Post-Lockdown Guided-Reflection: Letting Go, Letting Be, Letting Come

Contemplation and integration, not only during but almost most importantly after lockdown helps us carry any personal revelations as cargo into our lives. To bring forth what serves and let go of what we noticed that does not. In this meditation and guided self-reflection, we move through a practice of acknowledging all that we observed during this time that does serve and we'd like to carry into the next epoch in our lives, also letting go of what we might leave behind in this pocket of time.

Transcript

All right,

So this practice is going to be a practice of self-inquiry and self-reflection to help us situate ourselves amidst this time.

I know for myself it can be,

Or it has been hard to place myself amidst all that is arising to situate myself in a way that feels honouring and discerning and not reactive and feels like it's coming back,

Coming from a place of honouring my privilege and my position,

But not shying away from taking action at all and not hiding in the notion of simply doing the inner work,

Where is there a place for radical action as well.

And so we're going to sit with these questions and let this be a container for you to sit with the questions with a level of compassion and gentleness and tenderness towards yourself,

Towards the questions themselves,

And simply to sit with the questions.

There may be things that bubble up,

There may be insights that emerge,

And also there may not be,

But if we sit in the question for long enough,

If we sit with the inquiry for long enough,

Then whatever does emerge will come hopefully from this place of the clear space of good feeling,

We might call it.

And so we'll take some time first to cultivate and to find that clear space of good feeling,

That place of compassion of insight,

That place of listening,

Of stillness,

Receptivity,

And then we'll go into self-contemplation.

To ask simply,

Who are we being asked to become in this time?

And post-COVID-19,

What did we learn about ourselves that we might want to leave behind in that container,

In that epoch of time?

What did we learn about ourselves that we see as a strength that we might like to bring forward into this new vista,

Into this new frontier,

As David White might say.

And finally,

What the quality of the essence of the way we'd like to be in this next vista in time,

And then start to sense into what that might be.

But to begin,

Just find yourself a nice,

Comfortable posture to be for the next 10 minutes or so.

And if and when you're ready,

Just closing down the veil of your eyes,

And I'll begin with a poem as part of Margaret Wheatley's The True Professional series.

So just closing down the veil of your eyes,

Taking a couple of deep breaths down into the stomach.

And just taking a moment to notice the kind of softening,

The dissolving,

The relaxing,

The letting go.

Every exhale,

The sensation of the sand settling back to the bottom of a glass,

The sand and water that has just been shaken up.

The sand is just settling back to the bottom,

Finding its place,

Arriving.

You are sitting here and you know that you are sitting here.

Action,

Like a sacrament,

Is the visible form of an invisible spirit,

An outward manifestation of an inward power.

An expressive act is not to achieve a goal outside myself,

But to express a conviction,

A leading,

A truth that is within me.

An expressive act is one taken,

Because if I did not,

If I did not take it,

I would be denying my own insight,

My own gift,

And nature.

Action,

Like a sacrament,

Is the visible form of an invisible spirit,

An outward manifestation of an inward power.

That as we act,

We not only express what is in us and help give shape to the world,

We also receive what is outside us and we reshape our inner lives.

When we act,

The world acts back.

The world acts back and we and the world,

We and the world are co-created.

That action is a process of birthing that cannot be forced,

But only followed.

Just taking a couple of deep breaths,

Just noticing what's there after that reading.

And so let this clear space be a clearing to start to sense into how being in the world is animating the world and how the world is inviting us to be in it.

This kind of dance of reciprocity,

This conversation,

This exchange.

So just allowing the breath to become your anchor,

To enter the foreground of your attention for the moment.

Taking a couple of deep breaths,

Exhaling to soften,

Release,

Let go,

To dissolve into the posture a little bit more.

And see if you can immerse your entire awareness in the breath,

As if pouring the breath over the body,

As if pouring your awareness over the breath.

And we're aiming for the kind of fine edge between awareness and efforting.

Not trying to do anything,

Simply creating space for letting go of distractions.

And so connecting with the breath and just seeing for a couple of moments if you can stay with the breath,

Noticing the beginning of the inhale,

The very end of the exhale,

And the space between.

And if you've noticed yourself drift off into thought,

Which is totally fine,

Our mind is conditioned for thinking.

And if you've noticed yourself drift off into thought,

Notice the thought itself.

And also see if you can notice the condition of awareness or attention just prior to the thought emerging.

And just know that that space,

That space in which thoughts,

Emotions,

All the contents of consciousness emerge,

That space is you.

See if you can rest in that space for the next couple of moments,

Paying attention to the breath in that space.

If you notice a thought emerge or a mood,

Emotion,

Or wave take over,

Notice,

Return to the space prior to it emerging.

And come back to rest there.

And just deepening the breath a little bit,

Letting the conversation with the body become a little bit louder.

Feeling what it feels like to really be in that space and in the body.

The space in which all emerges,

Moods,

Emotions,

Thoughts,

Feelings,

Sensations.

Just notice if there's a sense also of there being,

Of you being in the middle of it all.

Notice if there's a sense that there is a you sitting up the top in the driver's seat in the middle of all of these sounds and thoughts and emotions.

And see if you can feel how the sense of a self being in the middle is actually the same as a thought itself.

That there is a possibility and a way for you to be not amidst it all,

But to be holding it all.

For your awareness to actually be this sphere all around you that encompasses the sounds,

The sensations,

The thoughts,

And it also encompasses that sense of self in the middle.

Just for a moment sense if you can access that sense of self.

The wider self,

The buddhi self,

The discerning self,

The listening self.

And then just knowing that this space is you and that with compassion to be able to hold,

Receive,

And tend to whatever it is that emerges in this space,

With compassion we can start to listen more clearly to what wants to emerge from this place.

And so allowing this to be the foundation,

See if you can hold this place that you're in now,

Not in a way of avoiding anything that comes up from it,

But again noticing that everything is coming up within it.

So seeing if we can tend to it with this kind of benevolence and kindness.

Start to inquire into a couple of these questions.

And again just sensing what emerges in the space when we place a question in it.

What in the space corrals around the question,

What is magnetized towards the question,

What comes out of the question,

And just noticing with compassion and insight.

So the first question is what did I notice about myself during this time that doesn't serve me or my community?

So letting the question be your anchor.

And again,

What did I notice about myself during this time that doesn't serve me or my community?

And again let's bring that flavor of compassion here for whatever it is that emerges.

Maybe also start to sense where in the body that resides.

For me I noticed I closed over a little.

I entered self-protection mode.

I cut conversation short.

I didn't show up with as much vulnerability as I would like to in some instances.

Out of fear of not being met,

Given that physical touch is one of my greatest love languages.

That really shows up for me around the chest.

The shallow breath,

The short words.

So what did you notice about yourself during this time that doesn't serve you or those around you?

And where do you feel it in your body?

And just taking a couple of deep breaths there,

Just really witnessing it in your body,

In your mind,

In your heart.

Feeling it,

Feeling the strength alive in you in witnessing it,

In noticing it,

Acknowledging.

And just place that on the altar of your heart for now,

Just keeping it in light awareness,

Letting it know that you see it.

And then let's sit with the question or the inquiry.

What did you notice about yourself that you'd like to celebrate or bring forth into this next chapter?

What did you notice about yourself that maybe is a strength,

Is a virtue,

Is something that maybe you'd forgotten before?

And letting this question be the anchor for your attention,

Let it take the foreground.

Placing it into that clear space of good feeling and seeing what emerges from it.

Also noticing where do you feel this question in your body?

What did you notice about yourself during this time that does serve,

That feels like a strength and you'd like to celebrate and bring forth?

And just breathing into the question if it's still there for you,

Into whatever came up for you,

If that's more alive for you now.

And again placing this on the altar of your heart,

Letting it be there,

Equally by the side of the first inquiry of what it is that doesn't serve and that we might be letting go of as we enter this next vista.

And now let's put the question,

What is the quality of your being in the world or the essence of your being in the world for this next vista in time?

What is it that you're breathing in,

That you're going forth,

That you're celebrating,

That you're stepping into,

What is that essence or that quality of being that you'd like to welcome in this next chapter?

This feeling,

What even becoming aware of that feels like in your body.

Where do you feel it?

How does it feel?

And then for the next 30 seconds or so we're going to take some very intentional breaths,

Inhaling to celebrate,

To exacerbate,

To amplify this feeling of what you're celebrating and what you're bringing forth.

Breathing to just gently blow and as you blow thank that which you noticed which did not serve you during this time.

Just blowing that off the altar of your heart with thanks,

With gratitude,

With reverence,

But blowing it gently.

So we're going to inhale to breathe in,

To call forth,

To welcome.

Inhale to let go,

To thank.

So inhaling,

Exhale.

Just taking a couple more breaths to yourself and then coming back to a neutral breath.

Just sensing what's alive in your body now.

Maybe placing one hand on your stomach,

Other hand on your heart.

Letting these two places be in conversation,

Being in relationship and dialogue.

And we're just going to close with another poem this time by Carl L.

Gebron called The River Cannot Go Back.

And again just let this speak to you,

Let the words come alive in you all over again as if they were written in blood as most poetry is.

And the invitation is just after this sitting just allow yourself to sit in stillness,

See what's there,

What was invoked for you and maybe take a couple of moments to write something down in reflection.

The River Cannot Go Back.

It is said that before entering the sea the river trembles with fear.

She looks back at the path she has traveled from the peaks of the mountains,

The long winding road crossing forests and villages.

And in front of her she sees an ocean so vast that to enter there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.

But there is no other way.

The river cannot go back.

Nobody can go back.

To go back is impossible in this existence.

The river needs to take the risk of entering the ocean because only then will fear disappear.

Because that's where the river will know.

It's not about disappearing into the ocean but of becoming the ocean.

Reviews

Healing and pleasing for body and spirit. Good energy work and feeling more alive with sparkles.

This was exactly what I needed amidst navigating almost 3 months of lockdown and all the intense feelings that it's brought with it. Thank you.

An exceptional guided meditation, it felt authentic, nurturing and compassionate. Feeling very grateful for this experience.

This is a very interesting meditation.
The poem at the end shocked me into a realisation of which I am very grateful.

This practice really resonated with me body, mind & spirit! The intro & outro poems read were beautiful. Thank you 🧘🏻‍♂️🙏🏻

Profound- deep introspection. It’s just what I needed. Thanks for all the many nuggets of wisdom. 🙏🏽

I loved everything about that. The two poems especially. Loved the long lengths of time you gave us to sit with whatever came up. I found myself appreciating my own inner stillness, that peace. And wanting to let go of the noise in the world, from people who want to stir the pot. I love what I found. Many thanks.

Thank you Al! This was very good and resonated with me, for that I’m grateful . Thank you 🙏 sending you blessings and gratitude 🙏

🌿✨💜✨🌿 Thank you. Xxx

Amazing time with fireflies and this beautiful meditation. Points of Light.

Thank you very much. Insightful and soothing.

Excellent. Thank you.