Thank you for joining me today to practice mindfulness by meditating and writing together.
I'm Carolyn Zille.
Lao Tzu wrote,
Water is fluid,
Soft and yielding,
But water will wear away rock which is rigid and cannot yield.
As a rule,
Whatever is fluid,
Soft and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard.
In the Dao De Jing,
Lao Tzu suggests we emulate water with its soft and fluid and yielding properties.
I believe emulating water is a practice,
A practice of living in flow,
Of allowing,
A practice of being soft and yielding.
And under normal circumstances,
When we're not experiencing a global pandemic,
Emulating water,
Living like water,
Being like water in flow,
Easy,
Allowing,
Letting go,
Is normally challenging because life happens and now life happens in a bigger,
Scarier way.
And thus now more than ever,
It's so important to practice this emulation of water,
To practice living in flow and being like water.
As we practice,
We want to remember that water is persistent and this persistence is gentle and yielding.
This is just water being water.
Think about the Grand Canyon.
Think about how over time,
Water without pushing,
Without forcing,
But just by being its own self,
Water,
Flow,
Yielding,
Gentle,
Created the Grand Canyon.
There's magic in that.
And we can tap into this magic,
This soft,
Yielding,
Gentle persistence in our practice and in our lives.
And we can create change.
We can shift our attitudes,
Our perspectives.
We can shift our life,
But through ease and gentleness.
In today's practice,
We'll use water as our guide.
First going into a meditation and then some journaling.
Let's practice.
So with your journal by your side,
Ideally seated,
Settle in.
Quickly closing your eyes.
And just notice.
Notice the sounds around you.
Without judgment,
You're just noticing,
Allowing the sound around you.
And any sounds outside.
Allowing them to be what they are without judgment.
Gently moving your attention to your breath.
Letting your breath to be what it is in this moment.
Noticing without judging,
Is it shallow,
Calm,
Relaxed.
Being a witness to your breath.
Take a little time and scan your body,
Noticing any areas of tightness,
Constriction,
Pain,
Tingling,
Any sensations.
Seeing places in your body that maybe feel easy,
Relaxed,
Calm.
Without judging the tight areas as bad and the relaxed,
Easy areas as good.
You're just noticing,
Scanning your body,
Witnessing what is arising,
What is there in this moment.
Noticing any sensations.
Noticing any emotions to arise.
Gently moving your attention back to your breath.
Again,
Just witnessing,
Noticing,
Wondering,
Are there any changes?
Is it the same?
Without attachment,
You're just noticing.
I invite you to gently open your eyes and turn toward your journal.
And with the same kind of allowing,
Easiness,
And non-judgment,
Answer this question,
How am I pushing in my life?
Or where do I push or force in my life?
How am I pushing in my life?
Or where do I force and push in my life?
Another way to look at this question is,
Where am I stopping the flow in my life?
Where am I stopping the flow in my life?
Where am I stopping the flow in my life?
Thinking about the properties of water.
Ease,
Flow,
Allowing,
Gentle,
Patient persistence.
How might you emulate water in your life?
How might you emulate water in your life?
How might you emulate water in your life?
If you were to emulate water in your life,
To be more easy and flow,
Patient,
Allowing,
What might change?
If you were to emulate water in your life,
What might shift or change?
How might you emulate water in your life?
How can I be like water today?
What can I do to allow to be in flow today?
How can I be like water today?
What can I do to allow and be in flow today?
How can I be like water today?
When you feel complete,
Knowing that you can always come back to these writing points,
Prompts later,
Tomorrow,
The day after,
I invite you to come back to your body,
Closing your eyes and witness your body in this moment.
Witness your breath,
Your heartbeat,
Witness how you feel in this moment without judging.
Just allow yourself to be in this moment like water.
And if anything's changed,
Don't label it good or bad.
Just notice it.
Just allow yourself to be in this moment.
Thank you for spending some time today meditating,
Journaling.
I wish for you a day of flow.
May you be like water.
Thank you so much.
Namaste.
