I first like to share the inspiration for this practice.
I had one of those days that really show us the roller coaster of emotions that we can go on.
First I had some some anger after I looked at my bank account and there was a charge that I wasn't aware of.
At the end of the day I had some joy.
I taught a yoga class with my girlfriend and it was this really beautiful experience that we got to share together.
And then the main teaching here is in the middle of the day and it is in regards to Insight Timer.
Many of you know that I post a meditation every week on Insight Timer and over the past couple months or so there's been a lot of people listening and a lot of engagement that I've been able to do.
It's been really really wonderful to see how these meditation tracks have been performing.
A lot of people have been listening and I get to learn a little bit about you guys through the comments and it's been really really exciting to watch.
This past week I had posted a meditation called the Hero's Journey and I had put so much of myself into it.
I was so excited to see how it was going to be received and I remember opening my app on that Thursday and looking at how it was doing at a certain time and I just knew it just wasn't having the fire that the other ones were having.
It wasn't having that pickup of knowing that there was gonna be a lot of plays.
At first I was like okay well maybe it'll pick up and as the day went on I started to get really sad and I started to have some regret and because I realized that I was like well maybe maybe I it was too long it was too long for people to listen to.
Maybe I didn't name it something that was catchy and that people wanted to listen to.
And then I was kind of in my own muck for a little bit with these emotions and then it hit me at some point I don't know when it was but it hit me that I have been letting myself get addicted to the attention.
Addicted to the excitement of having a meditation perform really well and then when one wasn't living up to my expectation of how my meditation should be doing I suffered.
And I realized there's a lot of energy to addictions of any kind.
There's a lot of energy there's a lot of excitement to especially attention and when that's not there we feel for it we feel for its loss.
And I realized that I have a lot of work to do in my own practice because the ultimate goal if there's a goal that we're working towards is to realize our own inner peace.
And peace is what we are trying to sustain in our life rather than some sort of outside feeling of excitement.
So today we're going to practice letting go of our expectations and dealing with all of these emotions that we move through.
So let's go ahead and find your comfortable meditation posture.
Take any movements that you need.
If you can rest your hands on your thighs and thin the tailbone down to floor,
Cushion,
Chair.
And if you haven't already begin to close down the eyes.
Allow gravity to begin to take over and start to allow a few breaths in and out through the nose to both open some space within the body and to ground and relax the weight of the body into the floor into your chair.
Release any tension that you might be holding in your face.
Allow the rise in the fall of each breath to settle you in.
Continue to feel the shoulders melt down.
Just another moment here.
You need to really notice that connection point of the tailbone on the chair.
We're going to focus our practice on really feeling rooted.
And to do that we're going to do a little visualization exercise.
And I'd like you to imagine that your body and you are a mountain dug deep into the ground.
Whether it's the base of your tailbone,
Maybe your entire feet and your lower body are dug into the ground.
And as you move up through the body the top of your head is the peak of the mountain.
I'd like you to notice where your mountain is.
Maybe bringing your awareness into the mind's eye,
Space in between the forehead.
See if you can imagine where your mountain would rest.
Is it in the desert,
Wilderness,
The Arctic?
Maybe there's a lake nearby or river running through.
With each exhale that you take,
Continue to feel yourself rooting down as this mountain top.
And just take in any of the scenery that you see.
And what do you hear?
Do you hear birds around,
Other animals?
Is the Sun out?
Is there snow?
Whatever comes to mind is completely perfect.
See if you can allow your awareness to know all of the different life that is happening around you.
And if you know a mountain climate,
You know the weather can change pretty fast.
And maybe you can notice throughout that it may be sunny and then all of a sudden some clouds will come in and there's a storm.
Or the morning may be cast with a deep fog where you can barely see the other mountains.
And then by afternoon there's a bright clear Sun.
And notice that the mountain is unshakable through it all.
The mountain is rooted and grounded underneath all of those passing storms,
All of the passing weather.
It is firm and it is strong.
Continue to breathe and root yourself deeper down into your landscape.
I'd like you to begin to scan back through your week.
Maybe you can even scan back through your month if that works better for you.
I'd like you to see if you can find the the changes in your weather.
Meaning the the fluctuations in the emotions that you might have already just felt in this past week.
Maybe there was a sadness from something and you can imagine that sadness as the rain coming down on your mountain.
Maybe there was some joy and you can see that the rain falls away and the Sun comes out and there's moments of joy.
And quite possibly there was also a storm,
Some anger,
A moment where you lost your cool.
All of these emotions are just passing through.
Although they seem so intense while they're happening.
Remember that we are the deeper part.
We are the stronger part that is just experiencing each emotion as it comes and goes.
And we can see that all of them from some angle are beautiful.
All the weather in the mountain range serves a purpose.
And it helps in those moments where we are enraged or captured by an emotion.
That we can come back to our base and our foundation.
Finding that point of us that is unmoving.
Let's take a good conscious breath here.
And let that go.
And you're welcome to let go of the mountain visualization and just come back into your own body and your own experience.
And I'd like you to think of something that you have told yourself that you need to achieve in the future in order to feel happy,
In order to be joyful.
Or maybe think about an expectation that you have for how something needs to be in your life.
Maybe an expectation you have for how a person needs to act.
Something that you always want to happen and you realize that if it didn't happen you would suffer because of it.
And it's not that it's bad to have goals or to have expectations or to have good things happen that make us happy.
But if we rest our joy and our happiness on a future or an outside event we won't find that lasting peace that is always there within.
So with each breath surrendering the need for any of that to go your way.
Surrendering the need to achieve that goal or to have that sort of fame or whatever it is that you might be looking for.
Maybe you can come back to that feeling of the mountain that is underneath all of those expectations,
All of those outside things that happen to us.
Knowing that our true joy,
Our true fulfillment is always found within.
And we can come back to the moment right here and now to find it.
So as you breathe I'm gonna share a few affirmations that you can say out loud,
You can say to yourself,
Or you can just listen as I say them.
I am fulfilled at my core.
My light shines brighter than I can see.
Nothing will ever give me what I already have.
I have everything I need right here and now to be happy.
I have everything I need right here and now to be loving.
I have everything I need right here and now to be at peace.
I am fulfilled at my core.
My light shines brighter than I can see.
Nothing will ever give me what I already have.
I have everything I need right here and now to be happy.
I have everything I need right here and now to be loved.
I have everything I need right here and now to be at peace.
And I'm gonna leave you with a,
I'm gonna do a minute or so of the silent practice.
You're welcome to repeat any of those words.
You're welcome to come back to the mountain,
Be the firm root,
And you're welcome to just follow your breath in and out for the next minute or so.
And slowly just begin to come back to that connection,
Tailbone on the chair of your hands,
Slowly bringing your awareness back into your body.
And whenever you feel ready,
You just start to open your eyes and come back into the room.
And one last note on that meditation,
The hero's journey,
I realized that because I was in my own regret and sadness,
I wasn't able to engage with the people who were practicing with it and who were having these experiences and getting what I hope to share out of it so we can kind of blind ourselves from really serving who it's meant to be served.
So thank you to everyone that listened to that meditation and I'm so grateful and blessed that it could be of support on your journey as with all of the work that I do.
So thank you all so much and wishing you all so much love and peace and guidance.
Namaste.
