So if you find yourself being a little bit too serious when you meditate,
You're noticing Perhaps nothing is shifting,
Like you want to release some energy,
Some pain.
Some confusion,
You want to get to an answer and everything feels a little rigid or stuck or heavy.
There might be too much seriousness.
And that doesn't mean we don't take our meditation practice seriously or our lives seriously,
But there's a certain kind of seriousness where it makes you into like a grumpy cat face,
You know.
Where you almost squeeze the thing that you want to release,
You squeeze it tighter.
So right now with me,
Just notice if there's a little seriousness in your body.
Every problem,
Every issue,
Every moment,
My calendar,
My bank account,
My.
.
.
Relationships.
Ugh.
I need to fix,
Fix,
Fix.
Figure out all the things,
That attitude in and of itself.
Might be part of the issue.
So that being said,
Right now,
As you're here with me,
Just don't even notice.
Let's give it a number from 0 to 100.
How much of this kind of seriousness are you carrying?
A hundred being like Grumpy cat on steroids.
Just notice.
There's no judgment about that.
That's just more seriousness.
It might be something you learned.
Growing up or from the people around you.
When we get into groups of people and everyone is really serious all the time,
Then we marinate in it and become it.
That's why I like to use humor often.
Why don't we stop right here for a joke?
How come?
You can't trust atoms.
Because they make up everything.
Ha ha ha I like that one.
So just notice if you can loosen up a little bit,
Eyes open,
Eyes closed.
Wherever that number is.
That serious number.
And see if you can release some of it,
Just ease up.
Every being in nature.
In a sense,
Is kind of connected in flow with life.
That doesn't mean they don't defend themselves or hunt or find food.
Or plants growing to the sky.
But there's also a kind of ease and a harmony.
And if you've been struggling,
You might lack some ease or harmony in your body.
Just recognize that with me for a moment and see if you can soften.
Maybe soften your jaw.
Your shoulders,
Your hands.
You Chess.
And your energy.
Slow the breathing down by 20% or more.
Just slow your energy down.
And let's release some of that.
Heavy seriousness.
Where our problems become so all-encompassing,
They consume all our awareness,
Our energy,
Our attention.
And then in a way they kind of become in charge of our lives.
Just notice that shift when you can step back,
Have some awareness,
Relax your body.
Even maybe put a light smile on your face.
You know,
Even in death,
We can lighten up a bit.
Especially in life,
We can lighten up.
If we can lighten up in death,
We can lighten up in life.
Maybe you've been absorbing too much of the mental,
Emotional energy of someone else or a bunch of people around you who are too serious.
All the time.
And I've also noticed people who are very serious,
Maybe they swing from one extreme to the other to just chaos or going wild or being impulsive or irresponsible.
So what I'm talking about is not that.
It's more of understanding.
There's almost like a cosmic humor.
There is this infinite universe.
We live in that's mysterious.
We don't really know how we got here or where we're going.
These problems show up in our lives,
These situations,
These people.
These odd puzzles to solve.
And rethink if we harden up.
And just fix everything,
It'll work out.
The longer you stick around on this planet.
The more you start to realize it might not be that simple.
I might have to ease some tension.
Be connected to life.
Be in flow.
And maybe release a little pressure if you want right now.
Gently release a little pressure that you've been putting on yourself.
Feel your whole body soften.
I love this one joke.
Some guy threw a boomerang.
And he's been walking around for the last couple of years waiting for it to come back.
And hit him.
And he's just been stressed out about it.
And I think on some level,
We all feel that way.
It's like,
When's the next impact?
What's the next energy that's going to come for me?
The next problem that's going to land in my inbox.
And then we're kind of always on guard.
What would it be like if you kind of just eased up?
Let that pressure off.
To soften your energy.
I think to a certain extent life will reflect our own energy back to us,
How we show up.
And I'm not giving you a whole bunch of instructions or to-dos or the top five whatevers.
Heh heh.
Just an invitation.
To ease some tension.
Let go of any pressure on yourself.
I go of some seriousness.
Take a big,
Deep breath in with me.
Sigh it out.
See if you can go enjoy yourself,
Have some fun.
Be in flow with life a bit more and let go of some seriousness.
All right,
I'll see you next time.
