Thank you so much for joining me today.
I wanted to focus on change and the seasons changing.
Today might feel like one of the first days of fall as it may be a little bit cooler.
Maybe a rain went through.
Maybe the leaves are starting to change.
This is a great time to reflect and notice what change you're going through in your own life.
I love the idea of cycles and how mother nature and our planet have cycles.
And just like her,
So do we.
And we can choose to ignore the cycles or we can accept them and let go things that frustrate us or that don't go our way and be accepting of opportunity.
So let's close our eyes.
Find ourselves in a grounded position,
Whether it's seated,
Lying down.
Just let that idea of change kind of wash over you.
Notice any sensation that comes over your body or any thoughts you think.
Most of us resist change.
So the word itself might quicken our heart rate,
Shorten our breath,
Maybe even tense up some muscles in some areas.
So just noticing your bodily response to change.
We're not trying to fix it or become more comfortable yet.
We're just noticing.
And now let's see if we can relax our body,
Quiet our thoughts.
Doing this helps us to listen to our heart.
So focusing on the breath,
Let's exhale all our breath out and inhale together for the count of four,
Inhaling two,
Three,
Four,
And exhaling for five or six,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Two more times,
Inhale and exhale.
One more time together,
Inhale through the nose,
Feeling your chest rise,
Stomach expand,
Taking in a deep breath,
And then really paying attention to blow out the breath,
Having it be longer than the inhale,
Allowing your body to just naturally start the relaxation process.
Allow your breath to come back to its natural rhythm.
See if there's an area in your body you can soften,
Maybe starting with the face,
Relaxing the eyes,
Unclenching the jaw,
Noticing if the back of the head or the neck has any tension,
And use this next breath to allow relaxation to wash over you.
Breathing and settling,
Giving yourself a well-deserved break,
No matter what time the day is,
Deepening your breath.
If your mind wanders,
Allow your breath to be the anchor,
Keeping you in the here and the now,
Remembering that mindfulness is paying attention on purpose to the present moment in a particular way without judgment.
Allow yourself to become the observer.
Observe yourself and your breath and your body sensations.
Doing this helps with the communication between body and mind.
What our body is trying to tell us usually is a great indicator of how to keep ourselves healthy or out of danger.
So if anything is tensed up in your body,
Maybe your shoulders,
Your mid-back or low-back,
Energetically allow them to soften.
Notice any sensation in the chest area.
And while we're near the heart,
Set your intention,
A clear path forward,
Changes all around us.
It's in the air.
What do you need?
What is your heart telling you?
Use your next deep,
Full,
Long breath to relax the muscles in your stomach,
Letting yourself hang heavy,
Releasing the lower back muscles,
The hips,
The thighs.
Allow both legs to be heavy and rooted,
Feeling grounded.
Imagine a tree,
Your favorite kind of tree.
Maybe allow yourself to be a tree rooted deep within the earth,
Able to survive centuries of change.
Allow your feet to soften,
Your ankles to be loose.
And now have your arms relax,
Noticing any sensation in the hands.
There is one way to make your hands a little bit more relaxed.
Allow that to happen.
Maybe you need to flip them up or flip them down.
Maybe they need a little stretch.
Settle in and feel your body relax.
As you think about your favorite type of change in the fall months,
Something you're looking forward to.
Imagine the colors,
The smells,
Allow a memory to pop up in your mind of a joyous time with family or friends or animals.
Or maybe this was a solo adventure with just you.
Let the joy of this change in this time,
This type of year to wash over you,
Relaxing any muscles that have tensed up,
Feeling at peace,
Safe and hopeful.
Things to look forward to.
Keep remembering to breathe.
Recommit by taking another deep breath through the nose.
And as you exhale,
Feel free to sigh it out or make some noise or whisper or blow it out like you're blowing a candle slowly.
Now bring to mind something in your life that is changing right now.
It might be positive.
It might be negative.
See if you can see this change with an unbiased view.
Just observe it.
Notice any sensations that are in the body with this thought and this idea.
Listen to your heart.
What do you need during this time of change?
For some of us,
It could be more break time,
More rest,
Saying no.
For others,
It could be embracing it,
Saying yes.
If your mind has wandered,
Come back to the breath.
Bring back that image of the tree.
Allow your body to evoke the tree.
Being grounded and rooted,
Able to handle any weather or storm.
Visualize your tree.
See the leaves.
Notice what color they are and allow the colors to change.
Maybe from a deep green to a light green.
Yellows,
Golds,
Reds.
For some of us,
Fall and autumn are exciting times before the winter comes.
Notice how you feel about fall and honor it.
Some of us have more energy and some of us don't.
Allow whatever you're feeling to wash over you.
Come back to your intention.
Wherever you are in your breath cycle,
Exhale all your breath out and let's end our time together with three deep breaths.
Breathing deeply through the nose,
Feeling the chest rise,
Stomach expanding,
Taking a deep breath,
And then using all of your muscles to gently and slowly push out the air,
Letting all the waste products go,
All your fear of change go.
Everything standing in the way,
Just breathe it out and let it go.
Two more times,
Inhale.
And this time as you exhale,
Have a sigh of release,
A sigh of relief.
Make some noise.
Expel some energy.
Last time together,
Inhale and exhale.
Breathing naturally,
Thank yourself for giving yourself a moment of relaxation,
For exploring change,
For being brave.
And when you're ready,
Open your eyes,
Wiggle your fingers and your toes and notice if anything around you has changed.
Maybe the lighting,
Maybe the way you see things.
Understanding that change is all around us if we're brave enough to see it and face it.
Thank you so much for allowing me the precious gift of your time.
Until next time.
