Going Through Change

This meditation focuses on being with the changing nature of life. We begin by scanning through the body to help us relax and feel grounded. We then spend time resting our awareness on the breath before exploring our ability to create space for whatever change we’re experiencing.

Transcript

Our meditation today is going to focus on change,

Embracing change and sitting with change and just acknowledging the changing nature of life.

So we'll begin by finding a nice long spine in a seated position.

You can let your hands rest on your thighs or let your hands rest in your lap.

And you want to be comfortable,

But you also don't want to feel rigid.

So grow your spine nice and long,

But keep a softness to it.

Relax your shoulders,

Open your chest slightly.

And then if it feels comfortable for you,

You can let your eyes close or you can just let your gaze soften,

Let your gaze be downcast.

And we'll begin by allowing some deep breaths into the body.

So go ahead and let all the air out that you currently hold.

And take a deep,

Long inhale through the nose,

Filling the belly and the chest.

And a slow exhale through the nose to release,

Soften.

Again a deep inhale through the nose,

Expanding the body.

And a slow exhale through the nose to release and soften.

One more time,

A deep inhale.

And a slow exhale.

And then you can let your breath return to its natural rhythm,

Not needing to control it,

Just letting it be.

And you might take a moment just to notice how you're feeling today.

Maybe notice the quality of the breath.

Feels deep and calm,

Or maybe it feels a little tight.

Maybe your breathing feels shallow.

You might do a brief scan through your body,

Just noticing if there's any areas of tension.

Maybe there's some areas that feel ready to release.

Just noticing what the internal weather is like today.

And give yourself just a moment to allow things to be as they are in this moment.

Just exploring what it feels like to create space for all that is here to be here right now.

This doesn't mean that we like what the experience is or that we're allowing it to forever stay this way,

But just that we're acknowledging that this is what life has brought to us in this moment,

And we're practicing not resisting.

And bring your awareness into the forehead,

Into the temples and the brow.

See if you can bring a softness to this area,

Noticing if the eyelids are twitching or if they're smooth,

Like the calm body of water.

And you can let that sense of softness spread through the rest of the face.

Maybe unhinge the jaw and move it left and right,

Just allowing it to relax,

Releasing any tension that you might be holding here.

And soften your shoulders,

Letting them fall down the length of your spine,

Melting like ice.

Bring the awareness into the hands,

Trying to feel them from the inside out,

Noticing temperature of warmth or coolness,

Any sensations like tingling,

Throbbing,

Heaviness,

Lightness.

And see if you can let the hands rest in an easeful,

Relaxed way.

And then let that awareness move into the pelvic region,

Feeling the pressure of your sit bones against the seat,

Seeing if you can imagine your awareness like a weight in the pelvic region that's grounding you.

And then let your awareness move down the length of the legs and down into the feet,

Feeling the pressure of your feet against the floor,

Noticing any sensations here,

Letting your awareness stretch out between the ball of the foot and the heel,

The top of the foot.

Now if there's any area of the body where it feels particularly inviting for you to rest your attention in this moment,

I invite you to bring your awareness there or you might bring your awareness to the breath,

Noticing where you can most easily sense it in the body.

So this might be in the rise and fall of your stomach or your chest,

Or maybe in the sensations you feel in the nose as the air passes in and out.

Just let your awareness be with your breath or with an area of your body that you've chosen.

Just let it rest there for a moment.

Your awareness has nowhere to be right now other than right here.

And naturally you'll notice that the mind will wander,

Wander to thoughts of the past or the future.

And when that happens,

You just acknowledge that your attention has wandered,

It happens.

And then you just gently bring your awareness back to the breath or to the body.

And now I invite you to bring to mind an area of your life that feels like it's in the midst of changing,

Whether it's by your own choice or it's changing without you choosing that.

Just bring the situation to mind.

You might notice what sensations that brings up in the body,

Or how this situation of change makes you feel.

Maybe it gives rise to certain thoughts,

Worries,

Doubts,

And see if you can just notice them without getting pulled into them.

Just see them as clouds passing by.

And imagine that within you,

You embody the same kind of spaciousness that is the sky.

This wide open blue sky that can hold all sorts of different weather and clouds.

And see how within the vastness of this sky,

The weather is always changing.

It's coming and it's going.

And as you practice embodying this sense of a vast blue sky,

You might imagine that this weather is like the changing experiences that are happening in your life.

And sensing into your ability to create space for this change,

Allowing it to unfold.

And trusting in your ability to be the backdrop in which it all occurs.

That even in the midst of all this change,

There's still the sky itself that remains constant and that there's a sort of stability within that.

And even within this vast sky,

There's also space for your worries about the changes to exist and for your resistance to it,

For your doubt.

And there's also space for curiosity and excitement.

There is no change that's bigger than your ability to hold it and to be with it.

And you might let your awareness move to sounds.

Maybe sounds outside of the room,

Sounds inside.

And let your awareness be completely free to move between each sound as it arises,

Kind of like a bird flying from branch to branch.

And see if you can soften the need to identify each of the sounds,

But just to notice it as sound,

As vibrations in the air.

And notice how this soundscape is always changing.

Sounds arise,

And then sounds fade away.

In our final moments together,

I'd like to offer a quote from Rumi.

He says,

Try not to resist the changes that come your way.

Instead,

Let life live through you.

And do not worry that your life is turning upside down.

How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come?

Now take a moment to come back to the breath,

Noticing the inflow and the outflow,

And letting yourself rest in the stability of the breath.

Reviews

I loved everything about this meditation! So calming and peaceful. I especially loved the quote at the end. It was as though a light bulb turned on and everything made sense.
Do you have a place in Seward where you practice? I’m a fellow Alaskan (just moved to Willow after 42 years in Chugiak) and it would be wonderful to meditate with you if I’m down there sometime.