Here we are in this body,
In this breath,
Inhaling,
Exhaling.
Welcome to a hit of hope.
And this one's a wee bit salty.
You've come here for a reason.
That reason might be that you are looking,
Searching,
Seeking something,
Anything,
To make it okay.
Inhale,
Exhale.
You might want to center,
Ground.
You might be struggling with restlessness or a pointlessness that runs deep and affects,
No infects everything you do.
You might be swept up in the currents of strong emotions,
Fear,
Grief,
Sadness,
Rage.
Inhale,
Exhale.
Whatever brought you here,
Whatever you are wishing,
Fighting,
Feeling,
Take a second and name your thing.
Maybe it's a bunch of things and that's fine,
Or maybe it's a single thing,
But name it and now really feel it.
You might think,
No,
I don't want to.
That's the whole reason I'm here.
I do not want to feel this way.
I get it.
But trust me on this.
The feeling has to be felt to be free to move on.
So feel it.
Where do you feel it?
In your jaw,
Your neck,
Your shoulders,
Your heart.
Feel.
Have whatever it is,
A little space and time to rise.
Stay,
Please stay.
Let it arrive.
Breathe.
Breathe.
And now imagine I've just handed you a bottle of bubbles.
Imagine you open the bottle up,
You pull out the wand and with the breath,
With your breath,
You are exhaling your thing,
Pulling it up and out of you.
Whatever it is,
It goes into that bubble.
You're pulling it out of you,
Putting in that space and now off it goes.
Is it really that easy?
Probably not.
At least not for me.
But here's what I've learned.
Things go better when I honestly name what is going on.
Things go better when we really feel our feelings.
Things go better when we create space by breathing.
And in that mode of being,
We can try and pull the pain up and out of our bodies and send it on its way.
If the bubble imagery is too Sally Sunshine for you,
Here's an earthier image for you to try on.
Imagine you are walking a dog and that dog does what dogs do.
Now do you pick up that turd,
Shove it into a little baggie and carry it around for the rest of the day,
The rest of your life?
Not only that,
But do you do this again and again,
Shoving all kinds of turd baggies into your pockets?
No,
You throw the bag of shit away.
You are here for a reason.
You are here to shine,
Not carry that shit around.
So feel it,
Breathe with it,
And then let it go.
Inhale,
Exhale.
Namaste.