This meditation today,
I want to talk about reactivity.
So I took a degree,
And part of my degree was geology based.
I learnt about sedimentary rock.
You know where layer upon layer upon layer is added over millennia to create this layered rock.
My point?
This is kind of similar to the way that our frustrations work.
So what I mean by that is,
You know that person that frustrates you,
That quirk,
Maybe it's noisy eating,
Bad driving,
Something else.
That thing that really grinds your gears.
Well,
Over time,
If we just allow that to frustrate us and react without thinking,
Maybe we lash out,
Maybe we get in an argument about it.
Just like that sedimentary rock,
We can add layers and layers of this frustration on top of each other till it builds into this enormous big deal.
So this meditation is about finding ease and clarity when it comes to these frustrations.
And actually,
This is probably one of my favourite ways to meditate.
And it's probably the most important as well.
So let's begin.
Take a moment to get comfy,
Maybe to stretch out.
How's the neck doing?
How's your pose?
Are you comfortable?
As comfortable as you can be?
And then take a big old breath in.
Close your eyes and breathe it out.
Just find breath for a second feeling expansive and inflating as you inhale.
And softening and heavy as you exhale.
And just starting to check in and notice how you're feeling right now,
How you're feeling today.
And we're going to start this meditation,
Bring our focus here to this sense of ease.
It's kind of like a place of neutrality,
We've already talked about that in this course,
This challenge.
This place of ease is a super brave position of just letting it be.
Being open,
Being present and steady.
And actually we can bring to mind kind of an analogy to help us feel this.
Maybe it's an old building with deep foundations that's lasted hundreds of years.
Maybe it's an oak tree or a mountain.
Can you get that feeling,
Can you focus on that feeling of rootedness and endurance and solidity?
And if it feels better to bring that anchor point into this meditation on the breath or a sound or sensation,
That's cool too.
But no matter what,
Can you feel a sense of stillness and steadiness,
No matter what comes up?
Now with mountains and big trees and old buildings,
There's a sense of patience.
So we want to find that patience here too.
Patience and stillness,
A connectivity down into something bigger.
No matter what comes up,
Stay present to this ease.
So let's shift gears a little to the muscle of clarity.
So I want you to imagine,
Think of a situation that low level frustrates you,
That annoys you,
That bugs you.
Not a big deal,
But just one of those irksome things.
It doesn't really matter what it is,
But bring it to mind.
And then I want you to notice it.
Where do you feel it?
What does it feel like?
And this noticing,
This feeling is clarity.
And what I want us to understand here,
Like everything,
Is that this feeling won't stay the same.
This kind of urge to react,
To flip a table,
It will pass.
It will pass.
It will pass.
So practice right now the art of not pushing it away or pushing it down,
But being kind of bigger than this urge,
This frustration,
This annoyance.
Be bigger than it and let it pass.
So practice right now.
Now for the last little chunk of time here,
Just let it go.
Just kind of cruise.
This is our little moment of shavasana in our meditation.
No focus,
Nowhere to go,
Nowhere to be,
Just cruise.
So this practice today has been really about being bigger than our reactions.
It's pretty amazing when you think about it because it's these reactions that cause their own reactions in others,
Kind of spread it around,
You know.
It's like an endless wave of reaction.
And this can cause breakups in relationships,
It can cause drama at work,
With our families,
But it's a simple tool.
If we can be bigger than that,
Wow,
It's pretty life-changing.
And actually going back to my sedimentary rock analogy,
The more we're able to find ease and clarity when it comes to these frustrating times in our lives,
Big or small,
The less layers we're adding to this rock,
This buildup of frustrations,
The easier it becomes.
It's like weightlifting.
The more you do it,
The heavier you can lift.
So,
Well done for meditating with me today.
I hope this has given you some ease and clarity.
Maybe take this mountain,
This tree,
This old building into your day and make the world a brighter place.
Thanks for meditating with me.
Open your eyes and go have a damn good day.
