Hi,
It's Brooks Palmer and welcome to the Meditation on Change.
Today we're going to talk about and take an intimate look at how change is an intrinsic part of our lives.
So I'd like you to find a comfortable place to sit or to lie down.
And then once you do that,
Close your eyes.
And feel your body start to naturally relax.
When we close our eyes,
It's a signal for our body to begin to take it easy.
It's a natural state for us to relax in that quietness.
And in that relaxation,
Notice your breath coming in and then leaving your body.
The breath coming in and exhalation.
So your body is like a really great role model for change.
It continuously changes the breathing pattern.
Breathing in and then breathing out.
Breathing in and breathing out.
And notice the contrast.
Your body's not holding on to just one particular behavior.
I'm just going to inhale,
You know.
It simply exhales after it inhale.
And after it exhales,
It doesn't go,
I'm just going to keep exhaling.
I'm going to hold on to the exhaling.
It inhales again.
From one end of the spectrum to the other,
The inhalation,
The exhalation.
That's change.
Your body's really good with change.
And that's just the change that we can see.
There's change going on all the time inside the body.
Within the tissues and the cells and the bones.
And other things I have no idea about.
As you rest here,
In your awareness you can imagine back to a time,
Imagine back to 10 years ago,
20 years ago,
30 years ago.
And how different you were from how you are today.
Change is constant.
We don't notice it often because we don't really need to.
We're focused on the things around us,
What's in front of us.
And a lot of the change is subtle.
Things that were important to you a number of years ago are not important to you today.
So I think we can assume that some of the things that are important to you today won't be in the future.
The interesting thing is,
Even though change is such an intrinsic part of our lives,
A constant part of our lives,
We can find ourselves resisting change.
It can seem scary.
What's going to take the place of what I'm used to?
Even though we may be bored of something or tired of a particular thing being the same,
We can still be scared about letting it go for something new and fresh to come in.
That's why I like to notice the breath.
Breath is such a basic part of our lives,
It's been with us since we entered the world.
It's one of the few things that remains with us.
Our bodies are constantly changing,
Our minds constantly change.
But our breath is there and we can trust it.
We can listen to it.
And our breath will never steer us wrong.
Our breath loves us.
Without our breath we wouldn't be alive.
And our breath is constantly coming in and out.
So we can trust it as a teacher.
So as you're resting there,
Again notice that breath coming in and then going out.
What amazing flexibility going on there.
The lungs expand and contract.
The rib cage expands and contracts.
You can put your hand just above your belly and feel the diaphragm expand and collapse.
It teaches us that change is constant and to move with the change.
Such great value and that flexibility.
And the interesting thing about change is the more you start to notice it and accept it like you do your breath,
Like you're breath changing,
The easier it becomes to accept and move with change.
And there's a trust in that.
In the same way you trust that when you let out a breath you'll be taking in a new one.
And when you move with change and something that's been part of your life falls away,
Deep down there can be a trust that something new and fresh and supportive will take the place of what left.
So focus on that for a few moments.
Experience that.
The wonderful thing about change is it's very relaxing when it's accepted and we move with it.
To resist is exhausting.
It's as if you're going against the flow of life.
So when you move with that flow in the same way your breath moves,
There's relief.
See if you can notice that as you're breathing.
So we're going to end the meditation.
So stretch,
Take in a deep breath,
Open your eyes.
So congratulations,
You've taken an intimate look at change in your life.
And because we talked about this while you're in a very relaxed and open place,
You can trust that you don't have to remember this information.
It sinks into your heart naturally,
Becomes a part of you.
And then when you're out and about in the world and you notice,
You know,
You encounter an event of change and you notice,
Oh,
You know,
I adapted to that a lot easier than I have to other things in the past that were change.
You know,
There's possibility that could happen.
Wouldn't that be interesting?
So I wish you the best and take care.
