In the words of author Anne Lamott,
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it and plug it back in.
Including you.
And I think that's one nice way of describing the benefit of meditation practice,
Even if it's a short one.
There is the possibility to reset your energy to unplug and plug back in.
And we don't even really necessarily know why or have to know why,
But things sort of tend to work again when you unplug them and plug them back in.
So in my individual client sessions,
For example,
We'll often start with a simple meditation practice.
You don't have to call it meditation.
It's just a slowing down before moving in any direction automatically.
Settling in kind of resetting and then moving forward from here as opposed to from there.
One client said it like this,
I really liked how they put it,
They said,
Sometimes you have to stop in order to really start.
Sometimes you have to really stop in order to really So I thought I would just offer this to you in the same way that I do with my clients.
I don't know exactly what I'm going to say,
But you could imagine that we just got onto a Zoom call together.
To settle in for a 50-minute session and might have some idea what we're going to explore here.
But for now,
You don't have to worry about it at all.
The only thing to focus on is just.
To let go of what has already happened,
To let go of whatever you might be.
Holding onto or attaching to in the future and really just dropping into the present moment with me together for a little while.
And then see what comes up from the present moment.
So let's try that.
If you like,
You can take a couple of deep breaths,
Make any adjustments to your posture or your environment,
Whatever might allow you to settle in just a little bit more deeply.
And you can choose.
Your eyes can be open or closed for this time.
I think I'll allow my eyes to be closed.
If you like,
You can do the same.
Just allowing the breath to breathe.
If a couple deep breaths feels nice,
You can let that happen.
And you can also allow the body to relax or release in any way that it can.
I just become aware of any tension that is here in the body that you might not have been fully aware of a moment ago.
And then whenever you notice the tension,
There's the possibility to release it or maybe just soften it a little bit more.
Maybe the shoulders drop a little bit.
Maybe the stomach kind of opens a little bit.
Maybe the eyes can let go of squinting.
The jaw can release.
Just allowing yourself to be here.
Noticing if there's any momentum that you're still in the midst of and hear.
Maybe along with a few more deep breaths,
Just allowing this momentum.
To slow down.
Maybe all the way down.
To a stop.
And then seeing what it might be like to experience present moment consciousness.
Without any words.
Present moment awareness with no words added.
So I'll stop talking just for a little bit.
But maybe you can also stop talking inside the mind.
There is still awareness without any words.
Wordless awareness.
For just a little while.
Starting now.
And now from wordless awareness you can Feel free to invite in words or ideas.
Just noticing whatever might be here.
To explore.
Or share or ask about.
Maybe it's nothing.
Maybe it's a variety of things,
And you can just notice them all.
Maybe one thing stands out.
Above the others.
Just noticing for a little while what's here.
Okay,
And now you might just take a few more deep breaths.
Or again,
Allowing the breath.
To just breathe,
Maybe like a door opening on the exhale.
And allowing the inhale to come in through the open door.
Whenever it does.
And you can allow the body to relax again,
Just noticing if any.
Tension has crept back up under the surface.
And every exhale is just another chance to let it go again.
Now maybe feeling the momentum of your life.
Picking up.
But from a present place.
Moving forward.
From here.
In a moment,
If your eyes were closed,
We can allow them to open back up,
But right now you might just feel as if the day was starting again.
Maybe even your whole life beginning for the first time in this moment.
As if we had just started this meeting.
Maybe even we're just about to start.
And then.
.
.
When the moment feels right.
Again,
If your eyes were closed.
You can allow them.
To open.
I don't know about for you,
But my energy certainly feels different from.
.
.
A few moments ago when we started this.
I'd love to know.
If you feel any difference or if there's anything that came up for you during that time.
And again,
Maybe one thing you could take from this is that quote from Anne Lamott.
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it and plug it back in.
Including you.
