In these few minutes together,
We're going to slow down and get curious about the ways that our brains and bodies might most naturally connect with contemplative practices.
Now,
To get settled,
I invite you to take a few mindful breaths.
Not trying to force any certain cadence of breathing,
But just noticing how your body would like to breathe in and breathe out right now.
Noticing how your body might want to get comfortable,
Cozy in the space.
Maybe you'd like to stretch your arms or your legs out,
Circle your neck,
Wrists or ankles before anchoring in.
You can press pause if you'd like any more time to get settled.
Otherwise,
As you continue those mindful breaths,
I invite you to get curious with me about some of the shoulds that we can really easily live under when we come to certain practices.
Now,
Oftentimes these can be implicit.
We might not even realize that we've internalized a sense of how we should go about a certain practice.
We might not realize that we have this idea or ideal in our mind of what certain practices should look like and how we should embody them.
So maybe you start by thinking of one of your favorite contemplative practices.
And if contemplative practices are new to you,
Then maybe you start with simply the idea of contemplative practices.
Just noticing what does your mind envision?
What's kind of the stock image,
If you will,
That you hold internally?
And as you're playing with this,
I'll note one of the reasons that I like to get curious.
One of the ways I like to kind of frame how these shoulds interact with us is in the larger landscape of neurodiversity,
Where we have these different categories that we are very much still learning about.
Categories that have been termed things like neurodivergence and neurotypical.
There are these ideas of what is typical,
What is normal.
And of course,
Depending on what this might look like in our life or in others,
There's a lot of variability here.
There's a lot of variability in what we define as typical or divergent.
And as I say this and open this curiosity,
I want to be really cautious to say I in no way intend to dismiss or minimize any person's experience with these things.
And so what I offer here is simply an invitation to get curious.
And if getting curious like this doesn't work for you,
You can modify anything that I say.
Or hop on to another meditation track if this one isn't working for you.
But if you'd like to join me here,
The invitation is to be curious about these ideas that we hold as typical or how we should show up in contemplative practice,
In contemplative spaces of how that should look.
In contrast with how does my brain and body most naturally interact with contemplative practices and contemplative spaces?
What is it that my brain and my body craves and longs for that draws me toward these spaces?
And do I feel the freedom to most naturally express that?
To most naturally engage?
Or do I feel like I need to modify that in some way,
Especially if I'm around other people?
You know,
Maybe in the privacy of our own home,
We feel more freedom?
To play with these practices in ways that feel very natural for us.
But then once we're around others,
There's this sense of needing to mask what feels most natural for us.
Maybe that's become so normal in our muscle memory that we don't even make the conscious decision to mask.
It just happens.
Our muscle memory knows once we're around others,
We mask this,
We change this,
We hide this,
We modify.
To fit in with those shoulds.
To appear more quote unquote normal.
And if you'd like more time right now,
And really any point in this audio track,
You can press pause.
Otherwise,
I would love to invite you to imagine a conversation with your embodied being.
Asking the question,
How are we most naturally wired?
And how does that intersect with contemplative practice?
So again,
This isn't what is it supposed to look like when I engage in contemplative spaces?
This is a curiosity of how is my brain and body wired?
And what are the implications of that for these spaces?
For these practices?
Maybe it doesn't feel like there's feedback or an answer as you ask that question.
Maybe that's a question you'd like to sit with for more time.
Whether it's journaling,
Going on a walk,
Or truly just sitting with that question.
Remembering in whatever way you take this curiosity with you,
That the heart behind this curiosity is to explore how we're wired.
How our brain and body is wired,
And how that interacts with the world around us.
And specifically,
In this conversation,
How the way that we're wired intersects with contemplative practice.
Another way we might get curious about this is to explore which parts of us we bring to contemplative practice.
And if there are parts of us that we don't bring with us.
Getting curious about whether or not this is because we want to bring parts of us there and not bring other parts of us into these spaces.
Or maybe it's because we feel or believe certain parts of us are not welcome.
Tuning in with whether that seems to come from a place of,
I've received the message that this is what it should look like when I show up in this space.
And I don't know how to mold or mask this part of me over here to get it together in that way.
To fit that typical picture of what this is supposed to look like.
However these questions and curiosities are sitting with you,
I invite you to think about the week or two ahead of you.
Maybe setting an intention to spend some time with them a little bit more.
Going back to things that you feel you don't have an answer for,
You're not sure about.
Or maybe things that you sense,
Oh I do have an answer for that and it's a big long answer,
It's going to take me some time.
To really be with everything that comes up in that answer.
Maybe this is something you'd like to explore on your own or that you would like to bring.
To a trusted and safe other.
Whether that be a friend,
Family member,
A therapist,
A spiritual director.
Just taking a moment here,
Maybe even pausing the audio if you'd like more time to think about how might I come back to this?
Where might I create some space to come back to this?
And maybe right now that looks like a commute in the car.
Where you maybe don't turn on a podcast and let yourself follow these rabbit trails of curiosity.
If you'd like more time here you can press pause.
Otherwise we're going to close our time.
Just taking a few mindful breaths again.
Maybe placing a hand over your heart and or your abdomen.
Honoring any and all of the feedback that you received from your embodied being,
From the whole of who you are.
Honoring any of the ways that this curiosity might not have felt comfortable or maybe didn't feel good.
Acknowledging or noticing any ways there maybe seemed to be a disconnect or you feel frustrated.
Wherever you are,
Being with what is right now.
And whenever you're ready,
Exhaling to close.
