I'm Christina DeFranco,
A certified yoga teacher and yoga psychology specialist.
Our journey together today begins with a guided meditation on allowing what is.
Find a comfortable seat in a place where you can be relatively free from distractions.
Find a balance between sitting up tall but remaining relaxed.
Feel into the width of your chest as you soften your shoulders down and back.
Rest your palms on your thighs or in the manner that is most comfortable for you.
Close your eyes or take a low gaze at the earth ahead of you.
Become aware of your breath as you breathe in and out through your nose.
Choose a breath that reflects all the qualities you desire in your mind.
Gentle,
Quiet,
Patient,
Steady,
Spacious,
And at ease.
Balance your awareness between the three spheres of mindfulness.
Your body,
Your breath,
And the mind itself.
Stay present right here with all three.
Perhaps 20% of your mind's attention is on each and the remaining 40%.
Just let this part of the mind stay with spaciousness and ease.
Don't get caught up in the numbers.
The idea is just to be mindful and at the same time free.
Seated,
Breathing,
Present with the body,
Breath,
And mind.
Aware,
Open,
Spacious.
Now notice what's present here with you.
Notice if there's any sensation arising in the body,
An energy that you can sense through the breath,
Or a movement,
Emotion,
Or habitual thought in the mind.
Whatever it is that you notice,
Welcome it in with a spaciousness.
Allow it to be.
Don't try to change it.
Don't chase it.
Don't try to push it away.
Can you remain still and spacious in your awareness as you accept what it is that's arising?
This is how things are right here and right now.
Notice how it is,
And accept it.
Recall that acceptance is spacious,
Non-judgmental,
Unattached.
To accept is not an endorsement.
To accept is simply to recognize,
To notice.
Acceptance is mindfulness and awareness of reality as it is.
What about now?
What's present here with you now?
What's arising in the body?
What's happening in the mind?
What's arising in the body?
What can you sense through the breath?
Is there stillness or movement in the mind?
This is how things are right here,
Right now.
Notice how it is,
Accept it.
Recall that like all things,
It will also change.
In your acceptance,
You give what it is that you notice the freedom to change.
When you and reality are no longer battling,
Reality no longer has to defend itself.
Thanks to your acceptance,
There can be a softening,
There can be movement,
There can be change.
What about now?
What's present with you right here and right now?
Accept all sensation that is arising in the body.
Welcome it in.
Give it space,
Give it freedom.
What type of energy do you sense through the breath?
Welcome it all in.
Watch it and notice it with curiosity.
Is there stillness or movement in the mind?
Welcome it and accept it without attaching,
Without trying to push it away.
This is how things are right here,
Right now.
Notice,
Welcome,
Accept.
Sense the whole body,
The breath,
And the mind itself.
Opening into the freedom of acceptance,
Nothing needs to be different right now.
This is how it is.
And from the spaciousness of acceptance,
Tap into the wisdom that acceptance provides.
From the spaciousness of acceptance,
From this awareness of things as they are,
Breathe into this space.
Before you open your eyes,
Connect to the wisdom in your body,
Your breath,
And the mind.
And ask yourself the question,
What should I do now?
Be equally accepting of the answer.
When you feel ready,
Give yourself a few soft blinks of your eyes,
Coming back into this time and space.
Once again,
Noticing the things around you,
What was taught in today's guided meditation is a practice.
For many,
It may feel very challenging to allow what is,
And to observe and accept reality.
Come back to this practice as much as you need.
Until next time,
Namaste.
