Letting Go Of Stress (Live Recording)

Letting Go of Stress - Join us as we meditate to let go of our stress and let our life force us out to play. The teaching is influenced by the tradition of instinctive meditation. Please note this audio is pulled from a live class.
This track contains ambient sounds in the background

Transcript

Since this is your meditation, Really, And since this is the style of meditation which I like to teach, You can be lying down, You can be sitting up, You can be lounging on the couch, Whatever position that feels comfortable for you but also allows you to take easy, Full, Free breaths, Okay? So whatever that feels like for you, Go ahead and get into that position or get comfy. And once you're there, Maybe stretch out a little bit, Maybe move your head, Do some neck circles, Wrist circles, Or even just like some shakes, Some light shaking, Maybe like stomping the ground, That could be fun, Just like any movements, Any excess movements that we still have inside of us, Just kind of want to get it all out before we rest in stillness for about 20-25 minutes. So get all of those wiggles out, Stretch a little, And once it feels good to let your body be still, Let it be still, Notice how nice that feels to kind of shake some of that excess tension that's wound up in our bodies off a little bit and then immediately settle into that stillness and then staying there. And if you haven't already, I welcome you to slowly close your eyes. And just start to breathe a little deeper, A little slower, Just starting to settle in, Easing into our meditation. Sometimes I like to think of this part of easing into meditation, Like easing into a warm bath or like the Jacuzzina, Where you slowly ease yourself in and then you're just sitting there for the first few moments and taking in all those changes and how nice you feel. Kind of the same thing here, Even though we're not in something as obvious as warm water, But we just switched from an active, An outward facing mode to a more relaxed and inward facing mode. And here it might feel good to do a couple sighs. Those of you who have been to my class before know that I love to start with sighs, Because sighs are like that activity that we did in the beginning where we were shaking off that excess energy and kind of moving and stretching and sighing is another way of moving that energy within us too and releasing some of that surface level tension that we don't want in our meditation. So breathing in here together in, Exhale. One more inhale. Good. Continue on your own. Some of you might need more sighs and others. And every time you sigh out, You can be a little dramatic about it if it feels fun, If it feels good, Like heaving your whole body. When you're inhaling, You bring your body up and when you exhale and you sigh, You like collapse and you fall and you melt and you sink deeper and deeper into the ground, Into the chair, Into your seat. Feeling heavier, Feeling sturdier. And when you feel like you're finished sighing some of that surface level stuff off, Just settle into a slower, Deeper breath on your own. Whatever feels natural, You don't have to force anything. And you know how when you breathe in deeply, After breathing in shallowly or not really paying attention to your breath all day, You feel that stretch. Like when you inhale, You feel like you're hitting a wall. So what I mean by a natural slow, Deep breath is you just stop a little bit before that. You don't have to stretch yourself too much because the beauty of our bodies of breath is that it naturally and in its own time will stretch and accommodate if you give it that space and if you're patient with it, You don't need to push. We have all the time here. So breathing in with me, Inhale and exhale. Good. One more time. Inhale, Exhale. One more in and out. And just continue like this on your own with the slower, Deeper, Conscious breath. Noticing if you feel any different already. Maybe you feel more grounded. Maybe you feel more relaxed, Even though it's just been a couple of days. And just keep on breathing in and out. And just keep on breathing out. Maybe you feel more grounded. Maybe you feel more relaxed, Even though it's just been a couple moments. Maybe you feel like more clear, More alert. Whatever it may be, Just notice it and enjoy, Enjoy that change that just a few moments of meditation has brought you already. And on the next breath, I invite you to place your hands on your body, One on your heart, One on your stomach, And just keep on breathing in and out. And just keep on breathing out. And just continue to breathe in and out. And on the next breath, I invite you to place your hands on your body, One on your heart, One on your stomach. Press down into your body gently with your hands. Feel the warmth of your body. Feel the texture of the clothing. And you might even be able to feel your heartbeat. Just breathe here. Feeling with your hands the way your body moves, Up and down, As you breathe. Noticing if one hand moves more than the other. And if the hand on your chest is moving a little more, What we're going to do is we're going to start to direct that breath into the abdomen so that the hand on the belly moves a little more. So we'll inhale together. Exhale. Good. Inhaling, The belly goes out. Exhaling, Belly goes in. One more. Inhale. Exhale. Exhale. Good. Continue like this, Exploring, Getting to know this deep belly breath that we have invited in. And remembering to be gentle. If you feel like you're hitting that wall, Like it's stretching a little bit, You can ease up a little bit, Trusting, Knowing that your body will expand to accommodate that deeper breath in time. So if you like, You can place both your hands on your stomach, Or if you feel like you've got the hang of this deeper belly breath, You can let your hands fall wherever feels good. And continuing to maintain this belly breath. And as you maintain this belly breath, A little background. In Chinese medicine, The concept of breath is qi. I'm sure you've heard of it before. Maybe qi is also energy. So it's actually really interesting. The character in Chinese for qi, For breath, Is the exact same character for energy, For life force energy. For that pulse of life that we have flowing through all of us, Right? Also can be thought of and then fell into as the breath. So as you're breathing in, Deep into your belly, You're bringing that breath, You're bringing that life force energy into your body too. And isn't that such a beautiful way to see oxygen, To see breath? It is one of the most important forces that drives you being alive right now, Right? So breathing in nice and deep, Taking in that beautiful life force energy into your body. Maybe feeling it open up other parts of your body beyond just your chest and your abdomen. For those of us who are tired, We might feel that tiredness in our bones, Right? Sometimes you're like, Oh, I'm so tired. I feel it in my bones. I'm so exhausted. And if that is you, Next couple of breaths, Bring in that qi, Bring in that beautiful life force energy and send it to your bones or send it to your body, Your being, Just like how we've been sending it to our abdomen. So breathing in with me, Inhale, Exhale. Good. One more in and out. Good. Continue like this on your own. And since this is a stress release meditation, I can probably safely assume that a lot of us are carrying that stress in our head, In our neck, In our shoulders, Maybe our back. And if that's the case, And if you feel like all those areas of your body need some extra life force energy circulating through it, Opening it up, Relaxing it, I invite you to on the next couple of deep breaths, Send that breath there. We'll inhale together in, Exhale. Exhale. Good. One more in. Exhale. Wonderful. Continue on your own. And since all of us are a little different here, We probably feel that stress in different areas of our body, Different parts of our body are calling out to us. So take the next couple moments to really tune into yourself and maybe even ask yourself, Where am I carrying this stress? For some of us, It might be really obvious. So we can treat those areas first by sending our life force energy, Our breath, Our chi there, And once it feels good there, We might ask ourselves, Where else? And you might be surprised at what comes up. Or you can just play, You can explore with sending your chi, Your breath to different areas of your body and seeing what changes that brings. So I'll give you a couple moments to explore that on your own. Remembering to have a gentle touch, Just be soft. I know sometimes with stress, It's like this thing that we want to get rid of and push out. But sometimes that can actually add to the agitation that we feel within us. So similar principle here, Being patient, Slowly addressing the stress in your body, In your mind. Trusting and knowing that the work that we're doing here in our meditation is super effective. It's working and making you feel better every single moment. And that's what matters the most. So breathing here with me. Exhale. One more in. Wherever you are. Just pausing a little moment for a moment right now. And just looking in, Noticing what feels different, What feels good. And just letting yourself enjoy. Just really enjoy these changes in your body, In your mind, In your heart. Nothing we have to do right now except for to just enjoy ourselves, Really, This state that we've cultivated in ourselves. And that enjoying can mean different things for each of us. For some of us it might be melting, Allowing ourselves to just melt and relax even more into this moment. For others it might be like a cherishing, Like you're almost scooping up this moment and holding it and enjoying it and being happy and almost giddy or excited about it. For some of us the enjoyment might look like a deep, Deep satisfaction. Satisfaction that feels solid and grounded and unshakable. Just allowing yourself to enjoy you, Yourself. And since this is a stress release meditation, I want you to start to just think about what letting go feels like. Whether it be letting go of any stressors that have come up physically with size. Letting go by just letting go and relaxing all your muscles into your sea, Into the ground. Or, Excuse me, Here's an interesting one. Letting your life force go. Letting your life go. And just letting that circulate through your entire body, Your entire being. Anything that you've been holding, Clenching, Holding back, Censoring, Pushing down, Pushing away. Those are all little parts of our life, Our life force energy that are being stuck or being stopped, Right? So if it feels good, Explore what letting go and letting all of that energy flow through you. All of life. No need to censor. Welcoming it as it is. See how that feels like. And letting go maybe for some of us, Something that is in the mental or in the mind, So like thoughts, I find is something that people will censor. Thoughts are something that people will try to police, Right? And thoughts are actually a part of our chi, Our life force energy. Thoughts are a product of us being alive, Right? It is a part of us. So it feels good. It feels comfortable. You can start exploring what it feels like to let go and not be so hard on yourself or not impose so many rules about the types of thoughts that you can have, About the types of feelings that you should be having, Right? And I'm just talking about in this meditation space. We can start there because I know outside of the meditation space, There's a lot, Right? So if this is something that you feel drawn to, Notice if there's any thoughts about how you should be showing up in this meditation right now. And see if you can let that go. Notice if there's any, I should be doing this, I should be doing that, I shouldn't do this in a meditation and see what it feels like to just let it go. And when that happens, Breathe, Welcome life force energy into your being and allow it to circulate afresh in that space that you've just cleared out a little bit. So breathe with me here. Inhale. Exhale. One more in. And out. Good. Last one in and out. Letting your breath slow, Or sorry, Letting your breath return to a more normal, Natural pace. No need to consciously deepen and slow it down anymore. Coming back to our set point, The us outside of meditation, Or almost outside of meditation, If that makes sense. Just noticing, How do you feel here? How do you feel here right now? Without any breath manipulation, Without any mantra or thing to do. How do you feel right here right now? Just being here. Just you. You might feel fresh, Clear, Calm. This is the you. This is the us that we are always in touch with that can, If we want to, Be called upon to show up in our week ahead. On the next breath, Place a hand or two on your heart. Breathe into this space. I welcome you to set an intention for the week from this space of clarity and ease. Once you set that intention, Let it take up that space within you that we've just opened up and feel it stretching, Stretching, Stretching out in your body. Maybe if it feels good, You can start to stretch your hands, Stretching into the space around you, Taking up space, Taking hold. And when you're ready, You can start to open your eyes and come back to the room. Congratulations. You've just meditated for a little over 30 minutes. With all of us here, We have a nice crowd here tonight. Give yourself a little pat on the back or a little gratitude for showing up. And I give thanks to you as well for showing up to my class.