Welcome.
Take a moment to arrive.
Find a comfortable seat,
Or lie down if that feels better for your body today.
Let your hands rest easily.
Soften your shoulders.
Unclench your jaw.
And if it feels okay,
Gently close your eyes or lower your gaze.
Now take a slow breath in through the nose and a longer breath out through the mouth.
Again,
Inhale and exhale.
Now for the next few minutes,
There's nothing to fix,
Nothing to manage,
Nothing to control.
Just this moment.
Now I want to begin with a simple story.
Last Sunday,
My wife,
My kids were at the park when it suddenly started pouring rain.
Not a drizzle,
A full,
Soaking wet rain with gigantic raindrops.
So as soon as this happened,
She frantically called me to come pick them up.
And by the time I got to them,
My twin boys were each on their own scooters and they're riding them like skateboards as my wife pulled the scooters towards home.
And once I got to them,
I picked both of our boys up and we walked back together,
Wet,
Laughing,
Trying to get out of the storm.
And we could have gone inside when we got home.
We could have dried off.
We could have rushed back to quote-unquote normal.
There was dinner to be made.
But instead,
We stopped right at the front door.
My wife and I looked at each other,
We laughed,
And we decided to head back out into the chaos.
We went back into the rain.
And man,
Did we dance.
Shoes soaked,
Clothes heavy,
Hair dripping.
The boys loved it.
It was beautiful.
It was freeing.
It was joyful.
Because in that moment,
We remembered something important.
We don't get to choose the weather.
But we do get to choose how we meet it.
Mentally,
Emotionally,
Physically,
And spiritually.
So take a slow breath in.
And let it go.
And just let that image settle in your body.
Rain falling,
Laughter,
Movement,
Freedom,
Acceptance.
As Tara Brock would say,
Radical acceptance.
Now gently bring your attention back to yourself.
Notice where your body's holding tension.
Maybe it's in the shoulders,
The neck,
The chest,
The belly.
Often,
Tension is the body's way of trying to control what cannot be controlled.
So see if you can let that soften,
Just a little.
So much of life is like the weather.
Plans change,
People act in ways we did not expect,
Things don't go according to schedule,
Outcomes unfold differently than we hoped.
And we spend a lot of energy wishing the weather was different,
Wishing it weren't raining,
Wishing it weren't windy,
Wishing the storm would pass faster.
But here's the truth.
We don't get to choose the weather of our lives.
We don't get to control every outcome.
We don't control other people or the decisions they make.
We definitely don't control timing.
But what we do control is how we show up,
How we breathe,
How we respond,
How we dress for the day we're actually given.
Bring your awareness back to your breath.
Feel the inhale and the exhale.
And silently say to yourself,
I release what I cannot control.
Again,
I release what I cannot control.
Once more,
I release what I cannot control.
Let those words land.
Now imagine your worries as clouds overhead.
Some are dark,
Some are heavy,
Some are moving quickly.
You don't have to chase them away.
You don't have to force the sky to clear.
Instead,
Imagine yourself standing underneath the clouds,
Gazing up,
Grounded,
Present,
Fully accepting what is in the here and now.
Rain might fall,
Wind might blow,
And you,
My friend,
Are still okay.
Still standing,
Still alive.
Just like that evening in the rain,
The joy did not come from changing the weather.
The joy came from accepting it and choosing to play anyway,
Regardless of the circumstances.
To laugh,
Regardless of what life throws at us.
To live fully,
Boldly,
Deeply.
Take another slow breath in,
And a longer breath out.
Now ask yourself gently,
What am I trying to control right now?
What am I trying to control right now that I don't actually have control over?
No need to answer with words,
Just notice what comes up for you.
And then silently say to yourself,
I don't need to fight this moment.
I can meet it.
I can be here with it.
My friends,
Control often feels like safety.
But real freedom does not come from rigidity.
Rather,
It comes from flexibility.
From learning how to move with life instead of bracing against it.
Instead of swimming against the current.
Like dressing for the weather.
If it's cold,
We layer up.
If it's hot,
We lighten our load.
If it rains,
Maybe we grab an umbrella.
Or maybe we dance.
Presence.
Acceptance.
This is strength.
Bring your attention back to the body.
Feel the support beneath you.
Feel your feet rooted into the earth.
Feel gravity supporting you.
You are supported,
Even when things feel uncertain.
Even when life doesn't go as planned.
Even when the weather shifts.
Take a slow breath in.
And a delicious exhale out.
Let it go.
And silently repeat,
I can't control the weather,
But I can choose how I show up today.
Again,
I can't control the weather,
But I can choose how I show up today.
Let that sink in.
Imagine moving through the rest of your day with this mindset.
Unexpected things arise,
And you meet them with boldness,
With steadiness,
With confidence.
Plans change,
And you adjust with grace.
Challenges arise,
And you breathe instead of tighten.
You don't need life to be perfect to be present.
You don't need everything to go your way to experience joy.
Sometimes joy shows up soaking wet,
Chaotic in the most unexpected way.
Take one final deep inhale,
And a full release exhale.
Begin to bring awareness back to the room.
Wiggle your fingers,
Your toes,
Gently roll your shoulders,
Your neck.
And when you're ready,
Slowly open your eyes.
As you move back into your day,
Carry this with you.
You don't get to choose the weather of your life,
But you do to get to choose how you meet it.
And sometimes,
The most beautiful moments happen when we stop resisting the rain and start dancing in it.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for showing up.
Thank you for doing the work.
Namaste.
