We'll begin.
Just exhale and relax.
Stretch,
Yawn.
Fidget,
Wiggle.
Better work out any tension in your shoulders.
Whether you are standing,
Seated,
Or lying down,
Just come into a 10% more comfortable space.
Scratch your foot,
Adjust your ear,
Smile.
Dropping into enjoyment.
Meditation doesn't have to be hard or esoteric.
Can be fun.
Just time you're giving yourself to be at peace.
To not rush off,
To not doom scroll,
To not multitask,
To not worry about your kids,
Or your parents,
Or your dog.
This is just you.
And when you get distracted because your brain and neurons are firing,
That's their work.
Just listen to my voice or come back to you.
What are you feeling?
What are you sensing?
If you want,
You could get lost in all sorts of cognitive ruminations,
But you might miss out on something by just being here in your senses.
Being and not doing.
There really isn't any pressure to do it right.
If you inhale deeply and exhale slowly,
That might help to slow you down,
Bring you back from distant thoughts,
Or even help your body relax.
You can escort your breath to difficult and tight or clenched places in your body.
Breathing deeply into those spots.
You can exhale with the biblical breathing words,
Sela.
Just slowing down,
Get heavy,
Get quiet.
Become more still.
Have a generous awareness,
Be kind with yourself.
Throw yourself a compliment.
You smell good today.
You're very well hydrated.
You're nice to your cats.
It could be simple.
You like to laugh.
Those are all enough.
We're going to play with and uncover some difficult experiences as a way to reach more important experiences.
If it's uncomfortable,
Don't go too deep.
You can just return to your breath.
Enjoy the sounds around you,
Birds,
Crickets,
The air conditioning,
Water running,
Whatever you find.
The first concept we'll think through and experience in our bodies is jealousy.
Jealousy,
Which can be good and bad and motivate us,
Can tear us up as both sides and more.
Where do you feel jealousy in your body?
Is it a grasping or a retreat or twisting?
Maybe you don't name it,
Just notice where it sits.
I want what she has.
I want to become what they are.
In your mind's eye,
Is there a particular object of the jealousy,
A person,
Thing,
Experience that you crave or lust after?
Money or youth or success in some form.
A nice kitchen,
Fancy guitar.
Let your mind lust for a moment,
It's okay.
It doesn't make you a bad person.
If you don't stay there too long,
It won't tear you up.
It's just good to notice.
Notice when you get jealous and how you experience it in your body and mind.
Not critically,
Just curiously.
Let's move away from it a little,
Just letting go.
It was good to learn about,
But not easy to stay there.
So we're just gonna return to our breath.
Maybe listen to my voice.
Notice your body.
Let's take some deep breaths.
Just to reset for a moment.
Next up,
We're gonna talk about zeal.
Zeal or zealotry.
Things you have very strong beliefs and opinions about.
Places where you don't admit much doubt.
Could be as simple as which Beatles album is the best.
Could be a faith inclination in your religion.
A political stance.
A preference for Northern Indian food over Southern Indian foods.
It's kind of fun to be zealous about a few things.
Gives us a sense of self and our values.
It's okay.
Where do you experience that kind of zeal,
Intensity of thought and emotion?
Where do you notice it in your body?
Where do you see it in your life?
Just go there for a moment.
Not so much that you grit your teeth,
Feel the need to fight.
Just a touching of the experience,
A witnessing of it.
How do strongly held beliefs affect you?
How much do you want to hold on to strongly held beliefs?
Have they always been important?
Will they always be as important?
Can we know?
Just breathing and sitting with that for a few more moments.
Let's clear out the space just with some deep breaths and you exhale with the word Salah.
Maybe yawn.
Our final theme is passion.
Start to go into that.
What lights you up?
What gives you forward motion?
What excites you?
Where are you passionate in your life and even right now in your body?
Right now.
What do you feel?
Where do you feel it?
What are you excited about?
What's drawing you with passion this very day?
Does it have a name or an image or a sensation?
Concrete or abstract?
It's not a question that needs to be answered quickly,
Just felt intimately.
Where's that fire?
Breathing there,
Lighting it up,
Stoking the embers,
Heating yourself with passion.
Breathe into that passion.
Keep breathing.
Blessings.
