Soothing Discomfort: Unravel Your Inner & Outer Discomforts

Week 1: Unravel Your Inner & Outer Discomforts
(Transmission & Guided Meditation)
A 5 weeks journey into deeper introspection & liberation
Inviting the Fiery Horse energies by building a solid foundation to your meditation practice and reaping the positive rewards in your life!

Transcript

So, Welcome to this five weeks masterclass on soothing discomfort, And most of you I know you, Some of you may not know me personally, I'm Asha, And I've been meditating for close to ten years, Nine and a half to be exact, And I guess what makes my experience a little different is that first I enjoy my meditation practice, It is something I look forward to every day and every night, And it soothes and calms me at a deep level that money can't buy, And the second thing is that I've been reaping the benefits of meditation ever since I started on this journey, And I'm still reaping and discovering about the beauty of meditation, So that's why I made it my mission to keep doing these meditation events, Because I've received so much and I wanted to share all this with you, So I came to meditation, Some of you might have heard snippets of my story here and there, When I was in a dark space like nine and a half years back, I was overworked, I was down with autoimmune, I had chronic inflammatory pain, I was desensitized to my emotions, So I was very, I had this very tough exterior that, And suppressed feelings that I thought was very normal, Because that was how I was taught to operate in this world, That you need to look strong and be strong, That emotions are a sign of vulnerability and weakness, Even though I was a very deeply emotional person, But I hide all of that, I suppress all of that, And for many years I suppressed it to the extent that I couldn't even feel myself, And that is why a lot of people say, You know, When you're so disconnected with your body, Illnesses come, And the illness I had was autoimmune, So it felt as if I couldn't control my body, My body was attacking itself, And here I was, Looking at the pathetic state of my body and the inflammation, And I felt I was completely helpless, So that was where I came from, Complete disconnection from my own body, And that was where I started to meditate, Because I felt that that was the only thing I could do to my body, Beyond the medication, Beyond the poison that I was taking, That was the only thing I felt could give me some peace, And that's why I latched on to meditation, Whatever I could find, And I started exploring, With my curious mind, A lot of forms of meditation, And in this Masterclass, I will share with you what works for me, What comes true, And hopefully that helps you in your own journey. You know, When I was creating this event, There are some participants that wrote to me, Maybe you are not attending it live, Listening to the recording, And they shared that they couldn't really meditate in the past, Or they can't seem to meditate at all, So they've given up on meditation, And they wonder, In that kind of condition, Can they join this Masterclass? Are they even eligible? Of course they are. Of course you are. The purpose of meditation, As I've discovered it for myself, Is ultimately coming home to ourselves. So the purpose of meditation, In coming home to ourselves, We take stock and we accept all parts of ourselves as we are, In whatever state we are in, Our whole body, Our mind, Our emotions, And to connect with them as they are. That's why everybody can meditate, Even in whatever pathetic condition we think we are, Our mind thinks we are, We still can meditate, Because meditation is a personal relationship with ourselves that all of us need. And if you are one of those that feel that you can't seem to meditate right or well, That's actually very normal, And why so? That day I was sharing with my client, You know, Imagine our waking life, From the moment we wake up, We are caught in this busy world, Busy mind. We feel, And it's the default thinking, That we feel that there's limited time, And there's so many things to do. From the moment we wake up, We rush around. We need to quickly bathe, Quickly change our clothes, Quickly get ready for work, Quickly walk to work, Quickly catch the train, And then when we eat, We quickly eat, Can't even chill properly. And lunchtime is only one hour, We need to quickly eat, Quickly go through lunchtime, And when we work, We quickly work. When we talk to people at work, Have you noticed, Maybe it's us, Or maybe it's them, We can't even talk properly. We are in such frantic, Nervous systems that, You know, Sometimes people think they're talking well, But we actually don't really know what they're saying. Okay, Go and do that, Well, I only heard go and do that, The rest I didn't catch. And then I have to figure out on my own, And sometimes I wonder, Have I done the same to others as well, Unconsciously? So that's how we were trained in, Like, So busy, Yeah? So that's why it's unnatural when we meditate. Suddenly meditating, You imagine your whole mind so busy with you, Your body and emotions so busy with you throughout the day, Then maybe at night we want to meditate. But we forgot how we were on overdrive for the entire day. It's like electrical appliances, We switch on the electricity for the entire day, Yeah, Suddenly it overheats, And then you want to sit in that calmness. Becomes difficult, It becomes unnatural, We feel like giving up, Because it feels like a new habit. That's why the problem is not that you can't meditate, It's that the environment that you're in is not supportive of meditation, It is like going against the tide. That's why it's difficult. And that's why we say, Hang in there. Give yourself the chance to open your mind and heart and explore meditation together with us for 30 days. That's the intention behind this masterclass, That wherever you are in your meditation journey, This is your, Our invitation to you to come be with us and come explore this for 30 days Explore this, Not just with your mind, But with all parts of yourself, Giving yourself the chance to try and not dismissing ourselves outright just because we can't get it right. It's okay, We can always try again. Every day we can try again, Yeah. So, Then, You know, We talk about the daily consistency that will really make a difference. Where you are, Meditation is about coming home to ourselves, Reconnecting with ourselves as it is, As we are. And then every day we check in on ourselves with so much gentleness, With so much love and patience. And over time it builds a muscle memory. On the worst days I meditate, On my best days I meditate, It is my default. Every day when I wake up is the first thing I go to, Before I sleep is the last thing I do. And it doesn't feel like homework. It feels like my safe sanctuary, My spa time, My me time, My connection with myself time. And the first step to doing meditation right, Wherever you are, Is to learn to reduce the distractions externally, So that you can then enhance your inner experience, Your inner awareness. So that's why, At the start, There are many types of meditation in the market, But I would recommend for starters, For beginners, Or, You know, You are pretty much trying to get the rhythm of meditating, Try to go back to basics instead of doing things like walking meditation outdoors. I don't recommend that at the start, Or meditating in very chaotic environments, Because in such cases there are more external distractions. Therefore it becomes even harder to build, Enhance that inner awareness, Because we then become caught up with what's going on. So for starters, I recommend just going back to the basics, Coming back to ourselves, And having pockets of space in your home. Ideally you have one spot or two spots in your home that you dedicate for meditation, Because that builds that body memory as well. Every time you sit on this cushion, It's meditation time, And the body after a while will learn to soften and relax when you're at that spot. So dedicate spots at home like that, And also make it a routine if possible to put it roughly around the same time. If you're doing it once a day, Then you roughly put it at the same time. And at the start of the day is the easiest, Because it becomes your priority that will never be changed by anything else. And that's where you really see improvements and positive results, You know, And because of how busy our life is, If we rank it to maybe in the middle of the day when I'm done with the work, Then probably and likely it will never happen, Yeah. And why meditating is also difficult. Just now I shared because our default is busy world, So we're trying to rewire default. That's difficult. The second thing is because of all our false expectations. So whether we know it or not, Many of us have very unrealistic expectations of meditation, Like how meditation should be, Our perfect meditation posture, Our perfect meditation mind, Our perfect meditation emotions, And our perfect meditation outcomes. That's why it becomes even more difficult, Because imagine our frantic nervous system trying to calm down, And on top of that laden with unrealistic expectations. So we have taken on a lot from others in the society, You know, Meditation, Reaching this state of emptiness in caves, Leading isolated lives, And it seems like it cannot gel with our life. So does it mean we can't meditate or we can't reach an ascended state of being? You know, We are not monks or nuns, We are not hiding in caves anymore, We are still stuck in this world. Yeah, So a lot of times we need to observe these unrealistic expectations that we've taken on, That maybe have caused us to build a negative relationship with meditation. We start dreading it, Because it feels like homework. We can't reach emptiness, So it feels like a chore. And then our emotions are so fluctuating throughout, It feels tiresome. Then we feel that, I might as well just give up. But that's a very sad thing, Because I feel that through my own experience, Meditation allowed me to reconnect back with my body in such deep and profound ways that I can't really use words to describe fully. But I credit meditation to really bringing me back to that softening of my own energies that I feel corresponds to my true self that I've been suppressing for the longest time. Meditation allowed me to come back on path to a healthy body. And it was the backbone of my practice in my journey back to good health, Alongside other things. It was not the only thing, But it was the key backbone that I stuck to every day and every night. And so today, I want to encourage you in this masterclass to keep trying and to be patient with us, Hanging there for 30 days. And let's try to build a new habit wherever we are from. And in today's session, I also want to share a little about outer distractions, Inner distractions or discomfort. So all these things actually stop us from coming to that closer relationship with ourselves. And outer distractions, Just now I shared, You know, All the stress and tension that we experience on a busy day, From the point of waking up to sleeping, We're busy. And this stress and tension that we experience throughout, It doesn't just come and go. But often it accumulates in the body and it attacks the weakest link. That's why illnesses fester. And that's why the body, The muscle become very tense. And when our body is so tense and tight and painful, It's almost impossible to relax into meditation. Then we need to deal with the issue first, That tightness in the body. Maybe we need a deep tissue massage. Maybe we need to stretch. Maybe we need to take a walk to come back into greater harmony with the body. And the other thing is that because of that stress and tension that we have throughout the day, There's this obsession within us to move fast and be distracted. Whether we realize it or not, It becomes easier to, You know, You realize that finding 30 minutes to meditate seems like the hardest thing to do. But finding 30 minutes to do anything else is actually quite easy. So our mind is very used to distractions. So it's like 30 minutes surfing on the phone feels like, Oh, It just came and go. But then talk about 30 minutes in meditation. Oh, It feels like forever. And it feels painful. It feels like homework. Yeah, Because of all that negative relationship we form in our body towards it, All the stress and tension we are holding or unrealistic expectations that stops us ultimately from just connecting back with ourselves. So if you think about it, It's actually not very difficult. The purpose of meditation is just to come home to ourselves. We are just connecting back to ourselves and just say, Hey, Hello, How are you? You know, How are you doing? Yeah, Checking in with various parts with so much love, Tenderness and patience. It's actually quite simple, Isn't it? Yeah, But just, You know, That things get very complicated when our mind complicates it. And then talk about the inner distractions. You know, Our busy mind actually becomes that protection for us to prevent us from seeing what we don't want to see or feel what we don't want to feel about ourselves, Prevent us from doing so. So when we come to that quiet meditative state where we try to leave our barang barang outside and come home to ourselves. That's when all the wounded, Traumatized parts will start coming up. The insecure parts will come up. The unhealed parts will come up. Our neglected inner children will come up. And even the day's chores that are undone will come up. The exaggerated sense of urgency will come up. I wanted to share on one occasion, I was meditating and I was very distracted. So I hang on to it to the end of meditation. And after meditation, I was trying to make sense of what exactly I was distracted with. Yeah, And then I was very amused because the whole day I was very busy. So at night, I was trying to rewire and come back to that peaceful state. But instead, My mind was still stuck in the day's business. And it created an exaggerated sense of urgency of issues that were not even there. But in that meditation, It felt real. And I felt in my body that stress, The tension, The urgency, I need to do this, I need to do that, I need to do everything. But when I exited, I was trying to recollect what exactly I needed to do. And in fact, These were exaggerations. And that was very shock because I didn't expect my mind to be playing such tricks on me. But ever since then, Then I kind of realized that and it doesn't really come back again. Yeah. So yeah, Where we are and how do we meditate? You know, We talk about perfect posture, Whatever. Ultimately, Meditation is just about coming home to ourselves. So in whatever state you're in, That allows you to come home to yourself. If your knees allow you, Of course, You can sit down cross legged. And then with the focus is to try to shift your body a little backwards so that your tailbone is able to reach the ground and put less pressure on the knees so that your knees don't feel frozen after a few minutes. And to be on the cushion, But if not, You can always sit on a chair. And they also talk about whether, You know, You need to lie against the wall. You shouldn't lie against the wall. Well, The theory is that if you lie against the wall, You know, Certain muscles in your body is not really developed because you are just reclining. But do what we can start where we are. Yeah. Instead of creating so many difficult conditions for ourself, The perfect posture, The perfect cross legged lotus position, Whatever. OK, And then feeling that we can't do any of that and giving up. Just think about, Hey, At the end of the day, I'm just coming home to myself. If today I need to just lie on a sofa with my feet on the ground, So be it. If today I just want to sit on a cushion and I feel OK, My back can support, So be it. If today I'm in absolute pain, Maybe my menses coming or whatever, Then I feel weak in my entire body. I can't even sit up properly. Inflammation, Pain everywhere. Then lie down, Do what you can because you are coming home to yourself. You're not accountable to anybody that, Oh, I'm not in perfect posture. Yeah, So that's why I suggest and what to focus on for meditation. OK, So a lot of people talk about empty mind, Empty mind. It's not exactly true, But it's not exactly untrue. So I want to elaborate a bit about that. So from my own experience, Meditation works by learning to focus on one thing. So, For example, In such healing containers, The focus of your meditation will be on my voice and the guided visualization that I'll be bringing forth. So that's the focus. And whenever the mind wanders to other things, It's our job then to gently notice and then pull it back. Or to not be engaged. To be honest, It's impossible right from the start to detach from everything. But where we place our engagement matters. So whatever nonsense comes, Always remember, OK, Focus is here. Focus is on voice. Focus is on the guided visualization. So that gives something for our mind to chill on. That's why it's the focus. Your mind engaged in the visuals. Your mind engaged in the voice. And then on your own, If you are doing silent meditation, Then you also find something to focus on. Just that one thing. And what kind of focus we are talking about? It's not an intense focus. It's a gentle focus. Like that soft gaze, That soft inner gaze with so much love and tenderness on the subject matter. Yeah, It's not about a big wide-eyed stare on something. Yeah. And as we have maintained this soft, Soothing focus on that subject matter and whenever we wonder to gently pull it back, Then ultimately we start to rest in that focus, Gentle focus. And as we rest and relax, It feels like we're in an expanded consciousness We're still roughly there, But we are less and less focused, But still like roughly there. And that's when our expanded consciousness comes in. We feel more and more detached. So sometimes people say in such states, They feel it's like emptiness of the mind. Or if that's what they're referring to, Then yes, Yeah, It's that. But if we start off from meditation, So it comes after a while, You know, As you get more and more comfortable and safe with your practice and with your body, Then you float in this expanded awareness where a lot of healing takes place. But if we want to start, You know, Right when we close our eyes, Emptiness is not really possible. Yeah. So, Yeah. So right where we are, We take stock of it. And so back to that summary, The meditation is really just to focus on one thing, A soft, Gentle focus. And do it consistently every day. You'll improve over time. It doesn't matter how busy your mind is. It's just whether we want to engage or not. And the level of engagement. So after a while, Right, As we maintain this meditation style, Gradually you will feel that even in a little noisier environments, You can apply the same techniques and have a good meditation. It doesn't have to be perfect environment anymore. So that's when you realize, Hey, You know, The positive spillovers of my meditation, The little piece that I've been cultivating. Yeah, It's not working. Maybe I'm on holiday with my family in the same hotel room, Only two beds. I'm trying to meditate. Then, You know, People running around still can meditate. Then, You know, Family members switch on TV, Max volume, Still can meditate. Yeah. And then in whatever small little corner that you found yourself in to sit, Still can meditate. Not perfect condition, Maybe not perfect body, Not perfect emotions, Still can meditate because your body will gradually build familiarity in the practice. Muscle memory. That when you meditate, It feels safe with you. It feels safe to be held by you. It feels safe to connect with emotions. That's why imperfect conditions still can lead to a very, Not bad meditation experience. Yeah, So I'm mindful of the time. So I'll just stop here for the sharing for this week. And right now, I want to try, You know, Let's go into a meditation container. If you feel comfortable and safe, You can turn off the screen as you want, And we can get into a meditation. Yeah, Whether you're new to meditation or not, It really doesn't matter. And we allow ourselves to just take some time to come back to ourselves. And as we sit here, Focus on my voice and the guided visualizations. A soft, Gentle focus. And you're doing good. And we allow all parts of ourselves to come back. Just seeing all these little parts that have been stranded throughout the work week, The energies, All the interactions we have with the world, All the arguments, All the pain, All the grief, All the memories, Just coming back as they're meant to be. And inviting all these parts to come home to ourselves. And meditation is about coming home to ourselves. Nothing too fanciful or difficult. And now in this space of ours, We imagine a white ball of light surrounding us. And if you can't visualize, The intention matters and would suffice. It's like a little egg around us, Covering us in a white ball of light. And this little egg, The boundaries are soft and expandable. And we sit in this egg as the boundaries expand to cover our energy fields around us, The invisible fields around that belong to us. So it extends outwards and it creates this protective shell around us. Within this shell is the white peaceful light. And each breath that we take in, Allow ourselves to breathe in this peaceful light. Each breath that we exhale, We release the stress, The tension that we have accumulated in our body from everywhere. Our disappointment, Our heartbreak, Our pain, Our grief. We don't need to understand the details, But we just need to breathe in the peace and breathe out the density. And know that as you allow yourself to breathe, You're inviting your body to soften. You're reminding your body that it is safe to be with you. And as you breathe in the peace, Inviting your body to soften, Releasing the tension. And within this bubble in the egg, We invite the body to soften. To soften from top down. And as we breathe, Inviting the peaceful energy into our head, Our brain, Our frantic mind, Soothing it. And as we exhale, Releasing the stress and tension. Breathing in the soothing energies, Breathing out the tension. Then we move to our eyes. Breathing in the peaceful energies to our eyes that have taken on so much for us. The stress, The expectations, The pressure, Releasing them. In our exhalation. And if we feel we need to open our mouths in our exhalation, Then do that. And then moving to our jaws, Our teeth. Breathing in the peace, Breathing out the stress and tension. And to our face, Our hardened face. Breathing in the peace and safety, Breathing out the stress. The mask that we have taken on, The mask that we needed to protect. We don't need them now. We are safe with ourselves. And moving down to our throats, Breathing in the peace to our throats. Breathing out the stress and tension. The insecurities that hide in the throat. The desire to speak, But the fear of being judged. Breathing in the peace, Breathing out what no longer serves. You are safe. It is safe. Moving to our chest, Our heart. Our beating hearts, Quietly beating in the background. Breathing in the peace, Breathing out the stress. Breathing out the suppressed feelings, The exhaustion, The expectations, The pain, The agony. And as we breathe in the peace, Know that your intention suffices. Your mind is powerful. Inviting the peace in, Inviting what no longer serves to quietly exit. And moving to our lungs, We do the same. Breathing in the peace, Breathing out the stress. All the worries that are lodged in our lungs. All that we've taken on, Our unmet expectations, Our disappointment, Releasing them gently. Not because we're avoiding, Not because we're hiding, But because it is safe. Then moving to our liver and gallbladder, At the right midsection of our body. Breathing in the peace, Breathing out the stored anger, Resentment, And tension. Align the soothing energies to circulate in your organs. Align what no longer serves to quietly exit. And in this process, We hold so much love, Tenderness, Gentleness, And patience. To our own body. If it needs more time, So be it. If it feels particularly tense, So be it. And we move on to our spleen, On the left midsection of our body. Again, Breathing in the peace, Breathing out the tension. And we move to our kidneys, Somewhere at the back in the midsection. And we breathe in the peace to our overworked kidneys. With our diet, Lifestyle, Insufficient sleep has taken on so much for us. We honor it, We breathe in the peace, The soothing energies, We comfort it, And we release all that no longer serves. Thank you for taking on so much for us, Quietly in the background. We breathe in and out. And moving on to our stomach, Our small intestines, Our large intestines, The digestive system. And again, We breathe in the peace, And we breathe out the stress and tension lodged here. And how often we eat without chewing properly, And we suppress so much stress. The overworked digestive system. We are here to honor you, To recognize you, And to come home with you. Breathing in peace, Breathing out tension. And in our hips and buttocks, And for the ladies, The womb. We invite you to bring in the peace, Breathing in the soothing energies to these tense up parts of the body, And breathing out the stress and tension. Our sedentary lifestyles, Sitting in front of the computer, And us forcing everything unprocessed down into our bodies. They are quietly holding it on, As it is. We honor them, We breathe, And we release. And to our upper back, Our middle back, Our lower back. Whatever that we are unable to process and have thrown it to the back of our body. We don't need to know the details, But we invite all these to be released. The tension lodged in our back, The tension lodged in our shoulders, Just releasing the weight of the world's problems. We don't have to strap this backpack of the world, Of others, On ourselves all the time. Breathing in peace, Breathing out tension. And now we shift our gentle focus to our legs, Our beautiful legs that have taken so much for us, Clocked so much knowledge for us, Allowing us to discover and see this world more effortlessly. We breathe in the soothing energies, We release the pain, The discomfort, The stress, And tension. And now we invite the gentle focus to shift to the entire body, Entire physical body. As we breathe in the peaceful energies in this little spacious egg, And we breathe out what no longer serves, What we're still holding on, That is ready to go. And perhaps in this state, You might find your gentle awareness and focus softening. And if it feels like blending into an expanded consciousness of white light, Almost like floating on water, If it feels like that for you, And you just want to relax in these energies, Go ahead. Like a quiet spa time with yourself, Floating in these energies. And if it so happens the mind is a little busy with intrusive thoughts, We can always invite them to come back again after meditation. Important ones to come back, The rest can drop. What is meant to be remembered will be remembered. And in this space, This sanctuary, We're here to honor ourselves. We're here to soften and come home to our body, Come home to our mind, Come home to our emotions. In good days, We come home. In bad days, We too come home. In whatever state we're in, We come home and accept. And if you feel that there is one particular part of your body that needs more tender loving care, We invite you to shift your gentle focus to that part of your body. Maybe it's your mind, Or your womb, Or your precious eyes, Whatever it may be, Your soft gaze upon this part of your body suffices. And again, We breathe in the peace and breathe out the tension. And just allowing ourselves to sit with that part of the body. And if we feel that that part of the body needs more support, We can always shift our hands and place it there as well. In some days, When the going gets tough, As we breathe in the peace and breathe out the tension, Sometimes our body just needs to be held by our safe hands. And if it does need that, Then we can give it to them generously, Lovingly, Patiently. I see you. I feel you. I accept you. I see you. I feel you. I accept you. I see you. I feel you. I accept you. And in this quiet space, May this be the start of a blossoming relationship you have with your body. A gentle daily check-in with the body is nothing too complicated. Nothing too difficult. Know that your safe hands matter. Your non-judgment of your own body matters. What has been true is a fact. But how you're holding it on going forward can be changed. And inviting that gentle focus to shift to our entire body, Almost like taking a few steps back, Seeing ourselves in that white egg once again. Know that anytime we can always come back to this little egg. Where we feel safe, Where we reignite our relationship with our body. And anytime you feel ready, Drawing your consciousness back to your physical body or parts of your body, Taking in a few deep breaths, Bring the full awareness back to this beautiful body that has housed you all these years. Before you gently come back to this meditation space and open your eyes. Yes, So welcome back, We're in good time. Yeah, So however your experience may be today, Don't be disheartened and good job for hanging in there and come back again, Because you will get better, Yeah. So that's all from us, It's 10 a. M, We're ending the session. Right on time. So have a beautiful Sunday ahead. I'll see you next week. Yeah, Bye-bye. Take care.