns altering.
Through the quiet pathways beneath the soil,
A message moved.
A storm is coming.
Sierra,
The sampling,
Felt it as a faint stirring in her roots.
She listened.
She felt no fear,
No alarm,
Just a nudge.
Quiet and steady.
A storm is coming.
Above ground,
The sky still looked calm.
But below,
The forest was preparing.
The older trees did not brace for panic.
They did not grip the earth harder.
No,
They softened.
They deepened into the soil.
They allowed their trunks to remain supple.
Sierra looked around and listened.
She sensed the shift.
For the first time,
Instead of tightening against what might come,
Sierra leaned downward.
A storm is coming,
She heard.
Into the soil,
Into the web of roots she deepened,
Into the care she hadn't even noticed had always surrounded her.
And when the wind finally arrived and the skies burst open,
It did not surprise her.
She did not stand alone against it.
She swayed with the others.
Her roots held,
Not because she forced them to,
But because they were supported by something larger than her own will.
And after the storm passed,
She realized something as she rested.
Strength did not require isolation.
Turning herself over to the care of the forest had not made her smaller.
It made her steady.
And from that day forward,
When Sierra sensed the subtle stirring beneath the soil,
She did not resist it.
She listened.
She chose to trust what was holding her.
And in time,
She grew and grew until she herself touched the sky.
Take a slow breath in and let go.
Perhaps you see yourself in Sierra.
Maybe you recognize the way you have stiffened against life,
Braced for impact,
Felt like everything depended on you.
Step three asks,
What if you're already connected to something larger?
What if there is a quiet network of support beneath the surface of your life?
What if surrender is not actually collapse,
But alignment?
Sierra didn't stop being a tree.
She did not stop growing.
She simply stopped believing she had to grow alone.
Take a moment to notice where have you been gripping?
Where might you soften just a little?
Let's return to breath.
You may move back into the three,
Three,
Three rhythm again,
Or breathe naturally,
Deepening your breath with each inhale.
And as we breathe,
If it feels helpful,
You can repeat silently in your mind,
I am letting go.
I will say it softly three times,
And we will sit together in the space that follows.
If your mind wanders,
That's okay.
Simply allow your thoughts to drift by and return to your breath.
Let's begin.
Inhale for three,
Two,
One.
Hold three,
Two,
One.
And exhale for three,
Two,
One.
I am letting go.
I am letting go.
And breathe.
I am letting go.
Step three is not surrendering your worth.
It is surrendering your isolation.
Step three is not giving up responsibility.
It is releasing that illusion of control.
So trusting and knowing you may always return to this stillness that lives within you.
I invite you to begin to notice the surface beneath you.
You may want to wiggle your fingers and toes.
Turn your head from side to side.
And when you're ready,
Open your eyes.
Step three is courage.
Step three is choosing trust before proof.
It is leaning into the care of something greater.
Step three is remembering you are rooted.
And you can return to this decision again and again with each breath each day.
I want to thank you for joining me on this journey today.
It is always my honor and my privilege.
